Instagram. It's the little photo-sharing app that Facebook bought for US$1 billion dollars.

A clever filter device that allows you to art direct every aspect of your life all from a button on your smart phone. People, animals, bowls of cereal - everything and everyone looks better with a little Instagram love.

With more than 80 million registered users who have shared over 4 billion photos, its popularity is unstoppable.

Not surprisingly it's become a valuable marketing tool for the visually inclined.

Instagram provides a platform to connect in a non-conversational manner that other social sites like Facebook and Twitter just don't allow.

It affords celebrities, photographers, chefs, models, politicians - exhibitionists of every stripe, the opportunity to curate their own brand and gives fans an all-access pass into their world.

But beyond Gaga, Bieber and the Kardashians who should you follow? Here's eight stylish Instagrammers to add to your list.

Erica Domesek from www.psimadethis.com

This woman is a DIY legend. She is to fashion what Martha is to craft. Genius. With over 35,863 followers her content is original, inspiring and educational. There is nothing she can't do with paper, a pot of glitter and 20 minutes.

Gary Pepper Vintage from www.garypeppervintage.com

She's one of Australia's most influential style bloggers with 143,483 followers. She's young, she's pretty, she's into fashion and her Instagram is like a bowl full of jelly beans - colourful, sweet and very, very bright. Maybe wear your shades.

Brad Groeski from www.mrbradgoreski.com

Remember Rachel Zoe's assistant from The Rachel Zoe Project? The tall, geeky-chic guy in the boy tie and shorts? That's Brad Groeski. He's now out on his own, styling up the red carpet and taking lots of Instagram snaps along the way. He's particularly fond of a self-portrait and, so it seems, are his fans with over 87,000 following his fashionable life.

Lauren Conrad from www.laurenconrad.com

She was the star of reality TV series The Hills - now she's an author, fashion designer, influencer. With nearly one million followers she's in the top 25 most followed celebrities in the world. Expect lots of pretty, pretty pictures of shoes, flowers, puppies; all beautifully shot and filtered. Good one for the waiting room.

Barack Obama from The White House

What could be cooler than behind-the-scenes shots of the President? Not much. Followers can watch the campaign trail unfold through the eyes of his team and family. Lots of shots of him with rolled up sleeves (no tie) pressing the flesh. It's politics at its most shallow but gloriously addictive.

Coco Rocha from www.oh-so-coco.tumblr.com

She's a Canadian mega-model with a crazy social media appetite and a following to match. She uses Twitter and Facebook like a Jedi knight so it's little wonder that she has over as 180,989 followers on Istagram. It's lots of photos of Coco (natch) and her adventures around the globe.

Yvan Rodic from www.yvanrodic.com

With 82,080 followers this feed is a visual feast of faces, places and all things stylish from around the globe. Yvan is a street style photographer with a twist - his composition is much more art than fashion - you can get lost in his world for hours.

Leandra Medine from www.manrepeller.com

This woman is funny. FUNNY. She's self-deprecating, cool - her Instagram captions alone are reason enough to follow this New Yorker. Renamed (by her) manstagrams, her feed is all about her adventures in fashion. 146,711 followers and counting.

- Sydney Morning Herald

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