The indie fashion PR component to top fashion PR blog PR Couture, Show Me The Pretty features 5-question interviews with hand-selected indie fashion labels. PR Couture shares the pretty and then turns it back to the designers to ask questions and get advice and feedback about their own fashion PR strategy from a variety of industry experts. Sound like fun? Email info[at]prcouture.com for more information.

Angel Damico is an amazingly talented freelance designer and illustrator from Chicago with a unique sense of style and a wide range of skills from drawing to painting, digital art, graphic design, playing and composing music, and hand screen printing onto t-shirts, bags and scarves. Connect with her:

• http://www.angeldamico.com
  http://angeldamico.blogspot.com/
  http://angeldamico.etsy.com
  http://indiefashionandbeauty.blogspot.com/

Your background is in design and illustration, what inspired you to venture into apparel?

I always want to create something new, and try out everything! I love learning and experimenting with new techniques and fashion has always been a love of mine, so one day I looked up how to screenprint at home and started from there. As time went on, I kept trying new things, and easier ways to make more items. I still do everything from my own apartment, by hand.

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[The following is a guest post by Polina Raygorodskaya of Polina Fashion. Polina Fashion LLC is a New York-based fashion PR and marketing firm that also specializes in live events, fashion shows, and photo shoot production.  © 2009 Polina Fashion LLC, All rights reserved. info[at]polinafashion.com]

Geisha by Marta L. Lamovsek

Here are seven things all designers should avoid when managing your fashion public relations.

1. Don’t Mass Pitch

There is nothing that wastes a reporters time more (and on their bad side faster) than mass emails to all the reporters on your contact list regardless of whether the topic is relevant to what they write about or not. A personalized email may take more of your time but it really goes a long way to getting people to pay attention to your name. While each message does not have to be completely different, it should at least contain the person’s name to which you are mailing as well as at least one customized sentence explaining why your pitch is relevant to their readership.

2. Don’t send untargeted pitches

Your favorite magazine may be GQ but that doesn’t mean you should pitch the editor your collection of women’s shoes unless you are pitching to the stylist for an upcoming photo-shoot involving women. Be realistic and do your research. Know the target demographic for the magazines you are pitching to and be sure that your line fits within that demographic.

3. Don’t Respond on Your Own Time

Reporters often have very short deadlines, that is why it is called “the News.” If you don’t think you will be able to turn something around quickly make sure you inform the reporter right away and don’t take a long time to respond because you don’t have something to say. If you can’t make it on their deadline respond to them as soon as possible letting them know. If you are working on an article or answering interview questions a brief email to let them know that you are working on them will go a long way in building a relationship with the reporter.

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This Top Fashion PR Links post is sponsored by Kenzie Shores, a husband and wife photography team who love to incorporate fashion and photojournalism into every shoot. Specializing in out of the box wedding, engagement shots as well as portraiture, get to know Kenzie Shores on Twitter @kenzieshores

Fashion Blogging gets a nod from CNN (via CNN Money)

• For a few years now, fashion bloggers have drawn legions of devoted readers to their sites simply by posting regular examples of how they style their clothes. Now they’re starting to leverage that popularity into lucrative careers — and a gateway into the industry.

Elle named one of Min’s Most Engaged Brands (via Minonline)

• The Fall A to Zee guide online lets users peruse fashion in a seamless environment that attracted more than 400,000 visitors, double ELLE’s goals. The ELLE.com site grew its base 800% last year, fueled in part by an ambitious new e-newsletter strategy that landed the brand daily into more than 1 million users’ in-boxes.

More on Elle, with editor in chief Robbie Myers (via Forbes)

• Indeed, her advice to those looking to reach the top of any profession is decisiveness. “The single most important thing I can do for my staff is make a firm decision. I don’t constantly redo and rethink and rethink and re-edit.”

Nolcha gets retail space for emerging designers (via Smashing Darling)

• Nolcha’s retail space will surely be one of the destinations you remember every time you are in NYC. The place that carries those special pieces by fabulous emerging designers, you know, no one else with have.

Best Fashion PR Reps in Sydney (via Ms. Fitz)

• Its is the job of Fashion Pr Agent to bring the right kind of exposure to their client. Often they put together campaigns, organise sponsorship and lots of other hard and interesting things. They build strong relationships with editors and stylists- they know their market and give personalised service to people in the industry who can assist their client/label in reaching their demographic or building their image. They also need to have the organisational skills to get the product to the project in time. Its a difficult job, and they have a lot of people to please.

Stila Cosmetics founder Jeanine Lobell and publicist Jacquie Tractenberg have formed On Trac, a beauty consulting venture (via Second City Style)

• On Trac is a separate venture from Tractenberg’s eponymous public relations firm, and its fees are not covered under Tractenberg’s standard PR contracts. As well, On Trac clients are not required to be Tractenberg public-relations clients.

Gap partners with Havaianas (via PR Week)

• To promote the pop-up, the teams – Gap is working with US AOR SS&K and Havaianas with US AOR Alison Brod PR – are conducting a regional outreach effort to fashion press, advertising and trade press, New York dailies, and bloggers. They are also promoting the concept on the companies’ Facebook pages.