Derek Blasberg has an unfailing instinct. Ever since he moved from Missouri to New York, the former journalist has always been in the right place
YouTube was launched in 2005 with the aggressive claim "Broadcast yourself" and the promise of 15 minutes of fame to nobodies. Just a year ago, he inaugurated YouTube Fashion and Beauty – dedicated to streaming fashion shows, backstage moments, beauty tutorials and the like – gathering content that had developed spontaneously. "Our audience wants to be carried away by a creator or a brand to get to know it better, and the fashion industry has an incredible opportunity to show what it is!" says Blasberg.
The times are ripe, also due to the lockdown. Last July, 30 brands presented their couture collections on the platform and Gucci broadcast live for 12 consecutive hours. "I simply help tell stories like I always did for newspapers, with the difference that from here we reach an incredible audience of 2 billion users."
So, are you converting brands and celebrities, inviting them to create a life on YouTube?
I'm not sure that "converting" is the right term. Rather, I think what I am doing is "educating" the fashion community about the best ways to communicate with the YouTube audience.
Internally you have a genuine handbook: would you like to share some highlights?
Certainly. I share many tips with people, starting from this: YouTube users are smarter than you think. They know when you're not authentic and they call you out. Here's what works on YouTube: videos of at least four minutes, with an intrinsic narrative within the structure, that teach a lesson or reveal a secret. Be real. Be consistent. And there is no need to spend a lot of money on your video: the most important thing on YouTube is to be honest with yourself and with others.
How much of yourself is it advisable to reveal?
Certainly, being authentic and vulnerable is what works best. And who would have thought, when a year ago Naomi released the video of her travel routine – including a thorough sanitizing of everything that comes in contact with her – that it would become the standard to be reached in 2020 (editor's note: at the time of this interview, the video has already had almost 3 million views)? Once again it was her authenticity that paid off, and it is her authenticity that continues to reinforce her status as an icon. On the other hand, what keeps her on YouTube is that here she is her own producer, editor, director. She has control over everything.
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Opening photograph: Derek Blasberg (1982, St. Louis, Missouri) studied Journalism and Literature at New York University. A year ago he launched YouTube's Fashion and Beauty channel.