YouTube Debuts Fashion And Beauty Vertical 

YouTube has launched a brand-new fashion vertical meant to take advantage of all the massively popular beauty and style content on the platform, according to a report.

Called YouTube Fashion, the vertical will aim to organize all of the different types of beauty and style content – including live runway streams, content from top creators and collaborations within the industry – in one place.

Last year, beauty videos had over 169 billion views on the site. The site attracts some of the biggest names in fashion looking to share content, like Marc Jacobs and Naomi Campbell.

The move comes in a climate where Instagram has established itself as the go-to fashion and beauty content app. The platform has been very successful at promoting brands, and now also functions as an eCommerce app enabling users to tag and buy items. Instagram also has a new feature called IGTV that allows for longer videos, which could set it up for some direct competition.

YouTube recently added a beauty feature allowing users to utilize augmented reality (AR) to try on makeup. The company also recently hired Derek Blasberg, the former host of CNN Style and a Vanity Fair contributor, as the new leader of YouTube’s fashion and beauty partnerships.

“When I joined YouTube a little more than a year ago, I immediately saw the platform’s insatiable desire for more fashion and beauty,” Blasberg wrote in a blog post. “And the data backs it up: From 2014 to 2018, the number of fashion and beauty channels on YouTube has grown over six times, generating billions of views in the last year alone.

“My response? Give the people what they want! The aim for fashion is to create an ultimate destination for style content that bridges both our fabulous endemic creator community and the more traditional worlds of fashion and beauty,” he continued. “My hope is that anyone looking for all things style will now have a place to come and be inspired by what they see.”