Derek Blasberg On His Plans To Merge YouTube With The Fashion Industry

When YouTube decided it wanted to hire a director of fashion and beauty, there was probably only ever one candidate: Mr. Derek Blasberg. To say that he’s connected – in every sense of the word – would be an understatement. Regardless of whirring social status (as his Instagram feed attests, he’s friends with everyone from Karlie Kloss to Gwyneth Paltrow, Kendall Jenner, Katy Perry and Emma Watson) Blasberg has journalistic form, too. The former host of CNN Style, the affable, 36-year-old New Yorker has contributed to Vogue, Vanity Fair, WSJand The New York Times. This newly created role at YouTube was quite literally made for him. “Well,” he politely corrects, when we meet at the smart Google offices in London. “I think actually that it’s me, who was made for the role.”

“Derek both understands the world of content creators and is an esteemed member of the international world of style,” says Kelly Merryman, vice president of content partnerships for YouTube. “He will collaborate with our incredible array of creators and diverse portfolio of brands to bring a new level of innovation and delight to these areas.” She continues: “Fashion and beauty are incredibly popular on YouTube, producing some of the world's biggest digital stars and building engaged communities around powerful consumer brands. As these sectors continue to grow on the platform, we realised that we needed someone who knows the industry inside and out to take the helm and help foster the growth of fashion and beauty publishers, influencers, brands and creators on YouTube.”

In layman’s terms, Blasberg is tasked with boosting the volume and the quality of fashion and beauty programming, and in turn getting those industries to engage more with YouTube. “Most major fashion brands are already creating content, but before there was a fashion department here, there wasn’t anyone who could provide information on the best practice, suggesting what and when to post. Before, they were approached only as advertisers; now, we are approaching them as content creators,” he explains. When it comes to beauty, the strategy is obvious: “Beauty tutorials often garner millions of views and they can make or break a product but in lots of cases there is a disconnect between top-tier beauty brands and powerful influencers. I’m hoping to close that gap.”

A few months into the role and he has already initiated the livestreaming of Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty show, as well as scoring Dior as Youtube’s first exclusive partner to acknowledge YouTubers as VIPs. The house invited several of these faces, including Jackie Aina and the Merrell Twins (combined following: over 6.3m), to sit on its front row at its spring/summer 2019 show.

Certainly, it's hard to say no to Blasberg, who hails from St. Louis in Missouri and who is, first and foremost, a fan of YouTube. “What do you do when you turn up at a hotel and the TV in your room doesn’t have any English-speaking channels? You open your computer and watch YouTube, right?” Notwithstanding that midwest charm, there are myriad incentives for the fashion and beauty sector to engage with YouTube. “After Google, it’s the second biggest search engine – we have nearly two billion unique visitors per month.” He continues: “83 per cent of 15-year-olds watch at least one hour of YouTube a day – engagement is insane! – so if you’re a brand trying to connect to millennials then there is no better place to be,” he insists. If anyone can convince, it’s Blasberg.