Fashion PR Fridays, August 25 2008

Who What Wear taps Alexa Chung for this weeks Insider Picks

Style.com intoduces iPhone app to keep the international fashion-obsessed set on the pulse this NY Fashion Week

Ogilvy asks for input on Twitter best practices are you following @pr_couture?

The gap between PR Practitioners and PR Theorists is an interesting read

Support indie fashion and  vote for Lara Miller at Ideablob.

(image: Fashion by J V)

Well PR Couture missed submitting to this round – how is it Thursday already! -  but we still love all the links for this week. Enjoy!

Links à la Mode : August 28th

• AuctionDivaFashion – Vintage Hawaiian Pineapple Dress
• dramatis personae – Boundaries between designing & knock-offs
• Dress Me Up Dollie – Weekend Update
• Fashion Journalist in the City – Vintage Vogue
• Frassy – D.I.Y Chanel Bottle Pendant Necklace
• Independent Fashion Bloggers – How NOT to get ripped off
• la boudoir – A review of all this falls fashion trends – straight from the runway.
• Little Black Book – Style Trend: Statement Tights!
• Mademoiselle Robot – This week’s interview with the extremely gifted Nubby Twiglet.
• Or False Glitter – Fur in Fashion: Glamorous or grotesque?
• poetic & chic – The frequent J.Crew catalogs in my mailbox are a constant source of torture!
• Retro Chick – Vintage Clothing & Retro Style – Autumn Florals: Keep on blooming
• ShopDiary – Impulse Buy: Should I keep? Or sell? Should I save up for another Chanel?
• THE COVETED – Coveting Chinatown, a Visit to 1930’s LA
• Dress me up Dollie – Emma Cook Runway Review

The following is a Part 2 of a two part guest post series about the use of samples in fashion PR by Shannon Estrada of Pitch! Press. Part 1 is about the importance of digital fashion photography. Send all guest post inquiries to info[at]prcouture.com

Last week we established the importance of incorporating hi-res, professional digital photography into your fashion press mix.  This week, let’s discuss and establish the necessity of a press sample line and the sample request process.

When committing to a PR campaign, it is important to remember a few ground rules.  Press takes time, the proper tools, and consistency.

We are all aware of the cost to produce samples, but the reality is, a publicist cannot get you press without them.

Editors want to touch, feel, and experience the products and designs they are considering presenting to their readership.  So, in addition to your photography budget, put monies aside for a dedicated press sample line (duplicate samples for your publicist to utilize in-and-out of her/his office).

For print publications, the sample request process itself often goes like this:

Step 1: market editors call in a request to the PR agency, agency submits sample for run-through. If approved, sample is sent to shoot and shots go to art department.

Step 2: If the winning shot makes it to layout, the shot goes for final approval and makes the issue! Of course this assumes you’ve beaten the 300 other handbag designers or little black dresses etc in the running. To be fair, I am leaving off an additional 8 or so steps here, but you get the general idea).

To improve your chances, there are quintessential and essential rules to live by in this PR game.

For Fashion Sample Submission 101, read on.

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