Influence didn't arrive with a ring light. It arrived with movie magazines, shop windows, posters, television and a very good story.
In 1952 Marilyn Monroe answered a question about what she wore to bed and helped create a fragrance association still discussed decades later. In 2026 Molly-Mae Hague can move from beauty ambassador to clothing founder, documentary subject and curated retailer collection. Different technology. A surprisingly familiar mechanism.
What has changed is who controls the audience, how quickly attention travels and how directly people can buy. The person who was once photographed for a magazine can now own the media channel, the product, the customer relationship and sometimes the entire company.
For The Digital Dollhouse's look back through seven decades, we are using 'influencer' as a modern shorthand for someone whose cultural visibility shapes taste and purchases. That doesn't mean Marilyn Monroe or Twiggy operated a contemporary social-media business. It also doesn't mean every famous endorsement was paid. Those distinctions are the point.
1950s: Marilyn Monroe and the sentence no media buyer could have planned
Chanel's own history records that Monroe's association with N°5 began with an April 1952 LIFE interview, when she said she wore the fragrance to bed (Chanel, n.d.). The original anecdote was not the same as a documented modern paid Instagram partnership. The house later used archival material to celebrate the connection; the stories became entangled because Monroe's glamour and the fragrance's identity suited one another.
The lesson: the strongest endorsement often says something about identity, not product specifications. The product becomes a shortcut to a feeling. Brands cannot manufacture spontaneous affection, but they can build something with a recognisable character that an admired person might genuinely choose.
A caution: the 1952 interview and later Chanel advertising are separate events. Don't rewrite history to imply a contractual agreement that the source doesn't establish. See Chanel's chronology.
1960s: Twiggy made a new silhouette impossible to ignore
The V&A describes how Twiggy's unmistakable look helped popularise the miniskirt and the youthful, graphic styles of Swinging London (Victoria and Albert Museum, n.d.). The fashion photograph was still a powerful gatekeeper, yet the person wearing the clothes could become as culturally important as the garments.
The lesson: a distinct point of view beats bland aspiration. Twiggy did not need to resemble an established ideal to become emblematic of a different one. For a brand selecting a creator now, an original styling language can matter more than universal, focus-group-approved polish.
The brand owner's question is not 'who looks expensive?' It is 'who makes our world instantly recognisable?' Explore the V&A's Mary Quant history.
1970s: Farrah Fawcett proved that the face can become merchandise
A 1976 photograph of Farrah Fawcett in a red swimsuit became an extraordinary consumer object. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History records that the poster reached more than 12 million homes and that her feathered hairstyle was widely imitated (Smithsonian Institution, n.d.).
This is not evidence that a specific shampoo advert delivered a measured sales uplift. It shows how a distinct image and an instantly legible personality can make a cultural moment replicable, printable and sellable.
The lesson: memorable assets travel. Give a campaign an object, look, ritual or phrase people can recognise without a paragraph of explanation. And remember that fame alone is not product-market fit. Read the Smithsonian collection record.
1980s: Jane Fonda sold participation; Michael Jordan sold a world
Jane Fonda's original Workout video became a home-media phenomenon. Her official site says the Workout series sold more than 17 million copies across its titles (Fonda, n.d.). The important creative shift was that a familiar screen figure was not merely appearing next to a product; she was delivering a repeatable experience people could use themselves.
Nike's Air Jordan 1 first launched in 1985. What began as a professional athlete's footwear partnership created a product and identity that stretched far beyond the court (Nike, 2025).
The famous banned-shoe story needs a footnote: Nike's own historical account explains that the original uniform dispute involved a pre-Air Jordan Nike Airship as well as later Air Jordan shoes. Retelling the myth as a simple AJ1 fine-per-game fact is less interesting than how skilfully the story became part of sneaker culture.
The lesson: endorsement can evolve into a repeatable product system. The audience doesn't merely watch the person; it joins their ritual or buys into a cultural world. Jane Fonda's account | Nike's history and correction.
1990s: Kate Moss and the age of the model as a brand
British Vogue records that Kate Moss became a Calvin Klein face at 18, appearing in its influential underwear and Obsession imagery (Vogue, 2014). The supermodel era turned individual personalities into global advertising shorthand. People could identify the mood of a campaign from the casting.
But being talked about is not the same as being uncontroversially admired. The decade's body ideals and provocative imagery also generated serious criticism. A distinctive image may establish a brand while creating an ethical and reputational debate that cannot be dismissed as 'good publicity'.
The lesson: casting is creative direction, not simply talent procurement. Assess what a person's public identity says about your product, whose expectations the imagery sets and who may feel excluded by the message. British Vogue's Kate Moss history.
2000s: David Beckham made a personal identity portable
Global sports stars had been advertising products for decades. By the 2000s they could also embody fashion, grooming, sport and lifestyle in the same public imagination. Adidas' own history records Beckham among the athletes featured in the company's 'Impossible Is Nothing' campaign (adidas, n.d.).
The effect is not necessarily attributable to one advertisement; the point is how a familiar athlete's persona can bridge categories with a coherent message.
The lesson: the most valuable ambassadors are not necessarily those with the largest audience. They are those whose identity makes sense in the world the brand wants to build. That fit can outlive a launch week. Adidas brand history.
2010s: Zoella and Chiara Ferragni became their own distribution channels
Now the gatekeepers changed. The creator could speak directly to an audience, rather than wait for a magazine cover.
Zoe Sugg's YouTube and blog community became the foundation for a Zoella Beauty range developed with SLG Brands. The company describes the project as a collaboration built around her beauty, lifestyle and design identity (SLG Brands, n.d.).
Chiara Ferragni launched The Blonde Salad in 2009, later extending a personal style blog into a fashion business. Her own brand history dates the Chiara Ferragni Brand to 2013 (Chiara Ferragni Brand, n.d.).
Neither story proves that follower count alone creates a durable company. A creator still needs products that people want after the video ends, appropriate pricing, execution and operations.
The lesson: publishing is not just a media expense. A distinct editorial point of view can build a long-term relationship that belongs to the creator rather than a single platform. Zoella Beauty | The Blonde Salad history.
2020s: Molly-Mae turns the endorsement into the enterprise
Molly-Mae Hague came to national attention through Love Island in 2019, developed brand relationships including PrettyLittleThing, Beauty Works and LOOKFANTASTIC, and launched her fashion brand maebe in September 2024. The Fashion Retail Academy's account documents those career milestones (Fashion Retail Academy, 2025).
Maebe's own story says it was built to sit between fast fashion and inaccessible luxury, informed by the founder's understanding of her community (maebe, n.d.). In November 2026, LOOKFANTASTIC has also announced a curated beauty collection connected to its long-running work with Hague (Cosmetics Business, 2026).
Those are very different relationships: paid collaborations, a branded editorial curation, an ambassador agreement and a product company she founded. They should not all be described as 'a sponsored post'.
The lesson: the new power is increasingly a relationship with an audience that can cross media, retail and product categories. But a successful founder needs more than recognisable hair, beautiful packaging and a waitlist. Product quality, customer service and repeat buying still decide whether attention becomes equity.
Explore maebe's founding story and the 2026 LOOKFANTASTIC collaboration report.
The business has changed. The fundamentals haven't.
The IAB UK and IRM project creator-partnership revenue of roughly £1.2 billion for 2026, a forecast rather than a final audited year-end total (IAB UK, 2026). There is a real economic reason brands are paying attention. Still, the industry's expansion does not establish that any individual creator partnership will outperform another channel.
Look across the timeline and three patterns remain: a recognisable identity, a believable connection with the product, and something worth experiencing or owning.
Marilyn made a fragrance personal. Twiggy gave fashion a new attitude. Jane Fonda turned expertise into participation. Jordan helped turn an athlete partnership into enduring product culture. Zoella and Chiara owned their publishing relationships. Molly-Mae can build retail products around a community she has spent years addressing.
The format changed from magazine to VHS to social feed. The commercial question didn't: why should someone believe this particular person about this particular product?
What it means for a UK brand briefing its first creator campaign
Start with the audience's problem, not the creator's fee. If you're launching fragrance, do you need curiosity, ingredient expertise, a real-world scent experience or an unmistakable visual point of view? Each asks for a different voice.
Define a useful creative territory. A makeup artist can demonstrate a result. A fashion storyteller can make a wardrobe feel attainable. A specialist reviewer may offer unusually thoughtful product comparisons, but must retain genuine editorial independence.
Then get the contract right. Set deliverables, deadlines, approval boundaries, disclosure, product claims, usage rights, territories, category exclusivity, reporting and payment. The ASA's updated influencer guide, published in October 2026, provides current UK disclosure guidance (ASA, 2026). Read the 2026 guide.
Do not confuse 'big name' with 'suitable creator'. An audience that trusts an honest recommendation can be more valuable than a million distracted viewers.
For the actual modern shortlist and the respectful ways to approach potential partners, visit the Digital Dollhouse Journal's next industry-by-industry guide. If you're building a creator-founded product or collaboration, our brand-case-study edit examines the products that managed to become more than merchandise.
The final word: influence is a creative relationship, not an impression count
The wonderful thing about this history is that the technology never really solved the hardest problem. People have always been good at recognising when somebody genuinely loves what they're talking about.
Influence cannot make a bad product permanently good. It can make a distinctive idea legible, culturally relevant and impossible to ignore.
Choose the person who makes your brand more itself, not simply more visible.
The Digital Dollhouse is a Knutsford-based digital marketing and creative technology agency. For creator-led campaign strategy, distinctive advertising and the ecommerce experience that follows the click, see our brand and campaign services, portfolio or talk to us about a project.
Continue The Influence Edit: the UK influencer shortlist and outreach playbook and our review of influencer-founded brands and hero products.
References
adidas (n.d.) 'History of adidas'. Available at: adidas (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) (2026) 'Influencers' guide to making clear that ads are ads', 23 October. Available at: ASA/CAP (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Chanel (n.d.) 'The House of Chanel: 1950s'. Available at: Chanel (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Chiara Ferragni Brand (n.d.) 'About'. Available at: Chiara Ferragni Brand (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Cosmetics Business (2026) 'LOOKFANTASTIC ambassador Molly-Mae Hague launches first curated collection', 2 November. Available at: Cosmetics Business (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Fashion Retail Academy (2025) 'Molly-Mae Hague's Journey at the FRA'. Available at: FRA (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Fonda, J. (n.d.) 'The Workout'. Available at: Jane Fonda (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
IAB UK (2026) 'UK creator revenue to surpass £1bn for the first time in 2026', 15 September. Available at: IAB UK (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Maebe (n.d.) 'About Us'. Available at: Maebe (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Nike (2025) 'How the Air Jordan 1 Banned Colorway Sparked a Sneaker Revolution', 21 October. Available at: Nike (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
SLG Brands (n.d.) 'Zoella Beauty'. Available at: SLG Brands (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Smithsonian Institution (n.d.) 'Farrah Fawcett, 1976 poster'. Available at: National Museum of American History (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Victoria and Albert Museum (n.d.) 'Introducing Mary Quant'. Available at: V&A (Accessed: 9 November 2026).
Vogue (2014) 'Kate Moss biography'. Available at: British Vogue (Accessed: 9 November 2026).