Coronavirus era! Changes in influencer strategies post lockdown & fashion trends

By HelloPost Team Last updated Jan 22, 2022

Influencers are used to frequent their social media feeds with their oh so perfect luxury vacations, Over the top shopping shenanigans, flashy fashion events, salon & restaurants rendezvous and so on and so forth. However, when this COVID- 19 meteors hit the entire world, even influencer content had to take a 360-degree turn. Influencer content has been solely based on the aspiration to portray a perfect life. Understandably, that can not be the case anymore. There are no more Instagram worthy outings, brand collaborations have taken a major shift as well, with a focus on necessary products rather than a luxury.

I realised that if we influencers were to stay in the current metamorphosed social media market then we must diversify the kind of content that we create and come up with something that would help the community on the whole level and connect with the audience on a more personal level.

Firstly, there was an incessant rise in live content. Instagram’s live feature suddenly became quite popular and we are witnessing arrays of influencers and brands going live in order to form a relationship connect with their audience.

Furthermore, genres such as cooking, DIY, workout from home, mental health and interiors skyrocketed in popularity.

Not only this, but video-making apps also saw a huge surge in downloads. There are a lot of influencers who have risen up to the occasion with a paradigm shift in their content and honesty that is the only way to pull through the current scenario.

As far as I am concerned, I deviated my focus from Travel and Lifestyle to doing live sessions with our frontline workers such as doctors, police personnel, mental health experts, motivational speakers to inculcate positivity amongst my followers. I also wrote a book on mental health during lockdown which targeted sensitive issues such as body shaming, addictions, depression etc which is due to publish somewhere around next month.

Fashion also saw a humongous ripple in its waves in COVID -19 era. As we kept on preparing ourselves for life with the virus, the fashion industry also adjusted itself to the current lifestyle. Ranging from protective accessories to sustainable fashion, brands have jumped on the bandwagon to take into account following fashion trends.

Fashion trends post COVID -19 :-

1. Mask it out

It goes without saying that the most prominent fashion trend to come out of COVID – 19 crisis is Mask. Albeit, this is an accidental trend but the fashion industry has embraced this trend rather quickly and we have a potpourri of beautiful styles available in the market.

2. Athleisure and loungewear FTW

Second most prominent fashion trend to emerge out of this pandemic is a preference over snug clothing. Athleisure and loungewear is the biggest IT thing due to people spending longer durations at home and their need for comfort. From celebrities to fashion influencers, everyone seems to be A-Ok with their breakout fashion trend which again promulgated via necessity.

3. Vocal for local

This is one particular phenomenon which has been trending on social media for pretty darn long now. COVID-19 era has seen a sudden rise in local, artisan-made products, fashion choices and promotion of our local brands rather than fast fashion. Banning most popular fast-fashion sites has been the last nail in the coffin to promote the local fashion industry in the post-pandemic world.

4. Sustainable fashion practices

Sustainable fashion practices is another craze that’s is expected to grow even more popular this year. People are becoming more and more aware of the harmful impacts of fast fashion on the environment and thus, they are making more sustainable fashion choices. Responsible fashion purchase, reuse, recycle has been the mantra for Gen X.

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of HelloPost.)

Contributed by Chitrangi Sharma, Founder, Desi Pandora. You can find her on Instagram @mydesipandora