Today’s Wall Street Journal highlights the shift European fashionistas have made towards embracing bloggers and social media in an article entitled “From the Runway to Your Laptop†(New York fashionistas appears to have adapted earlier). At a recent Milan fashion show for Dolce & Gabbana, editors, photogs and celebrities were pushed to second and third rows while bloggers from Bryanboy.com, JakandJil.com, GaranceDore.fr and online retailers like Federico Marchetti  of Yoox.com received the coveted front-row seats.
Flagship stores and high-end retailers like Saks Fifth Avenue, Neiman Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman who are adapting their brands to the world of online shopping and e-commerce are losing their clout in the fashion world to bloggers and social influencers.
Today’s women are the leading decision makers in their household for consumer purchases, as well as the most engaged segment throughout social networks. In fact, Facebook’s fastest growing segment is women age 55-65.
So what should you learn from this story?
1)Â Â Â Â Â Your brand must adapt to new media and online trends, regardless of your industry and its niche practices.
2)     Your audience is out there. You need to find them and engage them.
3)Â Â Â Â Â You must do it before and better than the competition.
4)     If you don’t use these tools to influence bloggers and consumers, say goodbye to your brand. Everyone else will.