Some content creators do well by finding a niche and sticking to it, like Lilsimsie becoming The Sim’s community’s reigning creator. Others try a few ways in until one sticks, from trend-hopping to reinventing themselves.
And it’s quite common for creators to come and go. Burning bright and burning out, replaced by the next trend.
However, there are very few creators who have done it like Emma Chamberlain – someone whose influence extends from screens to sponsorships, and podcasts to product launches.
From those early days back in 2016, Emma has cut through the saturated arena of polished personas and perfectly curated content to focus on being relatable and real.
As a result, her fans have had the pleasure of growing up alongside her – riding the lows and savoring the highs - as her wildest dreams have become her even wilder reality.
From aspiring vlogger to Anna-Wintour-approved star, Emma Chamberlain’s journey is a masterclass in authenticity and aspiration.
Emma Chamberlain’s impressive rise
So, just who is Emma Chamberlain?
Well, there are two ways to answer that.
There’s today’s Emma.
15 million followers on Instagram. Her own coffee brand. A podcast with over 1.1 million listeners. And brand deals with the likes of Jean Paul Gaultier and Cartier.
But who was she before all of this?
As tired as the cliché might be, she was the girl next door. A real person with a love of fashion, a love of pop culture, and a need to connect in an increasingly digital world.
So that’s what she did.
She started vlogging around 2017, and quickly found a fanbase in people who understood and related to her interests and quirks.
Letting her followers and friends join her for everything from long, unfiltered monologues to planning looks for Coachella and getting new piercings, she was capturing the days of your typical fashion-obsessed twenty-something trying to navigate modern life.
Growing up and glowing up
As she got older (and wiser, naturally), Emma’s content remained consistent, it was just elevated.
We saw her actively chasing and achieving the dreams she’d been working towards. And in 2019, her partnership with Louis Vuitton marked a historic first. It was the first time a luxury brand trusted in the power of a YouTuber.
It was a gamble that paid off for LV, for Emma, and for content creators everywhere.
From vlogs to Vogue
Now, she’s dressed by the designers she used to review. She is on the red carpets she used to post videos about. And, perhaps most impressively, she’s got the Vogue seal of approval.
Notoriously difficult to impress, Anna Wintour chose Emma Chamberlain to carry out the red-carpet interviews for Vogue at the annual Met Gala, the biggest night in the fashion calendar.
Fashion trends over internet trends
Perhaps the reason brands like Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Harper’s Bazaar (who had her on the cover, no less) invest in Emma is because her online career side-stepped a common practice that can come back to haunt others.
She didn’t bother hopping on every viral trend not associated with her brand and interests.
She wasn’t after click-quicks and engagement.
She wasn’t looking for internet fame. She was investing in a future of fashion and entrepreneurship – she was just using the internet to get there.
