2008 January | PR Couture: Fashion PR, Marketing & Social Media

This post originally appeared on Stylescoop. Reposted with permission.

Lysee Webb at her first fashion show two years ago. She is now the PR director for Heatherette.

Just two years ago, Lysee Webb made her way to New York Fashion Week and met two designers she has looked up to the most – Richie Rich and Traver Rains, the dynamic duo behind the “Look at me!” brand Heatherette. Now, she is the brand’s in-house PR director. Read below to find out how she got to where she is, what a “normal” day at Heatherette is like, and what Heatherette is up to next.Hello, can you give us a background on yourself and how you got started in fashion?

I always wanted to be in fashion. I never went through a phase where I contemplated career choices – it was always fashion-related. My friends were imagining their futures as astronauts and doctors and I was making clothes for my Barbie dolls out of ruffle socks.

You made it up to New York just a couple of years ago. What do you think attributed to your great deal of success in such a short period of time?

Several things, first was the understanding that in most cases, college won’t hand a career to you. Attending FIT (Fashion Institute of Technology), I was around so much talent and the problem is that people don’t know what to do with it. Perhaps its the stigma that some of the best artists and most creative people are also some of the most introverted. It’s so important to get yourself out there and meet people and a demanding class schedule won’t grant you this privilege. It’s not to say that college isn’t beneficial, but I found that the courses are mostly catered to design students – who actually have to learn a technique and the science behind garment construction.

Another contributing factor was taking risks and networking. One of my favorite stories – After moving to New York, I took a job with a startup magazine purely so I could apply for press passes to various events. I attended my first fashion week through a press pass and gained access to ten shows, including front row at Sass & Bide, purely by luck (see picture above). My editor wouldn’t RSVP me for the Heatherette show (the top show I wanted to see), so I decided to RSVP myself and see how far it got me. I ran into her at the tents the day of the show and she told me to wait in life her and she’d try to sneak me in. When we got to the front of the line, she gave her name and affiliation and the woman replied – “hmmm, I see the magazine but I only have one person RSVPed – Lysee Webb”. I quickly flashed my badge, smiled, and said “that’s me!” and took my seat assignment without ever looking back. This was the first time I met Richie and Traver. I later learned my editor never got into the show.