High Fashion Twitter: Critiques and Friendships

As a subculture, High Fashion Twitter—stylized as hf twitter—is perhaps one of the most opinionated and interesting groups on the Internet. If unfamiliar with the phenomenon, you’re not alone. One doesn’t go looking for hf twitter—it finds you. If you venture down the fashion-rabbit-hole by following designers, editors, writers, stylists, models, and photographers you’ll see your Twitter snowball into an entire feed filled with everything and everyone related to fashion. As for the power hf twitter has? Look no further than the Met Gala created online last May 2020 as a substitute for the pandemic causing the cancelation of the annual party.

Maya AlZaben (@2mayaz), Alejandra Beltrán (@wrkhs), Hanan Besovic (@ideservecouture) Ian Grafvonluxburg (@vonluxx), and Samantha Haran (@DECOUTURIzE) are all a part of the hf twitter. While all of them had their fashion interests peaked and joined in the space at various times, the five of them are firmly representative of a community of fashion lovers hf twitter has been able to bring together.

Besovic attributes the rise in hf twitter to the digital world we live in.

“Reacting to fashion in real-time only helps fashion. In the time of social media, fashion magazines are not keeping up. That’s why more and more magazines are shutting down,” he explains. “Like it or not, fashion is becoming virtual and online.”

Speaking on how the hf twitter community has changed, Haran says, “Since I joined in 2018, there has been a shift in the general ‘voice’ of hf twitter. I’ve noticed an increasing politicization of the space—I’ve always been a very political person and I have brought that perspective to fashion, but it wasn’t very popular content. ”

Grafvonluxburg remarks on his own journey; he wanted to be more aware of fashion news and updates: “I naturally started following different fashion social media accounts, some of which were on Twitter,” he says. “hf twitter is a great source for information and tea.”

And the “tea” (hot gossip) is always making its rounds on hf twitter, one only needs to be following the right people. Just take a look at veteran Internet-user @bryanboy who prematurely congratulated Margaret Zhang on her appointment to Vogue China’s Editor-in-Chief. Or see journalist @pam_boy confirming Raf Simons joining Miuccia Prada at Prada, Natacha Ramsey Levi stepping down at Chloé, or Matthew Williams' appointment to Givenchy, replacing Clare Waight Keller. To end 2020, @shitmodelmgmt outed New York fashion designer Alexander Wang for his predatory behavior. And in early January 2021, NY Magazine and HuffPost contributor @yashar revealed that Kamala Harris' team did not fully approve the Vogue cover.

The hf twitter realm is the perfect place for people to review collections, in real-time. Even those with a formal publication or a review company behind them use the platform to express their thoughts timely. But, often, it is in a colloquial, shady-manner not acceptable to be published in print or digitally. More often than not, those within the hf twitter space are ordinary people with an eye for taste, a knack for garment design, and witty Twitter fingers to match.

Obviously, there is a fine line between constructive criticism and bullying—especially in an industry that thrives off a core group of mean girls holding all the cards.

Grafvonluxburg explains, “If I tell you that a garment is ‘ugly’, I might just be a hater, but if I have [design and cultural] references to back up what I’m saying, that is a critique. There needs to be something more concrete in your statement, a statement that isn’t subjective.”

Beltrán similarly expresses, “Critiques are done to promote improvement, better practices, and doubts what has been made for it to be better. In a way, it’s almost an assessment, leaving the door open for growing into a better version, supported in a series of arguments.”

Along the way, friendships amongst even the most critical on the platform occur. “Friendships on hf twitter and Instagram are amazing even if the stigma of fashion devotees is a bit poisoned, you will find a plethora of down-to-earth people who have an admiration for fashion,” Besovic proclaims. “I am already planning a few trips to London and can not wait to meet people who I have been talking to on a daily basis”.

Haran comments, “Friendships bloom quite easily because we automatically have a shared interest (fashion) and a shared communication style (social media) so there is already so much common ground.” Beltrán agrees, “I had the honor to be part of the hf twitter Met Gala team where I met with other 10 amazing girls. As we organized the event, our friendship grew and now we constantly speak. We are all around 6 countries and, despite time zones being a mess, our friendship is really strong.”

Oh and don’t forget about the memes! Out of all designers and brands, Maria Grazia Chiuri (MGC) as creative director for Dior’s womenswear seems to get the most amount of trolling. Callouts of MGC’s tenure at the brand include accusations of being performative about sustainability, anti-racism, and feminism. And also, stating her designs being unimaginative and repetitive.

AlZaben observes, “It’s so funny to see how everyone on hf twitter dislikes MGC. Dior loves MGC because her stuff sells. Dior is not getting rid of MGC because a couple of kids on hf twitter don’t like her work—they aren’t the ones paying her or Dior!” While stan Twitter is reposting their favorite celebrities wearing major brands and the big publications never have anything negative to say, hf twitter takes a critical look and dissects why the collections do or don’t work.

What makes hf twitter so fun is that most participants are not beholden to a publication’s advertisers influencing their reviews. The brutally honest scathing reviews are just that—honest. There is a push for others to do better for an art form they love in an industry that is built on shutting out those that don’t fit the standard. AlZaben says, “There is much more to fashion than just reviews. hf twitter takes into account everyone’s opinion, not just the few journalists that have to write about it. More input equals more discussion. More discussion equals more awareness.”

The hf twitter community represents the accessibility of anyone and everyone to have their thoughts heard; you don’t have to be a fashion influencer or even work in the field to have a platform.

Grafvonluxburg muses, “I have had conversations and interactions with some of the original hf twitter members. I like being able to talk to them, get a retweet, and a like—and sometimes even a response. It makes fashion, which is such an elitist space, feel approachable.”