It was a big year for Instagram. The fashion-forward platform got a makeover and a new logo, encouraged more on-the-fly sharing through Instagram Stories and finally began making shopping on the platform more feasible.
Its 500 million users also fueled the careers of some of fashion’s biggest names, as both established stars and up-and-comers gained millions of followers — and the ad campaigns that come with them.
Of the 10 fashion-world accounts that gained the most followers, nine were models, indicating that the new era of the “supermodel” entails candid selfies with babies and holidays with pals like Taylor Swift.
The clear winner was Gigi Hadid, who gained a whopping 16 million followers for a total of almost 26 million. A September photo of her with Karl Lagerfeld garnered 1.2 million likes. By way of comparison, her number of new follows this year is about on par with the total number of followers that Chanel has overall (the top Instagram account belongs to Selena Gomez, with 103 million).
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This was followed by Cara Delevingne, who gained 14.3 million followers for a total of 35.6 million; and Hailey Baldwin, who gained 5.9 million for a total of 8.4 million.
Victoria Beckham was the only fashion designer to make the list, with 5.2 million new followers, totaling 13 million.
Here are the top 10 fashion accounts who gained the most followers on Instagram in 2016. Here are top fashion trends and moments on Instagram in 2016.
1. @gigihadid — Gained 16 million followers
https://www.instagram.com/p/BKwISsyD0cw/
2. @caradelevingne — Gained 14.3 million followers
3. @haileybaldwin — Gained 5.9 million followers
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJd6RETBh4d/?taken-by=haileybaldwin
4. @bellahadid — Gained 5.8 million followers
5. @emrata — Gained 5.7 million followers
https://www.instagram.com/p/BJiQ87kgsM6/?taken-by=emrata
6. @victoriabeckham — Gained 5.2 million followers
7. @chrissyteigen — Gained 4.8 million followers
8. @gisele — Gained 3.9 million followers
9. @taylor_hill — Gained 3.6 million followers
10. @angelcandices — Gained 3.5 million followers