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J. Crew Chooses North Fork Polar Bears As Micro Influencers
Like many agile brands, J. Crew is trying out micro influencers as a fresh effort to gain relevance and sales. Micro influencers have clusters of fans and followers not in the hundreds of thousands or millions — instead, their communities are in the hundreds or thousands. These communities can be smaller, but they are also intensely interested and loyal.
J. Crew’s latest effort is a collaboration with the North Fork Polar Bears on the North Fork of Long Island, New York. These collaborations also give designers an opportunity to be inspired and step outside the corporate mix. Let’s back up.
The North Fork Polar Bears are a Group of dedicated thrill seekers who submerge themselves in the icy waters that cuddle up against the North Fork shoreline each Winter. Sometimes they float among mini icebergs.
“Up until about January, the water can be warmer than the outside air which is nature’s paradox,” says Patricia Garcia Gomez, a sensory immersion artist and Winter water ritualist. “The most important thing is to have a relationship with the water, and a ritual of showing up no matter what. This is where the magic happens. There’s…
