Last year, Theorist‘s fashion-savvy arm Style Theory put on the first Creators in Fashion show, drawing over 4 million views with a catwalk that featured looks from spring/summer ’24 collections designed by Critical Role, ZHC, Blogilates and POPFLEX creator Cassey Ho, Yes Theory, and more.
It was a novel event for our industry, where thousands of creators have made careers from their passion for fashion, but haven’t gotten the chance to take that passion onto the runway, either as a designer or as a model. Like Theorist founder and former on-camera host MatPat told us, creators have gotten big spots in sectors like food & bev, “but there’s so much great work being done in the apparel and fashion space” that deserves more recognition.
Which is exactly what Theorist plans to give it.
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The creator media company (which started with flagship channel The Game Theorists in 2009, then launched The Film Theorists and The Food Theorists before putting out The Style Theorists in 2023) will host its second annual Creators in Fashion show at this year’s VidSummit.
VidSummit–a Tubefilter partner–has emerged as perhaps the most prominent professional gathering for creators, where the focus is on business development and the nuts-and-bolts of making content. It’ll take place Oct. 7-9 in Dallas, and Theorist’s Creators in Fashion show will close out the convention by taking over its mainstage.
Tobias Hoss, SVP of Operations at Theorist’s owner Lunar X, tells Tubefilter that “from a strategic point of view,” moving Creators in Fashion to VidSummit works because “we align in terms of values.”
“VidSummit is the primary platform and event in the States that celebrates greater entrepreneurship and also showcases how creators move beyond content and become businesspeople,” he says. “It’s aligned with our point of view celebrating creators as not just creators, but businesses–small, medium, and large businesses. It’s also aligned with our mission of showcasing that this is possible. We see VidSummit as the perfect stage that enables us to make this event bigger and bolder.”
Theorist founder and former host MatPat will emcee with current Style Theory host Amy Roberts. Just like last year, Creators in Fashion will feature looks and walks from a number of creators, including Cassey Ho, Mia Maples, Mary Allyson, Glam Girl Gabi, Esteffanie, and Sydney Morgan (with more to be announced). This year’s event is tapping even more creators off the catwalk, with Roberts echoing Hoss, telling Tubefilter that Theorist’s goal, “aside from featuring all the creators who are doing amazing things in the fashion space, is to be able to highlight as many creators as possible.”
That means bringing in the Try Guys for a video segment, The Stupendium as musical guests, and people like Samantha Zazz (who are in the fashion space but not yet at the point of making their own products) for guest spots.
These creators are “making cool things, doing cool things that are adjacent and that align with a wider Theorist audience, because people tuning into the event both love the fashion of it and the creators who are participating, but they also love Theorist,” Roberts says.
Just like last year, participating creators will have their looks for sale, so thanks to YouTube Shopping‘s tech, livestream viewers will be able to buy clothes in real-time, QVC-style, while models are walking.
Roberts says that sort of sale is an opportunity not just for creators, but for fans as well. “When it comes to the live sale portion of the event, which is something we’re insanely proud of, we pushed YouTube Shopping very far last year and we’re looking to do even more this year, with being able to shop the things you’re seeing on the runway as the runway is happening. It lets us really combine the audiences of all these different creators into one space, to hopefully let people see things that maybe they wouldn’t have otherwise,” she says. “And it gives the audience an opportunity to really expand their horizons to both creators and content, as well as the products they’re going to see.”
Hoss agrees, noting that major fashion events like New York Fashion Week are “very exclusive, and very inaccessible.”
“We are turning that upside down with a community-powered event,” he says. “We have passion without borders, if you will, which I think is very important nowadays. Obviously not everyone can be at VidSummit to enjoy that event, but that’s the reason why we livestream [Creators in Fashion] across various channels, so we can grow the reach beyond participants who will be there. Making it accessible to a much bigger audience is the way we crafted it.”
More details about this year’s show will be announced in the coming months.
