Fashion journalism is an umbrella term used to describe all aspects of published fashion media. Sometimes referred to as fashion writers, fashion critics or fashion reporters. The most obvious examples of fashion journalism are the fashion features in magazines and newspapers, but the term also includes books about fashion, fashion related reports on television as well as online fashion magazines, websites and blogs.

The work of a fashion journalist can be quite varied. Typical work includes writing or editing articles, or helping to formulate and style a fashion shoot. A fashion journalist typically spends a lot of time researching and/or conducting interviews and it is essential that he or she has good contacts with people in the fashion industry, including photographers, designers, and public relations specialists.

Fashion journalists are either employed full time by a publication or are employed on a freelance basis.

Fashion journalism and the internet

The first internet site related to fashion was Fashion Net, which made its debut in January 1995. In the mid 1990s, the Internet was still largely a research network populated by academics. But the strong appeal of this completely new medium was made evident by the pioneering efforts of fashion's early entrants and soon both independent and established fashion publishers, designers and visual artists were online.

About half a year subsequent to Fashion Net's launch at the outset of 1995 came New York-based Fashionmall and French ELLE. Lumiere, the first online fashion magazine, featuring photographers including Nick Knight and Jean-Baptiste Mondino, was unveiled in October 1995. Fashion Live produced Internet's first live fashion webcast of Yves Saint Laurent's runway show in 1996. *FashionWindows is among these pioneers and has celebrated its 10 th anniversary in 2007.CNN Style and Hint Magazine arrived in 1998. The following year saw the rise and fall of Boo.com as the company burned through $135 million in 18 months. Showstudio.com and Style.com, the online umbrella for Vogue and W, started in 2000, proceeded by Jason Campbell's JC Report in 2002 and Refinery29.com in 2005. Following a tiff in 2007, W left Style.com making it the online home for Vogue alone. The newest professionnal blog made by fashion writers, whcih is famous already for its "glossy" layout is *FashionReporters.

Today, fashion blogs are an increasing force in the fashion industry. Against this trend in August 2006 Westfield Group the world's largest mall and shopping centre owner has unveiled a Webzine titled What's What identifying popular fashion trends with a view to indirectly promote the products available in their tenants stores. The financial funding for such an undertaking is unique as it does not rely on subscriptions or advertising but completely on advertorials.