Leaf Greener is a stylist, fashion consultant, columnist and founder of online LEAF WeChat magazine. Based in Shanghai, she studied at LaSalle International Design Institute and has a degree in Fashion Design. She previously worked as Senior Fashion Editor for ELLE China for around seven years. She has over 117,000 followers on Instagram and 272,000 followers on Weibo. She has been featured in Business of Fashion’s “BoF 500”, a list of the most influential people shaping the global fashion industry. Speaking with CLOSER she is quick to point out that she doesn’t consider herself a blogger because she never owned a blog, and despite her online success, she doesn’t view the impact of social media on the fashion industry as entirely positive.
Could you describe a bit about what you are doing now?
Briefly speaking, what I’m doing now includes both front work and work behind the scenes. The latter includes, for example, working as a Fashion or Brand Consultant and writing columns. And my work out the front includes acting as a brand ambassador in commercials as a model, and attending fashion events as an IT Girl. I’m now operating my own studio, of which most of the jobs are digital, including my WeChat magazine.
You have a strong following on your social media accounts. Do you have a particular strategy for these platforms?
I never seriously think how to orchestrate the content on my social media, and I don’t have a team to help me with that. My Instagram is just like my diary. When I see some stuff I really like or want to share, I’ll post it, so the contents there are random. I noticed early on that when I was travelling, or taking part in a fashion week, the follower figures went up quickly. However though I have lots of followers, most of them don’t leave comments or “like”; I guess probably because they have their own attitudes and opinions so that they won’t “like” whatever I posted.
What advice would you have for other young people who would like to get into this type of work?
To those young people who would like to get into this type of work, I would suggest them to be careful not to lose their ability of independent thinking and studying. Go on exploring the depth of this industry, and don’t become a Fashion Victim. Most of the flow of the information nowadays online is fragmented; you cannot just receive the information from the Internet. If you want to become an outstanding person in this area, apart from working and researching within, you also need to jump outside to see things on a more macroscopic level to avoid your perspective becoming too narrow. Otherwise, you’ll never be able to do something classic.
Whatís your opinion on the influence of social media on the fashion industry?
I don’t see the impact of social media on the fashion industry as entirely positive. Some of the luxury brands nowadays only pay attention to how many followers the ‘Opinion Leaders’ have, and treat that figure as equivalent to influence. But they fail to analyse whether those followers are consistent with their brand positioning. There’s a possibility that some of those followers are not their target market or potential customers. Luxury brands should never pursue quantity. Quality is the essence of luxury.
And how do you view the fashion industry overall?
The fashion industry has changed a lot compared to when I joined it. Fashion, as a branch of an aesthetic system, should be about beauty, originality and true essence. Years ago when there were no digital influences, to start a fashion trend required originality. Now it seems unnecessary, everything can just be DIY. I’m looking forward to seeing more fresh things with originality and a strong attitude. But now it’s really difficult and it’s a problem caused by the whole environment. However, it is my faith and passion that keeps me working on – I believe there are still people pursing a spiritual level in this area.
So what direction do you want to go in next?
I’ll stay in this industry, but would like to do something deep, such as academic research. Recently I gave an academic talk entitled “Image Social Network” in a renowned design school in Helsinki. I was really happy because I could share my opinions through face-to-face communication. I would also like to write more interesting articles. Vision can easily get people just blindly following and copying others’ style, however styling can be better done with just texts.
Whatís your favourite fashion trends or styles currently?
Céline is more my style. Phoebe Philo maintains her insistence on principles and ways of doing things. Céline might be the only brand without any social media account apart from their official website. They have a clear brand positioning strategy – intellectual women. If a brand tries to build up their influence based on celebrities, it proves that the brand itself is insecure. Céline doesn’t have idols or celebrity representatives. Indeed, intellectual women know they’re smart; they don’t need an example to prove it or to tell them that they are smart.
