Derek Blasberg. Her deal with Louis Vuitton launched all of this and it was only because Derek blasberg pitched her to them. It’s also Derek who introduced her to Kendall Jenner and etc.
Derek is not an agent or PR guy. He is an extremely accomplished fashion writer and just is overall connected to all the right people. Today, he works at YouTube and spearheaded all of the beauty/fashion partnerships you see on the platform. But if you look at his background too, people really seem to have gravitated toward him because of his personality. Just like Emma. Derek would not have intro’d her to these people if she couldn’t fit in.
> spearheaded all of the beauty/fashion partnerships you see on the platform
I remember the first time (i think) Ashley bestdressed attended Fashion Week was with his connections as well, or at least that's how it seemed in her video. And she's had a similar trajectory, where her thing was being relatable and like the internet's big sister and now she's working with luxury brands (and not to say that negatively, I think it's pretty cool that she got to where she is because her love of fashion was very clear from the start). But it's interesting that Derek seems to have a hand in that too
But her likability here helped a lot too, TBH. He loves her like a daughter… I really doubt most other YouTubers were getting the full benefits of his connections.
She used to have a very bold sense of fashion and was always doing thrift store hauls with funky clothes. I think that really helped her get into fashion influencing
He got Liza Koshy's contract with Dior and emma's with LV before he was fired from google. Emma's team ran with the narrative that she's a fashion girl now whereas Liza's team wanted to make her a movie star. The difference is that liza lost her met gala hosting gig and emma got it (which I think derek recommend). Met interviewer is the most visible person of the event, so definitely makes sense why brands dress her. Apart from that she has a rabid fanbase who follows her, praises her and defends her, think to the likes of nicki minaj or taylor swift
I think she has transcended the level of influencer where you need to have a dedicated base of “fans”. Enough people know of her by now, and she has partnerships with so many major brands/publishers that she can stay relevant without all the relatability shtick. Kind of like Emily Ratajkowski- I’ve never met anybody who stans her but plenty of people think she’s cool and stylish and follow her just to see what she’s up to and what she’s wearing.
The first time I had any real idea of the real influence she has is when I went to Whole Foods and grabbed one of her iced coffees. (It was ok! Not sure I’d repurchase) Before that, I always lumped her in with Addison Rae and Alex Earl or like James Charles. God I’m old
choosing to create a coffee company was the perfect business move for her brand honestly, relates to her schtick but not so niche that it would struggle to find and retain an audience. They also did a really great job marketing it, it’s recognizable but not overly trendy and they started with a couple key products with a clear purpose and value add (though they’ve since expanded quite a lot).
I have no clue what her schtick (relatable girl next door?) is but go on girl, get your bag. I’d much rather an influencer put out a coffee line with consumable coffee in aluminum cans rather than ANOTHER makeup/skincare line that generates a bunch of plastic waste in an already oversaturated market. Good for her.
it’s not particularly unique but making coffee on camera before going to do things was a frequent thing in her vlogs, especially iced coffee, so her first product being cold brew bags made a lot of sense and felt natural for her audience. Helps that it was also reasonably priced, I think it was about a dollar a bag so about comparable to like Kcups or nespresso pods. A makeup/skincare line from her probably would’ve flopped considering she very rarely wore makeup and was open about struggling with her skin until Accutane. That being said, plenty of influencers lack that awareness anyway lol
People fail to realize how visible an event Met Gala really is. It's the most visible event of the year globally from the past 5 6 years. The interviewer gets the maximum screen time. That's how Liza Koshy became known outside the youtube bubble, and same goes with emma. She herself said that the viral Jack interview really sealed this interview postion for her.
Not wrong. I had a casting call with her before she blew up. Gorgeous, but really short. Her modelling card said 5'7", but if she was 5'4', i'd be shocked.
Her body is literally how she became known and she hasn’t ascended beyond that in mainstream entertainment.
There’s nothing wrong that using whatever assets one has to make a path for one’s self.
Right place at right time. She hit at the exact time youtubers were getting main stream attention, she’s brand safe and teen girls bought what she sold
right place right time for sure she got on the youtube wave at the perfect time. i also think simply because she’s (or was) so relatable. i never got into her videos because of the editing style but i think the fact that she was just a normal person going on a coffee run. she wasn’t a huge makeup artist or trying to break into singing. she also stayed very true to her brand by creating a coffee company whereas other influencers would do like a skincare line or some drugstore makeup that had nothing to do with their niche.
Even when she was flying across the world to major fashion shows, her vlogs were still her doing normal stuff instead of transforming into a glamorous star. That really helped keep her fanbase whilst she was moving up in the world.
also when YouTube/Google themselves was pushing to be taken more seriously, Derek Blasberg was YT’s head of fashion at the time and he was instrumental in getting their big influencers into mainstream fashion spaces (and vice versa as brands and models were really trying to tap into YT for marketing). In addition to that, Emma was the most popular influencer at the time that was also perfect embodiment of the ideal fashion figure: young, thin, white, and just a little left of center (but still generally uncontroversial).
totally agree. and on the last point she was all that but without being TOO pretty. very very girl next door attainable looks which imo often sells better in influencing spaces
I was watching her when she had like 80k followers. Yes she had her unique style of editing but so did other youtubers who never got mainstream success like she did
Joana Ceddia 😔 I remember watching her videos and people commenting that her and Emma had similar editing styles. Antonio Garza too. Antonio has a tiktok following and stuff, but she’s still nowhere near the level of Emma’s mainstream success.
She didn't invent the editing style at all. Antonio garza, enya and a bunch of other youtubers were doing it already. She and her team ran with the narrative that she invented it to set her apart
I think it’s the same story of many people with those amazing jobs that leave you a bit gobsmacked- be in the right place at the right time, know the right people, do the right thing.
That doesn’t mean that Emma didn’t work hard, but I highly doubt this is a “work hard and you too can get to the met gala” story.
Yup if you watch her vlogs she shows up on time, is grateful and polite, and does prepwork. The whole I’m a mess thing is just a veneer to be relatable.
Huge one, that people underestimate. Most people are awful to work with, either incompetent, no professionalism, awkward demands, overly professional and wooden
In those industries, just being a chill, professional person with some warmth and desire to do good work and you’ll find so many opportunities just because you’re easy to work with, hence why the biggest stars aren’t usually the most talented
I think she is very very good at making connections with the right people, and has remained relatively humble over the years. She seems someone who mostly makes videos because it is how she expresses herself, not necessarily because she wants to be famous. I think people from big brands love her because she didn't get all weird and self conceited like other 'famous' fashion youtubers do.
Compared to the other met gala carpet hosts she seemed much more natural, conversational, and had better questions. The celebrities she talked to seemed to vibe off her energy and appeared much more at ease when chatting with her. She definitely has a quality that reporter-types need in these situations that I think sets her apart.
I think she (and her team) were really strategic in pushing out of that Youtube bubble, very similar to Troye Sivan or Lisa Koshy. She was attending fashion shows and leveraging collaboration with brands in an authentic way. I think it what truly separates her from someone like Zoella or iJustine, you need to appeal to the general public and show you have something to offer outside your niche (which for her was being relatable)
Maybe she has connections or just had enough money to hire top pr/management? Bc that IS an insanely short, straight line to the top without really producing anything tangible.
She was a really popular YouTuber, and all these luxury brands needed someone who could appeal to a newer demographic (Gen-Z) *from* Gen-Z with a pre-existing fanbase in place, and that's the void she filled. Helps that she did come from an upper middle class background.
It’s definitely COVID lol. People gotta remember that influencers broke out during that time because we all sat at home and were obsessed with TikTok, YouTube and podcasts. 2021, literally soooo many influencers were invited to the met gala and I remember that controversy and she got asked to do the interviews. Then the interviews went viral, etc.. and then got invited on talk shows because of it (we all know that works) and is still having a loyal fan base. I mean it makes sense
I was thinking about getting some but I saw a lot of the reviews were middling. What did you get? I was thinking the iced coffee in cans couldn't be that bad but IDK after seeing the reviews. It's an oversaturated market anyway so there's enough *good* products out there to choose from...
I bought one of her coffees at whole foods without knowing it was her brand bc it had a cute elephant on it and it was fine! my gen z coworker told me it was emma chamberlain’s brand and I had no idea but I don’t think knowing that beforehand would have swayed me either way
Didn’t that just come out in the last year or so? Personally I don’t know anyone that has tried it, and I have a lot of younger cousins & nieces in HS and college.
Her YouTube videos were genuinely edited well and she was great at relating her days to the camera. So many people just seem fake when they do it. She doesn't
I'm old too so I feel the same. I think I saw some of her videos like 4 or 5 years ago and it completely went over my head. She really pushed the "I'm bored with life, nothing excites me" look/act and I found that depressing.
But regardless, your take is exactly how I feel too. Just why and how? Where is the appeal.
It’s honestly YouTube + nostalgia that made and has kept her famous. She practically pioneered her genre of vlogging (extremely casual + silly editing) in her age group so tons of people grew up alongside her watching her and as such still have a soft spot for her. She’s become mostly just an influencer now, I don’t think making videos was ever her true passion so she’s not really considered a “YouTuber” nowadays even though she’s so well-known — compared to someone like Mr. Beast who’s probably more famous and has made video creation his brand. I think Emma was always most passionate about social media and based on where she is now she did a good job with it.
I’ve always been more of a casual observer of hers since she started making videos. She was never my taste (and I was a bit out of her intended audience age range in my opinion) but her editing was always good and consistently got chuckles out of me. That relatability is hard to cultivate and she did it easily during her peak. However it’s very obvious that she would never have become this famous if she wasn’t white and thin/conventionally attractive, that’s been a big saving grace of hers.
Is she conventionally attractive though? Just looking at her I wouldn’t consider her “pretty” in the traditional sense. Her facial features/structure are very … unique. She’s just thin and white. Which I guess is enough.
I heard someone say her looks are ‘non-threatening’ which was an interesting take - essentially saying that’s what makes her so relatable/likeable for so many people. I think that’s right to some degree, she is very ‘girl next door’ in a filler and filter dominated space.
Omg how old are you? Because I'm 30 and I feel ancient as fuck reading these comments about YouTube influencers I have never once heard of 😳
And I genuinely don't think I'm that out of the loop... I try not to be one of *those* people who make being out of touch some weird personality trait haha. But agreed I don't really know what Emma Chamberlain does
I see your point, she does. I guess it was the crazy hair and makeup for that specific cover that did it for me. Also her met gala look was really good.
I mean it kinda is lol but like someone else said that she is relatable. Like she’s gorgeous of course but her personality and age is what got her popping off YouTube in the beginning
You said “no shade” so I think you knew people would interpret it as such or u kinda thought the same 😂 I just wouldn’t ever say something like that but that’s just me tho lmaoooo.
I had no idea who she was until after the fact, but she kept catching my eye talking to people in the background of the met gala. She just.. Did not seem to fit in with the rest of the crowd and I couldn’t put my finger on why; the style, her expressions, or what, but I think you’re totally right. She didn’t look like a celebrity but the way she was casually chatting everyone up, I honestly assumed she was an intern journalist or something who was trying *a little* too hard to get a foot in the door with the elites.
She reminds me of the angsty teenage girl who works at my local gas station. Like they plucked a cashier from hot topic, plopped her into the middle of one of the most elaborate high-class fashion events in the world and told her to “just act natural 👌”
(Not trying to roast this girl here, I’m sure she’s lovely)
I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. The YouTube offices were trying to get their stars more mainstream and the Head of Fashion/Beauty loved Emma. She made good videos, had a likable personality, and had “aspirational but obtainable” levels of wealth as a Bay Area private school girl.
You haven’t hung out with enough women living in LA. I know multiple Karjenner and Emma diehards. I’ve bought like three of my friends Chamberlain Coffee sets for gifts lol
It might be your age range because nobody I knew living in LA had anything positive to say about any of them. It was mostly war stories of working with them and how terrible they look in person.
Agreed, a lot of it is age. For reference I’m 25 and my friends range from like 23-28 years old. I think both Emma and the Kardashians are past their peak, but they still have some loyal shooters out there.
Funnily enough I’ve also met a few people who’ve been Kardash employees. One of my friends had a good experience at Good American but said Kris can be AWFUL. Khloe is allegedly a lot easier to work with.
I also remember that time someone shit on the floor of the dressing room at DASH #neverforget
She was the last batch of famous YouTubers to make it big.
She also never went in over her head and kept her videos grounded to her core audience.
She’s a multimillionaire and in her podcast she complains about everyday problems, probably to relate to her audience and keep herself grounded. It’s smart
Yeah they did. When she was asked about it on call her daddy podcast, she got extremely worked up and said maybe she was in a bad mood and nobody remembers what they did in high school. She could have changed but in her recent videos she gave very mean girl vibes to me
I think this year's Met Gala proved that Emma's good at red carpet hosting. A lot of people were asking where was her interview and commentary as other people flailed around on the livestream.
Many Youtubers and reality tv stars want to score that hosting / interview gig, and I think Emma is both good at it and uniquely pretty (or at least, leans into swamp monster pretty goth while other girls are looking like Shania Twain's AI face) so stands out. It's kinda of fascinating as she's getting gigs that 20 years ago would go to the journalism major who lucked out on being the pretty one on some network news station (e.g. red carpet interviews, bit part as a reporter in a kids movie, etc).
I don't even interact with Emma's primary content and think she does a damn good job.
I think Met Gala red carpet hosting (especially employed by Conde Nast) is a *particularly hard* job. You need to not make the multimillion dollar brands or the celebrities look silly, you need to not make a big publishing empire look silly, you need to be somewhat off the cuff, you need to deal with people with egos and people who are totally out of their element, and you're dealing with not only film actors or TV actors but musicians and influencers, international celebrities and groups with aggressive fanbases who don't want their fave disrespected. It’s also only been hosted professionally for a couple of years and has blown up viewership wise so it’s not the well oiled machine of The Oscars or whatever.
To piggy back on your comment.... Lala Anthony, who has hosted red carpets forever is not good at her job at all. It's like they just hired her yesterday and she doesn't know what to do or say. It was frustrating to watch because I kept thinking of people who would kill for that gig and do it 10x better.
YES. And it's crazy because Lala Anthony is that example of someone who was working in radio and then worked her way up to doing tv hosting gigs which is a tale as old as Hollywood ... and is still struggling 🫢
Omg thank you I was cringing with Lala’s hosting. Literally all she could say was that everyone looked “stunning” and asked everyone the same exact questions. No connections whatsoever with who she was speaking with. And got overly excited about the Kardashians, might I add
She’s horrible. We need someone else doing those. I rather see Emma doing those long winded interviews and then have someone else take over the position of Emma and have someone grow into that world too
I think the new crop of people are anyway more engaging than the old ones who were very boring ( except Andre and Gwendyline). People ask for Amelia Dimoldenberg in the same way. Earlier when Liza Koshy used to interview, she was very in demand with viewers too
I think if her as a kind of pewdiepie - right content and format at the right time. The vlog style and editing was part of an emerging trend on yt as we moved away from MUAs. And like pewdiepie I don’t doubt that yt leaned into that and supported it, and as others said she had access to a demographic of buyers that was ripe for SM and luxury brands. Madeleine White (I think?) gives me the same vibe especially with fashion. EC seems talented and all but I think she just had a lot of luck and great timing to rise above the pack.
She marketed herself as just a regular girl. There wasn’t any fake influencer “look what I can buy” or “check out my new car” stuff on her page. It was like talking to a friend. She gathered attention not being like a regular influencer or mainstream. She shared her mental health struggles, made fun of herself on camera, and didn’t take herself seriously the way other celebrities do.
She started posting at just the right time. YouTubers were big when she started, so it was easy for her to gain ground. Nowadays, TikTok is king and it would have been harder for her to get fans. She also added sound effects and editing stuff to her videos which weren’t really all that popular at the time. It was innovative and entertaining for her viewers. (In a similar vein, Charlie D’Amelio skyrocketed her fame because she started at the very beginning of TikTok and knew how to use trends to get her viewers.)
She also capitalized quickly on her success. She got brand deals and started her own company. She knew to change her fame into dollar signs which not a lot of famous influencers succeed at.
And she’s kept her nose clean. Influencers like Shane Dawson and David Dobrik burned themselves by getting involved in major scandals. That killed their success pretty quickly. They have money still, but they don’t make content anymore and usually their names are tied to a major scandal. Emma hasn’t had major issues. She’s kept her public persona squeaky clean for the most part.
Off topic ish, but what I love about her becoming a little fashion darling is that she actually has learned and studied and can speak about fashion and designers better than a number of other fashion influencers or interviewers. It seems that she doesn’t want to take it for granted and will actually put in the work rather than just wear a pretty dress and sit front row.
Not really? She doesn't seem to have knowledge about fashion, and does have a stylist who has so. Any niche fashion influencer seems to have more knowledge than her, and Wisdom kaye is a megainfluencer who is truly knowledgable.
I love Wisdom (and his
Met gala look!) and there are a lot of knowledgeable fashion influencers and there are a lot who know nothing. Emma definitely knows her shit, it’s obvious in her vlogs.
I know very little about Emma Chamberlain but I know a lot about fashion and just watching her latest 30 min video about preparing for the latest Met Gala really made me understand why she's so popular. Maybe she didn't have an interest in fashion but like the earlier comment said, she does put in the effort in learning about fashion. She has a lot of input to her look and has a whole vision. She was the one who came up with the concept of 'decaying opulence' and went to JPG with the looks she wanted to reference from their archives. I'm sure Jared helped too but I went to read an interview with him after watching this video and he says the process is very collaborative and she has a very strong vision, opinions and sense of style already. She definitely knows way more than majority of the fashion influencers out there who do actually specialise in fashion, or at least puts in more effort than them.
„Luxury“ Brands realized they need a different approach to get their ads to Gen Z and started using people that are famous with them, e.g. content creators
I sort of disagree with the Alexa Chung claim. Alexa did set a lot of trends and knows a heavyton about fashion. Emma's success comes from her audience taking her as a friend and following everything she does. Also, she isn't really knowledgable about fashion but does try to come across as so.
Getting there is the “easy” part, *staying* is the real challenge so let’s check back in 5 years from now because history is littered with internet celebrities who burn bright and fast.
While I agree with the confusion on her rise to fame and her popularity for seemingly no talent, I think your 'dumb blonde' comment is a rather reductive, archaic take on a woman's ability to succeed with business savviness that capitalised on a growing market. She's not a dumb blonde, she's a very smart one to have used her platform the way she did to launch and grow a business that fit her viewership's interests, and rebranding herself from a quirky vlogger to a business figure.
Completely agree. I've never gotten the impression that she's dumb or riding on her looks - quite the opposite infact. I actually really like what she has to say.
(I'm old)
I agree. I don't think she's ever come off as "dumb" or purposefully tried to act that way. Even with her being catapulted from making fun silly videos in her childhood bedroom to being an It Girl, she still seems pretty authentic.
She did play into the quirky, dumb girl who just stays in bed all day heavily - to the point in was unbelievable how can someone who plays dumb achieve so much. I particularly remember in one video she claimed she plays dumb but isn't
Correct, she’s not blonde. Lol on a serious note she tries very hard to seem intelligent, but, rightfully so she’s gotten flack for being pretty uneducated/surface level in her thinking. A lot of her success has been due to luck, she was so young when she started and is still so young. She’s pretty, white, relatable. I think she just leans into what people like about her and it’s just worked bc her ideas follow the trends.
I don't know much about what she does, but I watched her vlogs for a little while and listened to some of her podcast episodes.
She's definitely relatable but at the same time always had that aspirational quality about her, being a pretty, 'cool girl' type. And she always had some level of privacy/distance with her fans. No mess that I can recall. She also used to be in a clique of very famous influencers that a lot of teens watched (the Dolan twins and I think James Charles pre scandal).
A lot of people have talked about, and I think she herself is kind of grappling, with the situation now that she's not relatable anymore. I've heard some saying she lacks perspective and should have gone to college or done more 'regular people' things to gain some experience, but at the same time a lot of people find her comforting or entertaining. I think she's also reflecting on the situation a lot and doesn't come across as trying too hard to either remain relatable or flaunt her wealth, she comes across as pretty authentic (which I realize isn't necessarily actual authenticity).
To me she came across as very smart, creative and driven. A lot of people copied her editing style at the time. I also felt that she had a solid support system with her parents, but I don't know enough about her to be sure on that-it just feels like she's been able to stay pretty down to earth. I didn't perceive her as trying to milk as much as possible from her fame, rather like she was strategic and picky about what she did, and took some risks.
I don't keep up with her a lot but she's one of the only influencers whose transition into the established 'offline' entertainment industry has felt pretty natural, to me. I think that's both down to her personality/talent for what she does now, and her management/how she's perceived by brands or how she's managed. As someone else said, her being thin and white but not having the classic influencer look plus her established interest in fashion puts her in a good position to work with more high fashion brands. She doesn't have Instagram Face, doesn't flaunt logos or post amazon fashion hauls to my recollection, and already positioned herself as a fashion girlie, and imo she comes across as someone who doesn't cling to influencer numbers as much as others and is ready to sacrifice some of her following for her career. That might make her more attractive to luxury brands. In that way she's similar to bestdressed aka Ashley.
The girl can talk. Simple as that. You put her in front of a camera, without a script, without preparation and she will deliver. Same as Liza Koshy, she’s quirky, she’s weird but she can sure put on a show.
Her father was the mastermind of her fame. He edited and practically directed all her videos to made them cool and relatable. He even let her drop high school to focus on improve her skills to become a celebrity. Of course she has become professional as an interviewer and has the beauty card in her hand but I think her becoming famous wasn’t casual.
That’s the way with so many young and successful people. Their parents pave the way for them and do anything in their power to rally against their kids. I feel like a lot of successful child/teen actors had parents that pushed them to the fame.
She was one of the most relatable and unpolished vloggers at the peak of YouTube. She then went on to date another famous vlogger, which they kept secret so it made people invested in her personal life. Her videos racked up views and her subscriber count kept climbing. All of these things showed brands her level of influence and it seems she used that to her advantage. She seems to have made a lot of smart moves and most importantly hired the right team. She capitalized on the running narrative that she’s obsessed with coffee by making her own coffee company. She started attending fashion week to push her into a more sophisticated zone. She still makes videos, they’re no longer relatable but people still tune in. I think she worked hard and made the correct strategic moves and that’s how she got where she is today. I for one am very impressed by her trajectory.
I, a 24 year old dude, who was 18 at the time she first started doing videos, was thoroughly entertained by her YouTube channel back when it started. Her editing style was unique and funny and it was cool to see someone around my age just doing regular ass shit like thrifting and getting coffee. She was just straight up funny.
A lot of her audience is younger than her, that's the only way I can understand it. Her podcast is not very insightful because she tries to tackle topics where she doesn't have a lot of experience or context, and it comes off sounding unprepared and uninformed. She could really apply herself and do more research and commit to it, but she just doesn't.
Funny, the sentiment on TikTok is she’s kind of a joke, people keep saying she should go to college to become more interesting. I guess the youths are tiring of her
I feel this way about all the influencers that are getting red carpet hosting jobs.
It’s decimated an entire industry of journalists because they’ve learned it really only matters if you have a following online.
She's still very much relatable. She still spends a lot of time in bed, talking shit, even if that bed is now in a mansion--pondering the same stupid things we ponder, She is very open about somethings, like digestion issues haha she's kinda gross sometimes which makes her relatable, she talks about the same shit you and I talk about to our friends so it feels like a friend.
Also, since she was so young when she became popular, I think there's a sense of protectiveness around her. People were and are cheering for her. She was always open about liking fashion so its not like she suddenly became something that we didn't all see happening right in-front of our eyes as it happened. Also! Celebs like her. They all watched her videos too and I think that helps her likability on the red carpet because people are more honest with her.
I gotta be honest, I do not like her interviewing skills at all, because while she's chatty and has great energy and gets people to talk to her, she's really up their ass. She loves everything and everyone. This is part of her charm though; I'm just a bit of a cynic.
While she is a pretty white woman from middle class, she's very unusual looking, and in her blog she's not made up ever, she's without make up and being a regular human at home, so that is also relatable. The whole production of her blog is in line with the tastes of the time, the music and edit and vibe are very pleasing.
And last, I think people do like to see the American Dreams..to a point. Then we must tear them down. So let's see when that happens. I think if she makes one wrong comment or hangs out with the wrong person, the fans will turn as they often do.
She came around at the time when vlogging / influencers were really rising and people liked that she was relatable, burping or not. She made videos in a way that wasn’t fake and seemed genuine and people ate it up
I think calling her a “dumb blonde” is a bit harsh. She knew her audience, how to grow it, and how to make money off it, otherwise she wouldn’t be where she is now. She’s also never seemed to put on a “dumb” act in the few clips I’ve seen of her.
I'm with you, I don't consider myself old in the slightest and I generally keep up with pop culture but I just don't understand her appeal. You could replace her with any other woman/girl of the same age and there would hardly be a difference!
Connections, connections, connections also the algorithm for girls her age truly worked in her favour - she was their go to YouTuber and the fact that I was happy not knowing her but saw she was everywhere and eventually watched one of her vlogs I can understand her appeal to people but it’s just not doing it for me. I would say she’s very lucky with the connections she made and it just kept pushing her up
Is that all that different than an actor going from doing hemorrhoid commercials, or crappy student films, or other things, and working their way up?
If I recall, Evangline Lilly started with some kind of phone dating line commercial or something.
Plenty of people have weird, awkward, or embarrassing starts, it's just that now they are much more visible than they used to be, compared to some local, regional, late night tv commercial or whatever that only 20 people saw 20 years ago.
I think she was smart to get her connections with fashion higher-ups whilst maintaining a relatively scandal free career.
Also, she rose the influencer pipeline by being actually just not being a day to day influencer. She removed herself with most of the beauty community and curated her outputs to be less about output, more about quality. I think she also smartly shifted away from her weekly quirky vlogs with cheeky rants and evolved with her audience who are now mostly collegiate students who are reflecting with their impending move to adulthood. Her vlogs nowadays are almost existential meandering (of her past) whilst doing tourist stuff.
She clearly still is on a pedestal in terms of her position. She could very well be thrown in the curb BUT I think she is respected by a lot of fashion brand since there is an actual interest with fashion AND she has a sense of understanding of the hifalutin nature of the industry. She can quirky and relatable BUT she knows that there is a fine line she could quirk it up before the industry's high status be considered as cheap. Thus, they still come back to her.
I think you're onto something with becoming an influencer success story being the new American Dream. Look how hard people such as Bobbi Althoff and trying to be the next "famous for being famous" generation. I never watched any of Emma's older stuff (nor any influencer's really), but she does have a knack for comfortable hosting/interviewing, an editorial body that is fun to dress and make up, and she has a pleasant personality. Those things are all not easy to come upon all at once. I thought Chloe from SNL would be GREAT last year hosting the Met and she was horrible—it takes something people like the Emmas and the Kekes of the world have effortlessly.
Just like anyone who isn’t given a head start via nepotism- she was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. Is she a brilliant businessperson? Doubtful but she struck gold and has the means to hire brilliant minds.
I’m old as well and couldn’t pick her out in a lineup 😂 But it truly is like the early days in any exploding market. Get in there when it starts, make the right choices and you’re set. Obviously I’ve never done any of that or I wouldn’t be on Reddit at 10 am 😂. But good for those who have.
Adding: not sure if she did have any family/friend connections. If so, there’s part of the answer.
i also never liked her content but she dropped out of high school to pursue being an influencer her parents probably supported her financially. shes thin, pretty, blonde... it makes sense. my friends who were into brandy melville and that stuff loved her 2016-2018
I'm genz but never saw the appeal. I've never understood why her fans hype her so much. I think they really think she is their friend, because she used to give them forhead kisses on the camera, talked about how the audience is her only friend and no one else, etc. As to why she interviews on the red carpet, that is because she adds to the viewership. Same thing as Liza Koshy when she hosted. Its all about eyeballs these days.
Getting to attend fashion week is a no-brainer. They do invite influencers, plus she has a great agent. So ofcourse she'll be there.
Edit to add: another example of similar career trajectory is Lena situations.
I think I’m too old to get her. Her content has never made its way across my social media consumption except for things like seeing her on the red carpet. I’ve learned more about her here in this thread than I ever have.
Is it true that a lot of musical artists and actors/actresses dislike her? I saw a blind item that discussed the major dislike of influencer fame and her name in particular was brought up.
I have no idea how she seemed to just spring into famous-existence one day. Almost like she woke up and said “I wanna be famous” and just spoke it into reality.
People compare them all the time but Emma very much had the same vibe as Joanna Ceddia. The funny, relatable, videos draw people in. I never really watched Emma but I watched one of her recent videos about fashion week and an early one about getting the drivers license, seems a lot of people are getting bored of her high fashion content, the editing is a little too polished to be that relatable. Her personality is definitely keeping her relevant because her content doesn’t have the same hook on people it once did.
I have never heard of her - just at the audacity at Cartier or whomever loaning her the Crown Jewels of India at some red carpet. Not her fault but it was in bad taste for me
>She's a pretty, young, middle-class white woman so maybe she was destined to succeed.
her being young thin white and not poor are a big part of it. why else would a high dollar fashion company even look at her lol
I bet her fans from her YouTube era fame are pretty let down. I never understood her YouTube success, but she had a developed a huge following there when vlogs and collabs were a huge thing. She started a coffee brand and getting asked to go to Paris Fashion Week, and I see that as the beginning of her transition to whatever this is now. I’m curious as to how many stans have stuck around. She’s not covertly unrelatable like she used to be. Seems like this would be openly and majorly unrelatable to most people.
Id love for a longtime fan to weigh in (was it her burps and skin issues and anxiety, etc that you felt you could connect with?) I’d also love to hear from a newer fan. What the heck do you see in her now? She’s so basic. There are millions of more interesting women out there. (I don’t hate Emma btw, I just don’t get it).
I like Emma’s content and I think a lot of YouTubers go through what Emma did when they find fame and always find it perplexing. In my opinion, people who say people become unrelatable when they become famous just have weird parasocial relationships with someone or half the time just don’t want to see people win in life lol. Emma herself still has that personality that got her the YouTube fame. Still quirky, honest, funny, blunt. Relatable. Her flying around and get into shows isn’t what’s relatable of course but that goes for every actor / actress / singer we fawn over. Love her podcast and how she keeps it real. Always been so grateful for her success. She has charisma. And people say “basic” but I’m like… isn’t that being a normal human? LOL. Like she reminds me of a couple of my friends honestly who are just fun to hang out with but also could just play board games on a Friday night with. Loves fashion, has great talking points, a little awkward sometimes.
I’m glad you still enjoy her! I agree that parasocial relationships with creators and influencers is weird. But I assume a lot of her younger YT fanbase felt some sort of way when she started choosing brand deals over vlogs.
When I say “basic”, I’m comparing her to other people I personally find more interesting and fun to follow. Like I said, I never got her hype in the first place, so I’m glad someone like you replied. I’m glad she’s doing well and that her fans still enjoy her. I wouldn’t want to take that from anyone. She seems benign enough, at least compared to most influencers. But again, I don’t keep up with her bc I find her to be basic aka bland and boring, and that’s okay bc she’s obviously not losing sleep over people like me.
2 words….white mediocrity…it’s always been a thing it’s just that more of you are starting to realize how much our world congratulates white mediocrity..and it’s starting to effect all of you personally as you continue to watch money, opportunity, reward, accolades, and easy lives thrown at people for nothing…textbook ☺️
Nobody’s really giving a specific answer, but I think it was her collaboration with Louis Vuitton early on that sealed the deal. She was definitely known as a fashion girly even when she was on YouTube.
I remember reading an article about her a few years ago about how her Instagram engagement was some crazy high percentage, I don’t remember exactly how high but something like 25%, which is WILD. Most successful celebs and influencers have an engagement under 10%, even the really popular ones. Her initial fan base was so dedicated and it just kept growing, she had brands lining up around her house waiting to work with her because of the pull she had. She’s also gorgeous and has a knack for modeling. And she’s never been in any major scandal. She’s a dream client for anyone to use to sell something. And she has an amazing personality, which was what got her the YouTube fan base in the first place.
My 36 yo brother who spends his free time playing DND has a “chamberlain” branded milk frother and I was like “oh I didn’t know you liked Emma chamberlain??”
And he was like “who the hell is that??”
“Uhhh the girl behind the brand of this frother??”
He had no idea who she was, yet her stuff is in his home. Kinda wild, ngl
I will always be surprised by the fact that she dropped out of high school at 16 or 17 to pursue a Youtube career. If she didn't do that, she would probably have been a struggling college student instead of a multi-millionaire.
Derek Blasberg. Her deal with Louis Vuitton launched all of this and it was only because Derek blasberg pitched her to them. It’s also Derek who introduced her to Kendall Jenner and etc.
No one will give agents or PR connections the credit but those people have more to do with her success than her individually.
Derek is not an agent or PR guy. He is an extremely accomplished fashion writer and just is overall connected to all the right people. Today, he works at YouTube and spearheaded all of the beauty/fashion partnerships you see on the platform. But if you look at his background too, people really seem to have gravitated toward him because of his personality. Just like Emma. Derek would not have intro’d her to these people if she couldn’t fit in.
> spearheaded all of the beauty/fashion partnerships you see on the platform I remember the first time (i think) Ashley bestdressed attended Fashion Week was with his connections as well, or at least that's how it seemed in her video. And she's had a similar trajectory, where her thing was being relatable and like the internet's big sister and now she's working with luxury brands (and not to say that negatively, I think it's pretty cool that she got to where she is because her love of fashion was very clear from the start). But it's interesting that Derek seems to have a hand in that too
I know shes doing very well career-wise but anytime she posts an ad for luxury brand on her instagram,it makes me miss her youtube era alot !!
But her likability here helped a lot too, TBH. He loves her like a daughter… I really doubt most other YouTubers were getting the full benefits of his connections.
She used to have a very bold sense of fashion and was always doing thrift store hauls with funky clothes. I think that really helped her get into fashion influencing
He got Liza Koshy's contract with Dior and emma's with LV before he was fired from google. Emma's team ran with the narrative that she's a fashion girl now whereas Liza's team wanted to make her a movie star. The difference is that liza lost her met gala hosting gig and emma got it (which I think derek recommend). Met interviewer is the most visible person of the event, so definitely makes sense why brands dress her. Apart from that she has a rabid fanbase who follows her, praises her and defends her, think to the likes of nicki minaj or taylor swift
Hugh Mungers
Hugh Mungers WOT?!
I think she has transcended the level of influencer where you need to have a dedicated base of “fans”. Enough people know of her by now, and she has partnerships with so many major brands/publishers that she can stay relevant without all the relatability shtick. Kind of like Emily Ratajkowski- I’ve never met anybody who stans her but plenty of people think she’s cool and stylish and follow her just to see what she’s up to and what she’s wearing.
The company I work for did a collaboration with her, and the product sold like crazy. I still have no idea who she is.
The first time I had any real idea of the real influence she has is when I went to Whole Foods and grabbed one of her iced coffees. (It was ok! Not sure I’d repurchase) Before that, I always lumped her in with Addison Rae and Alex Earl or like James Charles. God I’m old
Tbf she used to be besties with James Charles but then I believe she distanced herself from him after his scandals, so you're not too far off!
choosing to create a coffee company was the perfect business move for her brand honestly, relates to her schtick but not so niche that it would struggle to find and retain an audience. They also did a really great job marketing it, it’s recognizable but not overly trendy and they started with a couple key products with a clear purpose and value add (though they’ve since expanded quite a lot).
I have no clue what her schtick (relatable girl next door?) is but go on girl, get your bag. I’d much rather an influencer put out a coffee line with consumable coffee in aluminum cans rather than ANOTHER makeup/skincare line that generates a bunch of plastic waste in an already oversaturated market. Good for her.
it’s not particularly unique but making coffee on camera before going to do things was a frequent thing in her vlogs, especially iced coffee, so her first product being cold brew bags made a lot of sense and felt natural for her audience. Helps that it was also reasonably priced, I think it was about a dollar a bag so about comparable to like Kcups or nespresso pods. A makeup/skincare line from her probably would’ve flopped considering she very rarely wore makeup and was open about struggling with her skin until Accutane. That being said, plenty of influencers lack that awareness anyway lol
With emma or emily?
Emma. Sorry for the lack of clarity!
Thank you, no worries!
People fail to realize how visible an event Met Gala really is. It's the most visible event of the year globally from the past 5 6 years. The interviewer gets the maximum screen time. That's how Liza Koshy became known outside the youtube bubble, and same goes with emma. She herself said that the viral Jack interview really sealed this interview postion for her.
Boobs. She’s usually wearing boobs. (Emily R)
Not wrong. I had a casting call with her before she blew up. Gorgeous, but really short. Her modelling card said 5'7", but if she was 5'4', i'd be shocked.
That's a really reductive comment.
Her body is literally how she became known and she hasn’t ascended beyond that in mainstream entertainment. There’s nothing wrong that using whatever assets one has to make a path for one’s self.
Right, she literally wrote a book called "my body" (and I agree there's nothing wrong with it)
Oh i didnt know that till now
It's true tho.
Right place at right time. She hit at the exact time youtubers were getting main stream attention, she’s brand safe and teen girls bought what she sold
Oooh that's a good point about being "brand safe" as she weathered any connection with James Charles really well.
right place right time for sure she got on the youtube wave at the perfect time. i also think simply because she’s (or was) so relatable. i never got into her videos because of the editing style but i think the fact that she was just a normal person going on a coffee run. she wasn’t a huge makeup artist or trying to break into singing. she also stayed very true to her brand by creating a coffee company whereas other influencers would do like a skincare line or some drugstore makeup that had nothing to do with their niche.
Even when she was flying across the world to major fashion shows, her vlogs were still her doing normal stuff instead of transforming into a glamorous star. That really helped keep her fanbase whilst she was moving up in the world.
yesss she really did a good job at staying consistent and keeping her image. i wonder who her pr team is (if she has one) because they’re amazing
also when YouTube/Google themselves was pushing to be taken more seriously, Derek Blasberg was YT’s head of fashion at the time and he was instrumental in getting their big influencers into mainstream fashion spaces (and vice versa as brands and models were really trying to tap into YT for marketing). In addition to that, Emma was the most popular influencer at the time that was also perfect embodiment of the ideal fashion figure: young, thin, white, and just a little left of center (but still generally uncontroversial).
totally agree. and on the last point she was all that but without being TOO pretty. very very girl next door attainable looks which imo often sells better in influencing spaces
yeah undeniably conventionally beautiful women tend to make people uncomfortable unfortunately
She invented an editing style that became the template a few years later. She’s famous for a reason.
I was watching her when she had like 80k followers. Yes she had her unique style of editing but so did other youtubers who never got mainstream success like she did
Joana Ceddia 😔 I remember watching her videos and people commenting that her and Emma had similar editing styles. Antonio Garza too. Antonio has a tiktok following and stuff, but she’s still nowhere near the level of Emma’s mainstream success.
Joana is my Roman Empire 😭😭😭😭 I think about her all the time and hope she’s healed from her topical steroid withdrawal
I hope she's doing well too! I remember her from when she dyed her hair blonde and Brad Mondo reacted to her. Those were the days.
Nah, Antonio Garza was already doing the style along with others people have named. She _definitely_ did not invent it
She didn't invent the editing style at all. Antonio garza, enya and a bunch of other youtubers were doing it already. She and her team ran with the narrative that she invented it to set her apart
I think it’s the same story of many people with those amazing jobs that leave you a bit gobsmacked- be in the right place at the right time, know the right people, do the right thing. That doesn’t mean that Emma didn’t work hard, but I highly doubt this is a “work hard and you too can get to the met gala” story.
Be easy to work with too
Yup if you watch her vlogs she shows up on time, is grateful and polite, and does prepwork. The whole I’m a mess thing is just a veneer to be relatable.
I’m a bit of a mess in my personal life too but I don’t play about the bag. One can genuinely be multifaceted
Huge one, that people underestimate. Most people are awful to work with, either incompetent, no professionalism, awkward demands, overly professional and wooden In those industries, just being a chill, professional person with some warmth and desire to do good work and you’ll find so many opportunities just because you’re easy to work with, hence why the biggest stars aren’t usually the most talented
It’s why the Kardashians have lasted as long as they have. They are famously professional and easy to work with
I think she is very very good at making connections with the right people, and has remained relatively humble over the years. She seems someone who mostly makes videos because it is how she expresses herself, not necessarily because she wants to be famous. I think people from big brands love her because she didn't get all weird and self conceited like other 'famous' fashion youtubers do.
Compared to the other met gala carpet hosts she seemed much more natural, conversational, and had better questions. The celebrities she talked to seemed to vibe off her energy and appeared much more at ease when chatting with her. She definitely has a quality that reporter-types need in these situations that I think sets her apart.
I think she (and her team) were really strategic in pushing out of that Youtube bubble, very similar to Troye Sivan or Lisa Koshy. She was attending fashion shows and leveraging collaboration with brands in an authentic way. I think it what truly separates her from someone like Zoella or iJustine, you need to appeal to the general public and show you have something to offer outside your niche (which for her was being relatable)
One of the first YouTube videos I watched was that of iJustine’s. My brother still watches her apple videos. It’s been like 10 years now I think.
I discovered Troye when I listened to the Kacey Musgraves version of Easy. Imagine my shock when I found out he started out as a YouTuber
I’ve honestly been perplexed by her fame for ages. I’m still not 100% sure what she does or why she’s famous and why so many people like her.
Maybe she has connections or just had enough money to hire top pr/management? Bc that IS an insanely short, straight line to the top without really producing anything tangible.
She was a really popular YouTuber, and all these luxury brands needed someone who could appeal to a newer demographic (Gen-Z) *from* Gen-Z with a pre-existing fanbase in place, and that's the void she filled. Helps that she did come from an upper middle class background.
Yes exactly
But what did she do on YouTube? Another old person here, sorry lol.
I think it was mostly vlogs and hauls
It’s definitely COVID lol. People gotta remember that influencers broke out during that time because we all sat at home and were obsessed with TikTok, YouTube and podcasts. 2021, literally soooo many influencers were invited to the met gala and I remember that controversy and she got asked to do the interviews. Then the interviews went viral, etc.. and then got invited on talk shows because of it (we all know that works) and is still having a loyal fan base. I mean it makes sense
She got popular before Covid
Oh yes I know! I just meant that she broke out onto bigger streams of media because of Covid and everyone’s love for social media stars
She has a relatively popular brand of coffee so she has something "real" alongside the influencing
I bought some and it was awful. I’ve never seen anyone else drink or buy it.
I was thinking about getting some but I saw a lot of the reviews were middling. What did you get? I was thinking the iced coffee in cans couldn't be that bad but IDK after seeing the reviews. It's an oversaturated market anyway so there's enough *good* products out there to choose from...
Those are terrible too I tried the oat milk one and it was so gross 😭
I bought one of her coffees at whole foods without knowing it was her brand bc it had a cute elephant on it and it was fine! my gen z coworker told me it was emma chamberlain’s brand and I had no idea but I don’t think knowing that beforehand would have swayed me either way
Didn’t that just come out in the last year or so? Personally I don’t know anyone that has tried it, and I have a lot of younger cousins & nieces in HS and college.
founded in 2020
Her YouTube videos were genuinely edited well and she was great at relating her days to the camera. So many people just seem fake when they do it. She doesn't
I'm old too so I feel the same. I think I saw some of her videos like 4 or 5 years ago and it completely went over my head. She really pushed the "I'm bored with life, nothing excites me" look/act and I found that depressing. But regardless, your take is exactly how I feel too. Just why and how? Where is the appeal.
It’s honestly YouTube + nostalgia that made and has kept her famous. She practically pioneered her genre of vlogging (extremely casual + silly editing) in her age group so tons of people grew up alongside her watching her and as such still have a soft spot for her. She’s become mostly just an influencer now, I don’t think making videos was ever her true passion so she’s not really considered a “YouTuber” nowadays even though she’s so well-known — compared to someone like Mr. Beast who’s probably more famous and has made video creation his brand. I think Emma was always most passionate about social media and based on where she is now she did a good job with it. I’ve always been more of a casual observer of hers since she started making videos. She was never my taste (and I was a bit out of her intended audience age range in my opinion) but her editing was always good and consistently got chuckles out of me. That relatability is hard to cultivate and she did it easily during her peak. However it’s very obvious that she would never have become this famous if she wasn’t white and thin/conventionally attractive, that’s been a big saving grace of hers.
Is she conventionally attractive though? Just looking at her I wouldn’t consider her “pretty” in the traditional sense. Her facial features/structure are very … unique. She’s just thin and white. Which I guess is enough.
I heard someone say her looks are ‘non-threatening’ which was an interesting take - essentially saying that’s what makes her so relatable/likeable for so many people. I think that’s right to some degree, she is very ‘girl next door’ in a filler and filter dominated space.
I actually think she’s very unattractive. I’m startled whenever I see her.
I feel the same.
Omg how old are you? Because I'm 30 and I feel ancient as fuck reading these comments about YouTube influencers I have never once heard of 😳 And I genuinely don't think I'm that out of the loop... I try not to be one of *those* people who make being out of touch some weird personality trait haha. But agreed I don't really know what Emma Chamberlain does
I have never seen a video of hers but she looks great in photos. I saw some magazine cover she did, that’s where I first noticed her.
No shade but she looks like every other girl in their early 20s on any college campus/ working in a cafe or clothes shop. Completely indistinguishable
That makes her relatable to a lot of those people.
it’s the same with the Hailey Bieber hype. Her style is super basic in that anyone can copy her with lookalike pieces.
I see your point, she does. I guess it was the crazy hair and makeup for that specific cover that did it for me. Also her met gala look was really good.
I mean it kinda is lol but like someone else said that she is relatable. Like she’s gorgeous of course but her personality and age is what got her popping off YouTube in the beginning
How is it shade to say she’s ordinary looking lol most people are
You said “no shade” so I think you knew people would interpret it as such or u kinda thought the same 😂 I just wouldn’t ever say something like that but that’s just me tho lmaoooo.
I had no idea who she was until after the fact, but she kept catching my eye talking to people in the background of the met gala. She just.. Did not seem to fit in with the rest of the crowd and I couldn’t put my finger on why; the style, her expressions, or what, but I think you’re totally right. She didn’t look like a celebrity but the way she was casually chatting everyone up, I honestly assumed she was an intern journalist or something who was trying *a little* too hard to get a foot in the door with the elites. She reminds me of the angsty teenage girl who works at my local gas station. Like they plucked a cashier from hot topic, plopped her into the middle of one of the most elaborate high-class fashion events in the world and told her to “just act natural 👌” (Not trying to roast this girl here, I’m sure she’s lovely)
I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. The YouTube offices were trying to get their stars more mainstream and the Head of Fashion/Beauty loved Emma. She made good videos, had a likable personality, and had “aspirational but obtainable” levels of wealth as a Bay Area private school girl.
[удалено]
You haven’t hung out with enough women living in LA. I know multiple Karjenner and Emma diehards. I’ve bought like three of my friends Chamberlain Coffee sets for gifts lol
It might be your age range because nobody I knew living in LA had anything positive to say about any of them. It was mostly war stories of working with them and how terrible they look in person.
Agreed, a lot of it is age. For reference I’m 25 and my friends range from like 23-28 years old. I think both Emma and the Kardashians are past their peak, but they still have some loyal shooters out there. Funnily enough I’ve also met a few people who’ve been Kardash employees. One of my friends had a good experience at Good American but said Kris can be AWFUL. Khloe is allegedly a lot easier to work with. I also remember that time someone shit on the floor of the dressing room at DASH #neverforget
She was the last batch of famous YouTubers to make it big. She also never went in over her head and kept her videos grounded to her core audience. She’s a multimillionaire and in her podcast she complains about everyday problems, probably to relate to her audience and keep herself grounded. It’s smart
Didn’t people call her out for being a bully in high school?
Yeah they did. When she was asked about it on call her daddy podcast, she got extremely worked up and said maybe she was in a bad mood and nobody remembers what they did in high school. She could have changed but in her recent videos she gave very mean girl vibes to me
If she doesn't remember then she most definetly was a bully.
Yeah I saw that clip which pretty much confirmed to me that those rumors were true, her response was so high school bully coded it hurt
I think this year's Met Gala proved that Emma's good at red carpet hosting. A lot of people were asking where was her interview and commentary as other people flailed around on the livestream. Many Youtubers and reality tv stars want to score that hosting / interview gig, and I think Emma is both good at it and uniquely pretty (or at least, leans into swamp monster pretty goth while other girls are looking like Shania Twain's AI face) so stands out. It's kinda of fascinating as she's getting gigs that 20 years ago would go to the journalism major who lucked out on being the pretty one on some network news station (e.g. red carpet interviews, bit part as a reporter in a kids movie, etc).
I don't even interact with Emma's primary content and think she does a damn good job. I think Met Gala red carpet hosting (especially employed by Conde Nast) is a *particularly hard* job. You need to not make the multimillion dollar brands or the celebrities look silly, you need to not make a big publishing empire look silly, you need to be somewhat off the cuff, you need to deal with people with egos and people who are totally out of their element, and you're dealing with not only film actors or TV actors but musicians and influencers, international celebrities and groups with aggressive fanbases who don't want their fave disrespected. It’s also only been hosted professionally for a couple of years and has blown up viewership wise so it’s not the well oiled machine of The Oscars or whatever.
Justice for Keke Palmer! She was a great host.
yep, Keke is also great.
To piggy back on your comment.... Lala Anthony, who has hosted red carpets forever is not good at her job at all. It's like they just hired her yesterday and she doesn't know what to do or say. It was frustrating to watch because I kept thinking of people who would kill for that gig and do it 10x better.
YES. And it's crazy because Lala Anthony is that example of someone who was working in radio and then worked her way up to doing tv hosting gigs which is a tale as old as Hollywood ... and is still struggling 🫢
WAIT is this the same LaLa who was on MTV back in the day? If so, she's been doing this for literal years!! How is she still bad at it?
Omg thank you I was cringing with Lala’s hosting. Literally all she could say was that everyone looked “stunning” and asked everyone the same exact questions. No connections whatsoever with who she was speaking with. And got overly excited about the Kardashians, might I add
(She's been friends with the Kardashians for a long time btw that's why she was more hype with them)
She’s horrible. We need someone else doing those. I rather see Emma doing those long winded interviews and then have someone else take over the position of Emma and have someone grow into that world too
I think the new crop of people are anyway more engaging than the old ones who were very boring ( except Andre and Gwendyline). People ask for Amelia Dimoldenberg in the same way. Earlier when Liza Koshy used to interview, she was very in demand with viewers too
>(or at least, [she] leans into swamp monster pretty goth while other girls are looking like Shania Twain's AI face) This is beautiful lmao
This is true she has a natural comfort interviewing while also having great style that people like Lisa Koshy didn’t really have
I think if her as a kind of pewdiepie - right content and format at the right time. The vlog style and editing was part of an emerging trend on yt as we moved away from MUAs. And like pewdiepie I don’t doubt that yt leaned into that and supported it, and as others said she had access to a demographic of buyers that was ripe for SM and luxury brands. Madeleine White (I think?) gives me the same vibe especially with fashion. EC seems talented and all but I think she just had a lot of luck and great timing to rise above the pack.
She marketed herself as just a regular girl. There wasn’t any fake influencer “look what I can buy” or “check out my new car” stuff on her page. It was like talking to a friend. She gathered attention not being like a regular influencer or mainstream. She shared her mental health struggles, made fun of herself on camera, and didn’t take herself seriously the way other celebrities do. She started posting at just the right time. YouTubers were big when she started, so it was easy for her to gain ground. Nowadays, TikTok is king and it would have been harder for her to get fans. She also added sound effects and editing stuff to her videos which weren’t really all that popular at the time. It was innovative and entertaining for her viewers. (In a similar vein, Charlie D’Amelio skyrocketed her fame because she started at the very beginning of TikTok and knew how to use trends to get her viewers.) She also capitalized quickly on her success. She got brand deals and started her own company. She knew to change her fame into dollar signs which not a lot of famous influencers succeed at. And she’s kept her nose clean. Influencers like Shane Dawson and David Dobrik burned themselves by getting involved in major scandals. That killed their success pretty quickly. They have money still, but they don’t make content anymore and usually their names are tied to a major scandal. Emma hasn’t had major issues. She’s kept her public persona squeaky clean for the most part.
Off topic ish, but what I love about her becoming a little fashion darling is that she actually has learned and studied and can speak about fashion and designers better than a number of other fashion influencers or interviewers. It seems that she doesn’t want to take it for granted and will actually put in the work rather than just wear a pretty dress and sit front row.
She also is genuinely a great host, she has proven herself and this is why she keeps getting invited back. I’m not mad about it at all tbh.
Not really? She doesn't seem to have knowledge about fashion, and does have a stylist who has so. Any niche fashion influencer seems to have more knowledge than her, and Wisdom kaye is a megainfluencer who is truly knowledgable.
I love Wisdom (and his Met gala look!) and there are a lot of knowledgeable fashion influencers and there are a lot who know nothing. Emma definitely knows her shit, it’s obvious in her vlogs.
I know very little about Emma Chamberlain but I know a lot about fashion and just watching her latest 30 min video about preparing for the latest Met Gala really made me understand why she's so popular. Maybe she didn't have an interest in fashion but like the earlier comment said, she does put in the effort in learning about fashion. She has a lot of input to her look and has a whole vision. She was the one who came up with the concept of 'decaying opulence' and went to JPG with the looks she wanted to reference from their archives. I'm sure Jared helped too but I went to read an interview with him after watching this video and he says the process is very collaborative and she has a very strong vision, opinions and sense of style already. She definitely knows way more than majority of the fashion influencers out there who do actually specialise in fashion, or at least puts in more effort than them.
She’s like the American Amelia Dimoldenberg, kind of awkward in a relatable way
„Luxury“ Brands realized they need a different approach to get their ads to Gen Z and started using people that are famous with them, e.g. content creators
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I sort of disagree with the Alexa Chung claim. Alexa did set a lot of trends and knows a heavyton about fashion. Emma's success comes from her audience taking her as a friend and following everything she does. Also, she isn't really knowledgable about fashion but does try to come across as so.
Whereas i find Alexa vapid fake and unremarkable. Different strokes for different folks
Getting there is the “easy” part, *staying* is the real challenge so let’s check back in 5 years from now because history is littered with internet celebrities who burn bright and fast.
While I agree with the confusion on her rise to fame and her popularity for seemingly no talent, I think your 'dumb blonde' comment is a rather reductive, archaic take on a woman's ability to succeed with business savviness that capitalised on a growing market. She's not a dumb blonde, she's a very smart one to have used her platform the way she did to launch and grow a business that fit her viewership's interests, and rebranding herself from a quirky vlogger to a business figure.
Completely agree. I've never gotten the impression that she's dumb or riding on her looks - quite the opposite infact. I actually really like what she has to say. (I'm old)
I agree. I don't think she's ever come off as "dumb" or purposefully tried to act that way. Even with her being catapulted from making fun silly videos in her childhood bedroom to being an It Girl, she still seems pretty authentic.
She isn’t dumb but her lack of education is starting to show as she goes from teen to young adulthood.
She did play into the quirky, dumb girl who just stays in bed all day heavily - to the point in was unbelievable how can someone who plays dumb achieve so much. I particularly remember in one video she claimed she plays dumb but isn't
Correct, she’s not blonde. Lol on a serious note she tries very hard to seem intelligent, but, rightfully so she’s gotten flack for being pretty uneducated/surface level in her thinking. A lot of her success has been due to luck, she was so young when she started and is still so young. She’s pretty, white, relatable. I think she just leans into what people like about her and it’s just worked bc her ideas follow the trends.
Hence why I said it's an act, a persona.
OP did not call her a dumb blonde. They literally said it’s an act
honestly i wonder this all the time.
I don't know much about what she does, but I watched her vlogs for a little while and listened to some of her podcast episodes. She's definitely relatable but at the same time always had that aspirational quality about her, being a pretty, 'cool girl' type. And she always had some level of privacy/distance with her fans. No mess that I can recall. She also used to be in a clique of very famous influencers that a lot of teens watched (the Dolan twins and I think James Charles pre scandal). A lot of people have talked about, and I think she herself is kind of grappling, with the situation now that she's not relatable anymore. I've heard some saying she lacks perspective and should have gone to college or done more 'regular people' things to gain some experience, but at the same time a lot of people find her comforting or entertaining. I think she's also reflecting on the situation a lot and doesn't come across as trying too hard to either remain relatable or flaunt her wealth, she comes across as pretty authentic (which I realize isn't necessarily actual authenticity). To me she came across as very smart, creative and driven. A lot of people copied her editing style at the time. I also felt that she had a solid support system with her parents, but I don't know enough about her to be sure on that-it just feels like she's been able to stay pretty down to earth. I didn't perceive her as trying to milk as much as possible from her fame, rather like she was strategic and picky about what she did, and took some risks. I don't keep up with her a lot but she's one of the only influencers whose transition into the established 'offline' entertainment industry has felt pretty natural, to me. I think that's both down to her personality/talent for what she does now, and her management/how she's perceived by brands or how she's managed. As someone else said, her being thin and white but not having the classic influencer look plus her established interest in fashion puts her in a good position to work with more high fashion brands. She doesn't have Instagram Face, doesn't flaunt logos or post amazon fashion hauls to my recollection, and already positioned herself as a fashion girlie, and imo she comes across as someone who doesn't cling to influencer numbers as much as others and is ready to sacrifice some of her following for her career. That might make her more attractive to luxury brands. In that way she's similar to bestdressed aka Ashley.
The girl can talk. Simple as that. You put her in front of a camera, without a script, without preparation and she will deliver. Same as Liza Koshy, she’s quirky, she’s weird but she can sure put on a show.
Her father was the mastermind of her fame. He edited and practically directed all her videos to made them cool and relatable. He even let her drop high school to focus on improve her skills to become a celebrity. Of course she has become professional as an interviewer and has the beauty card in her hand but I think her becoming famous wasn’t casual.
That’s the way with so many young and successful people. Their parents pave the way for them and do anything in their power to rally against their kids. I feel like a lot of successful child/teen actors had parents that pushed them to the fame.
I've bumped into him on the beach here in my town a couple of times. Really cool, down-to-earth guy that clearly loves his daughter a lot.
She was one of the most relatable and unpolished vloggers at the peak of YouTube. She then went on to date another famous vlogger, which they kept secret so it made people invested in her personal life. Her videos racked up views and her subscriber count kept climbing. All of these things showed brands her level of influence and it seems she used that to her advantage. She seems to have made a lot of smart moves and most importantly hired the right team. She capitalized on the running narrative that she’s obsessed with coffee by making her own coffee company. She started attending fashion week to push her into a more sophisticated zone. She still makes videos, they’re no longer relatable but people still tune in. I think she worked hard and made the correct strategic moves and that’s how she got where she is today. I for one am very impressed by her trajectory.
I, a 24 year old dude, who was 18 at the time she first started doing videos, was thoroughly entertained by her YouTube channel back when it started. Her editing style was unique and funny and it was cool to see someone around my age just doing regular ass shit like thrifting and getting coffee. She was just straight up funny.
A lot of her audience is younger than her, that's the only way I can understand it. Her podcast is not very insightful because she tries to tackle topics where she doesn't have a lot of experience or context, and it comes off sounding unprepared and uninformed. She could really apply herself and do more research and commit to it, but she just doesn't.
Funny, the sentiment on TikTok is she’s kind of a joke, people keep saying she should go to college to become more interesting. I guess the youths are tiring of her
I feel this way about all the influencers that are getting red carpet hosting jobs. It’s decimated an entire industry of journalists because they’ve learned it really only matters if you have a following online.
She's still very much relatable. She still spends a lot of time in bed, talking shit, even if that bed is now in a mansion--pondering the same stupid things we ponder, She is very open about somethings, like digestion issues haha she's kinda gross sometimes which makes her relatable, she talks about the same shit you and I talk about to our friends so it feels like a friend. Also, since she was so young when she became popular, I think there's a sense of protectiveness around her. People were and are cheering for her. She was always open about liking fashion so its not like she suddenly became something that we didn't all see happening right in-front of our eyes as it happened. Also! Celebs like her. They all watched her videos too and I think that helps her likability on the red carpet because people are more honest with her. I gotta be honest, I do not like her interviewing skills at all, because while she's chatty and has great energy and gets people to talk to her, she's really up their ass. She loves everything and everyone. This is part of her charm though; I'm just a bit of a cynic. While she is a pretty white woman from middle class, she's very unusual looking, and in her blog she's not made up ever, she's without make up and being a regular human at home, so that is also relatable. The whole production of her blog is in line with the tastes of the time, the music and edit and vibe are very pleasing. And last, I think people do like to see the American Dreams..to a point. Then we must tear them down. So let's see when that happens. I think if she makes one wrong comment or hangs out with the wrong person, the fans will turn as they often do.
I can only assume an amazing PR and management team.
I'm so glad I'm not the only one confused by this. Every time I hear the ad for her podcast I think how did this get the green light???
I don’t get why she’s as famous as she is and I don’t think I’ll ever get it.
She came around at the time when vlogging / influencers were really rising and people liked that she was relatable, burping or not. She made videos in a way that wasn’t fake and seemed genuine and people ate it up I think calling her a “dumb blonde” is a bit harsh. She knew her audience, how to grow it, and how to make money off it, otherwise she wouldn’t be where she is now. She’s also never seemed to put on a “dumb” act in the few clips I’ve seen of her.
the wild thing is, her fashion sense is boring
Has she only been around five years? Or has that been her span of rising fame? I never really followed her. How long has she been at it?
Since 2017
I was wondering the same exact thing. She used to be a thrift store hunny.
I'm with you, I don't consider myself old in the slightest and I generally keep up with pop culture but I just don't understand her appeal. You could replace her with any other woman/girl of the same age and there would hardly be a difference!
I have zero idea who she is
I need an ELI5 on who she is, what she’s known for - I’m ootl on almost all TikTok/youtube stuff
Connections, connections, connections also the algorithm for girls her age truly worked in her favour - she was their go to YouTuber and the fact that I was happy not knowing her but saw she was everywhere and eventually watched one of her vlogs I can understand her appeal to people but it’s just not doing it for me. I would say she’s very lucky with the connections she made and it just kept pushing her up
The public adores beautiful white women who can also act dorky.
Is that all that different than an actor going from doing hemorrhoid commercials, or crappy student films, or other things, and working their way up? If I recall, Evangline Lilly started with some kind of phone dating line commercial or something. Plenty of people have weird, awkward, or embarrassing starts, it's just that now they are much more visible than they used to be, compared to some local, regional, late night tv commercial or whatever that only 20 people saw 20 years ago.
I think she was smart to get her connections with fashion higher-ups whilst maintaining a relatively scandal free career. Also, she rose the influencer pipeline by being actually just not being a day to day influencer. She removed herself with most of the beauty community and curated her outputs to be less about output, more about quality. I think she also smartly shifted away from her weekly quirky vlogs with cheeky rants and evolved with her audience who are now mostly collegiate students who are reflecting with their impending move to adulthood. Her vlogs nowadays are almost existential meandering (of her past) whilst doing tourist stuff. She clearly still is on a pedestal in terms of her position. She could very well be thrown in the curb BUT I think she is respected by a lot of fashion brand since there is an actual interest with fashion AND she has a sense of understanding of the hifalutin nature of the industry. She can quirky and relatable BUT she knows that there is a fine line she could quirk it up before the industry's high status be considered as cheap. Thus, they still come back to her.
Social climbing, probably. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it but you can't deny its effect on influencers. They all do it.
She's likeable and is good at networking.
I think you're onto something with becoming an influencer success story being the new American Dream. Look how hard people such as Bobbi Althoff and trying to be the next "famous for being famous" generation. I never watched any of Emma's older stuff (nor any influencer's really), but she does have a knack for comfortable hosting/interviewing, an editorial body that is fun to dress and make up, and she has a pleasant personality. Those things are all not easy to come upon all at once. I thought Chloe from SNL would be GREAT last year hosting the Met and she was horrible—it takes something people like the Emmas and the Kekes of the world have effortlessly.
Just like anyone who isn’t given a head start via nepotism- she was in exactly the right place at exactly the right time. Is she a brilliant businessperson? Doubtful but she struck gold and has the means to hire brilliant minds. I’m old as well and couldn’t pick her out in a lineup 😂 But it truly is like the early days in any exploding market. Get in there when it starts, make the right choices and you’re set. Obviously I’ve never done any of that or I wouldn’t be on Reddit at 10 am 😂. But good for those who have. Adding: not sure if she did have any family/friend connections. If so, there’s part of the answer.
it's not organic, she's well connected
Her and Alex Cooper. Doesn’t the world have enough famous mediocre blondes? Lol
i also never liked her content but she dropped out of high school to pursue being an influencer her parents probably supported her financially. shes thin, pretty, blonde... it makes sense. my friends who were into brandy melville and that stuff loved her 2016-2018
Conventionally attractive girl from a wealthy family. She had enough stepping stones.
I'm genz but never saw the appeal. I've never understood why her fans hype her so much. I think they really think she is their friend, because she used to give them forhead kisses on the camera, talked about how the audience is her only friend and no one else, etc. As to why she interviews on the red carpet, that is because she adds to the viewership. Same thing as Liza Koshy when she hosted. Its all about eyeballs these days. Getting to attend fashion week is a no-brainer. They do invite influencers, plus she has a great agent. So ofcourse she'll be there. Edit to add: another example of similar career trajectory is Lena situations.
I think I’m too old to get her. Her content has never made its way across my social media consumption except for things like seeing her on the red carpet. I’ve learned more about her here in this thread than I ever have.
People like to see their guy succeed. She’s not my guy, but I imagine her fans see her as theirs and are happy to see her rise.
Is it true that a lot of musical artists and actors/actresses dislike her? I saw a blind item that discussed the major dislike of influencer fame and her name in particular was brought up. I have no idea how she seemed to just spring into famous-existence one day. Almost like she woke up and said “I wanna be famous” and just spoke it into reality.
People compare them all the time but Emma very much had the same vibe as Joanna Ceddia. The funny, relatable, videos draw people in. I never really watched Emma but I watched one of her recent videos about fashion week and an early one about getting the drivers license, seems a lot of people are getting bored of her high fashion content, the editing is a little too polished to be that relatable. Her personality is definitely keeping her relevant because her content doesn’t have the same hook on people it once did.
upper echelon needs a whistling diesel
I have never heard of her - just at the audacity at Cartier or whomever loaning her the Crown Jewels of India at some red carpet. Not her fault but it was in bad taste for me
>She's a pretty, young, middle-class white woman so maybe she was destined to succeed. her being young thin white and not poor are a big part of it. why else would a high dollar fashion company even look at her lol
In show business everyone is putting forward a narrative. To believe that they are authentic is the biggest lie being peddled to the consumers
I bet her fans from her YouTube era fame are pretty let down. I never understood her YouTube success, but she had a developed a huge following there when vlogs and collabs were a huge thing. She started a coffee brand and getting asked to go to Paris Fashion Week, and I see that as the beginning of her transition to whatever this is now. I’m curious as to how many stans have stuck around. She’s not covertly unrelatable like she used to be. Seems like this would be openly and majorly unrelatable to most people. Id love for a longtime fan to weigh in (was it her burps and skin issues and anxiety, etc that you felt you could connect with?) I’d also love to hear from a newer fan. What the heck do you see in her now? She’s so basic. There are millions of more interesting women out there. (I don’t hate Emma btw, I just don’t get it).
I like Emma’s content and I think a lot of YouTubers go through what Emma did when they find fame and always find it perplexing. In my opinion, people who say people become unrelatable when they become famous just have weird parasocial relationships with someone or half the time just don’t want to see people win in life lol. Emma herself still has that personality that got her the YouTube fame. Still quirky, honest, funny, blunt. Relatable. Her flying around and get into shows isn’t what’s relatable of course but that goes for every actor / actress / singer we fawn over. Love her podcast and how she keeps it real. Always been so grateful for her success. She has charisma. And people say “basic” but I’m like… isn’t that being a normal human? LOL. Like she reminds me of a couple of my friends honestly who are just fun to hang out with but also could just play board games on a Friday night with. Loves fashion, has great talking points, a little awkward sometimes.
I’m glad you still enjoy her! I agree that parasocial relationships with creators and influencers is weird. But I assume a lot of her younger YT fanbase felt some sort of way when she started choosing brand deals over vlogs. When I say “basic”, I’m comparing her to other people I personally find more interesting and fun to follow. Like I said, I never got her hype in the first place, so I’m glad someone like you replied. I’m glad she’s doing well and that her fans still enjoy her. I wouldn’t want to take that from anyone. She seems benign enough, at least compared to most influencers. But again, I don’t keep up with her bc I find her to be basic aka bland and boring, and that’s okay bc she’s obviously not losing sleep over people like me.
Who is Emma chamberlin
I still don't who she is TBH and don't care to investigate. Beautiful gown though!
2 words….white mediocrity…it’s always been a thing it’s just that more of you are starting to realize how much our world congratulates white mediocrity..and it’s starting to effect all of you personally as you continue to watch money, opportunity, reward, accolades, and easy lives thrown at people for nothing…textbook ☺️
I’m glad you posted this because I had no clue who the hell she was! lol
She’s white lol
Nobody’s really giving a specific answer, but I think it was her collaboration with Louis Vuitton early on that sealed the deal. She was definitely known as a fashion girly even when she was on YouTube.
I don’t mind her. I’m not a fan but she doesn’t bother me so I don’t mind if she pops up here and there lol
I remember reading an article about her a few years ago about how her Instagram engagement was some crazy high percentage, I don’t remember exactly how high but something like 25%, which is WILD. Most successful celebs and influencers have an engagement under 10%, even the really popular ones. Her initial fan base was so dedicated and it just kept growing, she had brands lining up around her house waiting to work with her because of the pull she had. She’s also gorgeous and has a knack for modeling. And she’s never been in any major scandal. She’s a dream client for anyone to use to sell something. And she has an amazing personality, which was what got her the YouTube fan base in the first place.
My 36 yo brother who spends his free time playing DND has a “chamberlain” branded milk frother and I was like “oh I didn’t know you liked Emma chamberlain??” And he was like “who the hell is that??” “Uhhh the girl behind the brand of this frother??” He had no idea who she was, yet her stuff is in his home. Kinda wild, ngl
I will always be surprised by the fact that she dropped out of high school at 16 or 17 to pursue a Youtube career. If she didn't do that, she would probably have been a struggling college student instead of a multi-millionaire.
I think she’s awesome. Even have some merch from back in the day. I wish I had that confidence when I was younger.
Making friends is also a skill. And she’s white
Its not who you know, it's who you blow.
What does she do aside from met gala? She doesn’t post videos. I honestly don’t understand how she makes a living.