It's about audience, I think. A blogger with a large audience is included and should be: demographics have always mattered and a small shift (at the moment) from print media to online everything is, as Suzy Menkes said in October '10, the way it is and no going back.

It will sort out to quality at some point .. and some of the early bloggeratti are refining their views with a more educated and slightly less starstruck ideology. As designers bypass shops to reach the customer, all of this transition is killing off print media and, sigh, boutiques. Profits are up for the finest designers and products, truth be said .. and the struggling mediocrity still struggles.

I love Tavi uniquely and with the greatest respect and admiration for her steeping herself in what was and her very good writing. She has been given opportunities that few of any age have: that's life.

I love that traditional Vogue etc are serious about developing blogs and a significant online presence. In the case of Carla Sozzani, it is working well.

Silly pr's, not the design house, will say yeah or naye to requests besotted with the inane until they too become educated. Santo Versace blocked me from entering a Versace show when we were dropping 100large a season first cost. Nothing about me but about his bovine sense of the business. Gianni was glam and sweet and a genius and I do not think that of his siblings.

Oh well. Next will be challenging, whatever it is.

I totally agree with you on your standpoint. Whenever I hear about Fashion Week in NYC,I hear more and more about who's going to be there rather than what was the inspiration for so-and-so's collection and if it's really that good or bad. And I think you're right about the whole "invitation only" thing. Why bother risking everything you worked on and invite someone you know has the 50/50 chance of saying your stuff sucks when all you need are friends, family and celebs you pay off (money, clothes, etc.) to tell you everything is all good? I've stopped subscribing to a lot of publications because some seem to share the same info but print it differently as far as spreads go. All I was left with was a stack of ads and maybe a few good interviews from Vogue. Now a days, I look to that email I get from DFR. I was even at an event this blog covered and it was straight reporting. No opinions that play in the favor of the designer, no "oh this is so fresh it has to be the in" type comments. So yes, you're right. Where have all the independent thinkers gone? Where will the fashion world be in the next 5, 10, 15 years when all we have to dictate what we wear are celebs who have money to burn and the so-called "in crowd" of youngsters that write blogs with their opinions in it?