Paris has something to teach us about the use of social media

What differentiates French bloggers from Italian ones? And in general, what makes French girls look so interesting and mysterious?

A fashion journalist investigated the issue for Vogue.com, with the help of some industry personalities based in the Ville Lumière, exploring the (discrete) modus operandi of transalpine girls on social networks.

If you've been to Paris at least once – or have Parisian friends – you should have realised their way of relating to technology is, how to say? – “vintage". To WhatsApp, Boomerang, Instagram and Facebook Parisians prefer text messages, or, even better, phone calls. Our "I’ll whatsapp you when I leave home" is always translated with a simple, but effective, "je t'appelle" (I'll call you) – a phrase we probably don’t use anymore, not even with our grandmother.

This premise allows us to dig deeper, to reach all those figures who have turned social networks into a profession, sometimes millionaire. What differentiate, then, French media personalities from local ones? Or better, the ones of the rest of the world?  

It's very simple: they favour quality instead of quantity, substance instead of appearance. Although this attitude is often interpreted by étrangers as a form of snobbery, in the era of media ostentation and proliferation of paid post, it feels like a breath of fresh air.

After months of ruthless selfies, hyper saturated filters and brands tagged in every corner, the (fashion) world denounces the need for a return to sobriety, to slowness – phenomenon reported in other terms also by the fashion industry, with the recent decision to slow down production rates, presenting two collections per year instead of four.

To a self-timer to promote a beauty product, Parisians prefer to post the photo of the artwork of a copain, taken during a vernissage, to high heels they have always preferred flat shoes and, in general, they never take themselves too seriously.

This seems to be the key to their success: less posts but more conceptual, less followers but more authentic. 

It is a pervasive phenomenon which has recently involved also some brands Made in France, the main example of which is certainly Vetements. We already had plenty of talk about this subversive creative collective, that over a short time has equaled the fame (and the revenues) of many storied brands. 

The attitude of the members of the brand on social networks is quite explanatory: Demna Gvasalia, creative director, counts today only 1 post on his Instagram profile but 4,400 followers hopeful there will be more.

Stylist Lotta Volkova, photographer Pierre-Ange Carlotti, model-muse Paul Hameline and DJ-model Clara Deshayes follow, all adopting quite the same strategy for their posts: not too frequent, sober and especially underground.

Instead of explicitly sponsoring products – signed Vetements, of course – on social media they focus on their friendship, portraying simple nights, spent in the bar next door or directly at home, except for some after parties during fashion week – but only because the designer in question is their meilleur ami. 

Vetements is once again the pioneer of a trend, that of the return to sobriety and authenticity – even on social networks.