James Charles snatches social media crown at NYFW

By

Robin Driver

Published
Sep 17, 2019

James Charles has come a long way since his disastrous spat with fellow beauty influencer Tati Westbrook earlier this year, becoming the influencer with the highest media impact value (MIV) at this month’s Spring/Summer 2020 New York Fashion Week.

 
Charles only attended one show during NYFW – Marc Jacobs – but managed to beat out his influencer peers to top the social media charts.
 
According to Launchmetrics, his Instagram posts about the Marc Jacobs show, including a photo of him attending the event in a black tulle gown, generated a total MIV of $1.4 million, suggesting that the social media star has managed to recover from this May’s drama, which saw him hemorrhage more than 3 million followers.

Indeed, Victoria Justice, the highest ranked celebrity account, came in just behind Charles with a total MIV of $2 million.
 
As for the brands showing at this season’s NYFW, Michael Kors led the top five in terms of MIV, followed by Tommy Hilfiger and Ralph Lauren. Perhaps receiving a boost from the extra attention attracted by Charles, Marc Jacobs took fourth place, while Tom Ford came in fifth.

Overall, New York Fashion Week SS20 generated an MIV of $235.5 million, a 30% increase from the $186 million reported in the SS19 season. Social media contributed the vast majority of this total, generating $160.4 million, while online media added a further $75.1 million.