As an industry that was once comprised of a select elite who had the style expertise to put together a smashing outfit and the wallet to afford it, fashion is now experiencing a major upheaval at the hands (or click of a mouse) of bloggers around the world.

While fashion blogging is nothing new on the web scene, the influence that bloggers hold in the fashion industry is at an all-time high with major fashion houses holding front row seats at Fashion Week and signing on for collaborations with this fresh face of fashion trendsetters.

Rather than being told what’s “in style” by fashion magazines or designers’ PR reps, fashion bloggers are creating a new wave of expressive style that is all about the individual’s personality and passion for pushing fashion boundaries.

“I love looking at blogs to see the different ways people put together outfits,” said lifestyle blogger Candice Silva. “It’s so much more fun when people inject their own personality in their style rather than just buying exactly what they see off a mannequin in a popular store that everyone shops at.”

Blogs not only create a canvas for painting personal style, but they also provide a lens into the blogger’s life. It brings fashion to the forefront in a way that is up close and personal and allows the reader to feel like they are truly getting to know the person behind the fashion.

“Consumers follow a fashion blogger because they feel like they’re accessible; they feel like they’re their friends,” said fashion blogger and DePaul journalism student Gabriel Charles Tyler. “Bloggers are that friend that you sit down and have coffee with and tell you all the new things they just bought – kind of like ladies who lunch.”

But consumers aren’t the only ones who are starting to take notice.  

“I think that brands are learning to tap into those markets because they see it as a way to make profit and tap into markets in ways that they weren’t able to in the past,” said Tyler. “Consumers now feel like the brand is their friend.”

In a digital age that has transformed the way business is done in all industries, brands are constantly trying to find innovative ways to keep consumers interested in their products. Social media, particularly blogs, allow for these brands to connect with consumers on a closer level with the major advantage of instant feedback.

“A lot of my favorite fashion brands have Twitter or Facebook accounts and it’s a great way to score deals and keep up with what the company is doing,” said marketing major Bianca Regan.

Taking a cue from bloggers who have realized major success in presenting their lives for the World Wide Web to see, many fashion brands are creating blogs and increasing their social media presence to establish relationships with their consumers.

“Maximum profit comes from being accessible and that translates into being someone’s friend and letting them in the loop,” said Tyler.

Many designers also choose to collaborate with influential bloggers to reach wider audiences and expose their products in an instantaneous way.

This new business model has completely transformed the industry. What was once reserved for stick-thin models on the editorial pages of high-fashion magazines is now open to anyone with a camera, Internet connection and style to share.

As a fashion blogger myself, I recently attended the 2012 Independent Fashion Bloggers Conference (IFBCON) to learn more about the business behind blogging and network with the hundreds of people just like me who are using technology to not only transform the way many industries exist and operate, but who are also pioneering an industry of their own.

At the conference I met bloggers in every role – the advertiser, the writer, the promoter, the stylist – and it was such a humanizing experience to realize that these are ordinary people with full-time jobs and thesis papers to write yet are participating in this industry that used to be so out of reach to the average person.

“Fashion is not elitist,” said IFBCON keynote speaker and model-turned-entrepreneur Iman. “It is for everyone.” 

You can thank fashion bloggers for that.