Who influences influencers? Each generation has the figures that define its tastes

The figure of the influencer enjoys a double status in today's world. On the one hand they are the new celebrities of the social era, but on the other hand they are often fashion mercenaries, in the payroll of any brand that is willing to give them gifts or pay them to wear their latest product. But to stay on the crest of the wave, they have to move quickly to adapt to the sudden change of trends and, to do so, they themselves must follow and imitate the right people, the pioneers who invent trends before they are magnified and transmitted by macro-influencers in a cascading effect that ends with the individual consumer. These pioneers are fashion insiders, cool kids buzzing around designers and ranging from different skills and interests. They are the influencers of influencers. These pioneers are all at the crossroads of media independence, control of their own public narrative, and personal following of fans obtained without ads or other tricks outside their own area of influence. It is therefore a narrow environment, located above the influencer bubble that dominates on other media but not more stable.

The tastemaker's power lies in their credibility and the originality of their content, not their fame or money – although these factors remain necessary. In the field of fashion this means possessing a combination of aesthetic taste, personal status, economic availability and networking. Their shopping habits, for example, are not related to the hype and perceived scarcity of a product but to their personal taste, unlike typical influencers, for example, do not need to unseaze this or that product, nor do they deal with advertising to anyone outside of themselves. 

At this point, however, the main problem that characterizes this new scenario arises. The past gatekeepers' communities were closed, poorly multicultural and un democratic, but it was precisely this conservatism that made its key figures always remain the same, with the effect of creating a more lasting and homogeneous influence – today you can instead be a cultural pioneer for only one quarter, and therefore leave a mark that will be erased by the next tastemaker. In the case of Italy this turnover is even faster, given the role of cultural hub that Milan holds with its status as capital of Italian creatives - a role that the lockdown has not yet managed to wrest from the city.