I’ve heard rumblings of fashion blogger backlash, appreciated even, the satirical attempts to poke fun at the poses, the affected speech, the same pair of wedges running standard.  Despite this, I’ve spent several years educating major fashion brands on the value of developing partnerships with bloggers, jumping up and down (metaphorically, of course) until blue in the face about the value of working with style bloggers, of involving them in brand decisions, working with them to help boost social media credibility and drive interest and awareness. I continue to feel compelled to shine the light on brands who are working with bloggers in new and innovative ways and am a huge proponent of listening and taking in feedback from customers and digital influencers.

And then it happened. It’s late at night and I am scrolling through my “shop spam.” I click through a particularly potent offer on a GAP email and there’s Susie Bubble. Susie Bubble for the Gap? And the rabid online shopper part of me and the social media marketer in me emitted one big collective sigh. We might have even emitted the slightest of eye-rolls. And this is coming from someone who loves loves loves her some fashion bloggers.

This is certainly not directed at Susie, or even at the Gap. I want fashion bloggers to be able to make a career out consulting or writing and contributing their creativity. I want brands to evolve past the email pitch, the trunk show invite and work with people all over the world who are truly passionate about the industry, about clothing, about community. I love the fact that there are bloggers who are working with (or without) agents to negotiate incredible opportunities, finding real legitimacy in the fashion world, the quest or rejection from which often inspired their desire to blog in the first place.

And yet…

My nose is crinkling with a whiff of impending ‘fashion blogger plus fashion brand’ overkill.  And, I’m frustrated that there are only a handful of bloggers – a fashion blogger brat pack – if you will, that seem to be in the running for the best gigs. Brands are just going for the obvious choices, both in terms of the talent they choose and how they decide to work with them. Two years ago it was a risk to put a huge image of a fashion blogger in your store, now its perfunctory.

So in my late night delirium, I’m calling for fashion brands, and by extension their PR departments to take a step back. Think about your long-term strategy, brand perception and promise. Consider, for example, that in another six months, the fashion consumer might find her eyes glazing over and shrug her shoulders at your latest blogger-inspired campaign and if so, what’s next? We’ve hit mainstream (it’s just a matter of time before the quintessential top 10 makes it onto the cover of a major glossy) and working with fashion bloggers, while important and powerful, is no longer innovative,  no longer cause for self-congratulations, or god forbid, evidence of “social media savvy.”

May we please consider:

• Expanding and diversifying the bloggers in our selection set
• Engaging bloggers beyond including their faces and bodies in our ad campaigns, or enticing them/their readership through product give-aways
• What fashion blogger burnout might look like, how to watch for it, how help avoid it
• Do we risk drowning out/diluting the very voices we once welcomed by surrounding our style blogger partners  with too much big brand agenda?
• How do we evolve our understanding of influence, rather than revert or convert?

I’m tired of seeing the same handful of faces. And while I’m venting (!), it’s not that much of a stretch to put a girl who looks like a model but who is not a model in the spotlight and then attempt to pull the “real women, real bodies” PR angle. Yuck. I’m afraid that successful fashion bloggers are being homogenized to fit the old tired industry expectations. Sure, you can be a bit quirky – but only in the right ways -  an edgy hair cut, freckles and a “curvy” size eight thrown in for good measure, but as brands and industries that work with brands to propel them forward,  we have a responsibility to consider what and whose points of view get the mass brand stamp of approval. Part of the power of fashion blogging for me is the way it invigorated an industry raise the curtain and examine and reflect on how clothing is being styled, worn, analyzed and experienced by all sorts of different kinds of people. Are we sending a not so silent message that to be successful as a style blogger, you must fit this “model-lite” aesthetic, and ethics aside, is that message really going to drive loyalty long-term?

Consumers will take their cue from perceived brand endorsement. Let’s consider the message behind the marketing, rather than following the herd. Let’s figure out where we can take some risks, learn collectively what can be improved upon, uncover a few hidden gems, and have some fun exploring our opportunities and evolution.

Blogging Station at HP Vivienne Tam Event

As an experienced publicist (6 years!) and a longtime blogger (eye4style celebrates its 3rd anniversary in March), I’m in a pretty unique position to speak on the topic of fashion PR/fashion blogger relations. By day, I create online media strategy and conduct blogger outreach for some of the biggest and most well-known beauty and fashion brands around. Meanwhile, I’m regularly pitched by fashion and beauty brands hoping to get coverage on my site. In short, I see it all. Good pitches and bad from public relations firms that are trying desperately to engage successfully with online media. I have also experienced professional and unprofessional behavior from fashion and beauty bloggers, even those I count as friends.

In the last few years, public relations has had to adjust its traditional media relations plans to include bloggers and other online media. This has not always been a smooth transition. Accordingly, fashion bloggers’ quest for legitimacy has led to more than one public bashing and frustration all around. In the last few weeks, this drama has yet again manifested during New York Fashion Week (I won’t go into details!) and the discussion has come to light again.

So, What constitutes appropriate blogger behavior and what is simply expecting too much? On the other hand, what key mistakes PR firms continuing to make with bloggers that perpetuate this love-hate relationship? In my experience , a lot of the problems come from the evolution of traditional media relations online; the old PR/Journalist rules and unwritten codes of conduct/expectations don’t always apply. As a fashion PR pro, how do you effectively work with top fashion bloggers to secure powerful online media coverage for clients, and how do bloggers get on the lists of coveted fashion PR firms and showrooms? Here are my tips for both fashion PR agencies and bloggers to help support this potentially lucrative relationship, looking at it from both sides of the coin.

As a Fashion PR Pro:

• Don’t assume or expect bloggers to give you their traffic numbers (not all want to share, and this may not even be your best metric for evaluating influence); do your homework in advance and be aware of the public and private social media measurement tools available. While the public tools are flawed (Compete, Quantcast, I’m looking at you, kids), they’ll still give you an idea of a blog’s traffic, authority and influence.

• Treat bloggers with respect, as you do (hopefully) every other journalist. You would NEVER email Meredith Melling-Burke at Vogue and say Hey editor, can you write about this? Don’t approach communications with an air of “do this for me.” It leaves a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and may lead to public outings! (just follow some of your favorite bloggers on Twitter, you’ll see!)

• Access goes a long way. Consider inviting bloggers to press events, store openings or launch parties. Offer an exclusive interview or a showroom visit to a blogger. You’re more likely to build a great relationship and see beneficial coverage if you loop them in before an event or give them the kind of access that the traditional media take for granted.

• Don’t be afraid to set boundaries. It’s not the wild, wild west out on the interwebz anymore. Most bloggers are more than willing to communicate openly and work with you. For example, if you’re sharing embargoed material, email the blogger in advance and ask if they’re okay with signing an NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement, for those not in the biz.) Most will agree, and appreciate the advance access you’re offering.

As a Fashion Blogger:

• Have a handful of talking points prepared about your blog to share with PR agencies. These could include background information, main content categories as well as metrics – monthly unique visitors, Technorati authority, Google PageRank, Alexa ranking or the general engagement level of your readers (for example, do all of your posts get 25+ comments? That’s pretty darn impressive and shows me that your readers really feel like part of your community). Even if a PR pro is totally sold on the value of blogs, sometimes they need good, old fashioned data to share with clients. Plus, treating your blog like a professional media source can go along way toward getting those coveted fashion week invites!

• PR contacts rarely determine where their clients spend ad dollars. Don’t reply to a pitch solely with advertising opportunities. Later in the game, you may ask your PR contact if she would consider passing along your rates to her client contact.

• Samples, by definition, are produced in advance of a collection, in a limited run (often just one or two sets) and are VERY expensive for companies to produce – especially smaller brands. This is why the majority of samples (beauty is the notable exception) must be returned (It’s a huge misconception that editors keep everything that’s featured in their magazines.) If you require samples or free product to secure a post, know that you are limiting the amount of engagement you can have with many PR firms.

• Similarly, if you’re not genuinely interested in a product and are not consider reviewing, don’t request a sample. If a PR agency requests that a sample be returned, feel free to ask them to spring for return postage. Most are more than happy to accommodate.

• The beauty of being a blogger is that you decide what content runs on your site.  So, if a PR representative is pitching a product or a designer that’s totally not your style, don’t be afraid to say no. But be polite about it and don’t burn bridges. You never know, the same contact might rep a different designer that you would be interested in or may handle an event you’d love to attend. PR is all about relationship building and relationships create access. This access to the inside track can offer you opportunities to review new products, attend exclusive events, interview top designers and other fashion experts. And it is this access that will benefit your site in terms of content, traffic and ultimately ad revenue.

If you’re a blogger or a PR pro with a question or feedback about this post, leave a comment below and I’ll do my best to reply ASAP!

[Photo by Sarah Conley]

Here are ten tips you, as a new designer can leverage on your own.

Jagnje the Perfection by Marta L. Lamovšek

10. Do Your Research

Know what the magazines you are pitching to write about, who their audience is, and make sure your pitches coincide with the type of content they normally write. Most magazines have Editorial Calendars available which tell what each month’s issue will be about for the year. When contacting a reporter, target pitches for the month’s issue that is relevant to your subject matter. If in March there is a special on Spring Fashion try to pitch (several months in advance) to editors for that particular issue. Do not waste editor’s times with pitches that are irrelevant to what they write about because this makes you look careless and unprofessional.

9. Think outside the box

Reporters are constantly receiving pitches so when coming up with a pitch keep in mind that they probably have already heard something like it. So what will make your pitch stand out? Something atypical, something that you have not seen in the news before, or something that would be of great interest to the general public. Sell people on its uniqueness, the qualities or attributes that you have that NO ONE else has (these should also be apparent in your live events and fashion shows). If you don’t have those qualities you may need to reconsider your business model.

8. Play the Part

You only get one first impression so make it a good one. Your website, images, look book, and press materials should be clean and professional. If they do not pass that test then do not start contacting press and buyers until they are or you can give yourself a bad image regardless of the actual quality of your line. You want to be the fashion world’s next craze – so play the part. If you’ve spent thousands on a great new website, have your contact email in the format of yourname@yourcompany.com and not at a generic Yahoo or Gmail account.

7. The Power of Follow-up

Reporters have countless people contacting them with story-ideas, press materials and tips so it is not unlikely that they may have overlooked what you sent over or simply forgot about it. It isn’t enough to simply send materials over; a follow-up email and phone call to ensure that they received the materials is essential.

6. In Spirit

It’s never only about the clothes. Elaborate on the artistry, image, and story behind your line. The spirit behind your clothes should permeate your collection and should not be left to question. That said, social media really allows you, as a designer, a wealth of tools at your disposal to express this spirit such as product placement in the appropriate shows, live event promotion, music videos on YouTube, downloadable desktop themes, etc.

5. Be Mindful of the Publisher’s Calendar

Some fashion publications work up to 6 months in advance, plan accordingly and note the season and timing for when the edition will actually hit the presses. Plan ahead, reap the rewards. Fashion editorials can be a designer’s bread and butter. A great relationship with the press cannot be stressed enough. Don’t be afraid to try fashion publications outside of your immediate area. If you’re an American designer, the attention of a magazine in the UK, or Japan, for instance, should be welcomed attention.

4. Create Your Own PR Calendar

This timetable should display all brand items, allowing you the necessary vantage point of a bird’s eye view for your collection. Plan in advance, apply your company strategy, budget your resources, step back and see what could use improvement. A PR calendar can be anywhere from weekly to quarterly depending on the complexity of your collection(s).

3. Stay Fresh

Stay current with all your fashion PR efforts. Push new press releases out regularly. Check your social networking pages such as Twitter and MySpace, expand your customer base, and keep in touch with your existing fan base. If you’re site and marketing materials still say © 2008, it is time to change that. Remember, with fashion PR, out of sight is out of mind.

2. Get out there

Go to industry events, networking events and join associations and groups with other fashion industry members. Live events, fashion shows, and in-person promotions are necessities. While sites like Twitter can be catalysts for making connections, there is no substitute for a live appearance. With all other things being equal, people do business with friends and fashion PR is ALL about building and maintaining relationships.

1. Be your own biggest fan

I can’t begin to tell you how many designers don’t wear their own product out to events or even go out to events in the first place. As a designer it is most important that you love and promote your product because no one can sell it like you. Be out at fashion events mingling with industry insiders and be sure to be wearing your designs. Don’t be modest about telling people you made it and why it is so special. Confidence about your own product is absolutely mandatory.

About the Author

Polina Raygorodskaya is an acclaimed analyst and public relations specialist for the fashion industry. As president of Polina Fashion LLC, she has addressed the marketing and public relations needs of countless up and coming designers. For more information, please visit www.polinafashion.com or email info[at]polinafashion.com.

Photo courtesy of Marta L. Lamovšek