Racked is no longer publishing. Thank you to everyone who read our work over the years. The archives will remain available here; for new stories, head over to Vox.com, where our staff is covering consumer culture for The Goods by Vox. You can also see what we’re up to by signing up here.
Earlier this week, Balmain gave the world a first look at its new, Jenner sister-themed fall campaign. In the words of Creative Director Oliver Rousteing, the campaign is intended as "a celebration of the unique and unconditional love of siblings." It happens that based on the sheer number of followers among the model/celebrities and their unconditionally loving siblings; Kendall and Kylie Jenner, Gigi and Bella Hadid, and Joan and Erika Smalls, this might go down as the most blatant infiltration of fashion by social media yet.
Balmain FW15 Ad Campaign starring @GiGiHadid, @Bellahadid, @Joansmalls, @_ErikaSmalls, @KendallJenner & @KylieJenner pic.twitter.com/q49710VCGe
— Balmain (@Balmain) July 17, 2015
Here's a quick breakdown:
Kendall Jenner: 31.8 million Instagram followers, 11.6M Twitter followers
Kylie Jenner: 29.4 million Instagram followers, 10.4M Twitter followers
Gigi Hadid: 4.7 Instagram followers, 484K Twitter followers
Bella Hadid: 1M Instagram followers, 107K Twitter followers
Joan Smalls: 1M Instagram followers, 219K Twitter followers
Erika Smalls: 8K Instagram followers, 1K Twitter followers
If you're quick with the addition of large numbers, that means this one campaign could conceivably have more reach than any fashion campaign ever, including those starting a single Jenner. Well played Oliver, well played.