Developed a name for yourself and want to get some free swag? Well you can cross Sir Paul Smith and his lines off your list - he has a policy to never give out freebies.
"We've been dressing musicians and celebrities for many years, but they always buy the clothes; we don't give clothes away. That's our policy. Not because of meanness, but because it sets the rule," Smith says, pointing out the obvious fact that, "They're wealthier than most of the [other] customers."
When "Nicolae and Elisabeta Petrescu" - an odd pair supposedly from Romania - went cruising around New York Fashion Week with their fluffy cat Leo and rose-petal throwing cohorts, there were plenty of curious whispers rippling through both the real and online worlds. The hoax has now been revealed, and what a clever way to spin publicity without splashing the cash.
The British Fashion Council has come up with a new scheme to support second generation labels which need a helping hand to get them to the next level. Vogue.co.uk reports:
Fashion-Incubator.com published an article the other day which might be of interest to Rogue's fashion designers and labels - it was in response to a question about how to get publicity in the fashion business:
"The competition to get press coverage in top tier magazines like Vogue, W and InStyle is incredibly fierce. Not only that, they tend to work with designers who have a track record. There is always this fantasy that a top tier magazine's angelic fairy will descend from the heavens and tap an unknown designer from Middle America and put him/her on the map, but that fantasy is better left to Hollywood movies and "reality" television shows. It rarely, rarely happens. And when it does, the designer is usually connected in some way and/or has a powerhouse publicist behind the scenes orchestrating things.
As designers, we have to face the reality that for most of us, there will be no shortcuts, no fast lanes, to success. The road is difficult and frustrating and if it's any better for you, count your blessings. Having said that, I want to address different points one at a time.
They were good about phone calls until I actually sent the media kits. No one even acknowledged with a form post card receiving my materials.
They don't have time to. I suppose each magazine would need a full time staff of elves to acknowledge requests of all media kits, look books, line sheets and unsolicited samples. If we did have elf labor in this country, I suppose they could. But assistants need to be paid real wages and it would cost an incredible amount of money to hire people to do such. Magazine offices are literally swamped with such info. Even if you send a form postcard, an editorial assistant might spend all day opening, reviewing, sorting and filing media kits, asking for acknowledgment can easily mean extra hours of someone's time. It's not standard, and even though you want it, even though you need the acknowledgment, chances are that you won't get it.
