As the influencer space continues to grow, many have come and gone, while others have remained at the forefront. Blair Eadie is the latter.
With 1.1 million followers on Instagram, and after eight years of blogging about her signature maximalist style through her Atlantic-Pacific moniker, Eadie has had slow and steady growth, and she’s finally seeing the benefits.
Last month, Eadie debuted her biggest brand collaboration to date with Nordstrom‘s exclusive label Halogen. The capsule she created includes apparel, footwear, accessories and lingerie, and is inspired by her own girlish aesthetic, featuring striking hues and interesting textures. Versatility was also top of mind when designing. Plus, it’s accessible and affordable. All pieces in the collection, which continues to launch new hues, are under $250 and the sizes range from 00 to 24, with footwear available up to size 12.
But in a space that’s filled with white noise and where the buzzword “authentic” is overused, what is it that makes Eadie stand out?
It’s all about consistency, experience and responsiveness.
She said, “I just genuinely love fashion. And for me, it’s not about being an influencer and following certain [influencer] trends. It’s about staying true to what I love and that keeps my motivated. If I tried to adhere to a lot of trends happening in this space and do the buzzy thing, I’d lose interest. I love fashion and I stuck to it.”
Scrolling through her Instagram, you’ll find lots of color, quirkiness, elegance and layering. Most importantly, you’ll see that she is a steady constant in the fashion-influencer world. She has defined her personal aesthetic and hasn’t entered new categories, which is why her readers keep coming back to her.
Because the influencer landscape is constantly changing, in that brands are now looking outside of Hollywood for ambassadors who can better connect with their consumers, Eadie’s background in fashion has helped her when it comes to sealing deals. She understands both sides of the business.
“I can see the different vantage points,” she explained, having worked at Gap and as the director of accessories for merchandising at Tory Burch up until 2017. “Working with Nordstrom, I had that merchandising background so we were able to get a lot done in short period of time because there wasn’t any teaching or education about the process. We just spoke the same language when it came to creating a line, which made the collaboration really natural.”
Eadie’s growth in this arena also comes from her ability to be nimble. She said, “I watched the business of blogging. In the beginning, it was affiliate links, then it was brand partnerships and brands started allocating more traditional media dollars into influencers for awareness and now it has moved into collaboration models.” She added that she’s open to what’s next as the future is uncertain.
“It’s about continuing to remain flexible,” said Eadie. “I want the job that doesn’t exist today because if you told me five years ago this was even an option I would have said, ‘That’s crazy.’”