While the holiday season is filling up consumers’ wish lists and carts with riding boots and cashmere scarves, fashion public relations agencies are fixed on the thrills of a warmer climate – spring. During the past several weeks fashion publicists have been hosting spring press previews across both coasts, showcasing client products to a bevy of editors and bloggers.
We checked in with three of our favorite agencies, Eva ELi PR in Los Angeles, Moderne Press in the Bay Area, and Kravetz & Company PR in New York to go behind-the-scenes on this mainstay of PR-editor connection.
Set the scene: For us, press previews are a great way to have all of the lines showcased at once so that editors can view upcoming collections in person. We love meeting people in the media that we’ve been emailing with for months! It’s so helpful to put a face to a name and make a more personal connection. Press previews are a great time to invite everyone you’ve been working with. During our Spring ‘13 Press Preview, we also debuted Weft & Warp, a new high-end scarf line. It ended up being a great collaboration and a perfect way to introduce the line to the media.
Theme: Pretty, neutral, elegant, chic. We liked the idea of doing the event in a furnished hotel room – and the apartments at The London Hotel were a perfect backdrop (360 views of NYC, beautiful décor, lots of natural light, convenient location to most magazines). The vibe and overall feeling of the apartment was very personal and comfortable. Plus, the décor is so chic that we were able to use a lot of the decorations as props for the event. This worked well for some of the jewelry designers!
Brands: 81 Poppies, BuJu Jewelry, Candace Kelly, Grace Hats, INCA Boot Co., Jook & Nona, Micah Yancey for 81 Poppies, Stacia
Weft & Warp
Attendees: A variety of stylists and editors from magazines like ELLE, Glamour, Good Housekeeping, InStyle, Lucky, OK!, Oprah, People StyleWatch, Real Simple, Redbook, W.
Set the scene: The purpose of our press preview was to showcase the new Spring/Summer 2013 collections our clients created. We love the brands we work with, and believe in how strong their work is. We know if we simply get them in front of editors, their work is going to speak for itself and they’ll be included in editorials and features. This was the case with our Spring/Summer preview—many editors pulled samples for inclusion in January, February, and March issues right off the shelves and racks. Beyond having them see the new collections our clients design, it is wonderful to see the people we work with on a daily basis. On both ends, publicists and editors, stylists, and producers are incredibly busy, working on many projects simultaneously. Because of the nature of the industry, it is possible to work with someone very closely and either have never met them or rarely see them. It’s incredibly humanizing to meet the people you have exchanged, quite literally, hundreds of e-mails (if not more) with. It strengthens the relationship and that goes a long way in terms of getting clients featured. All in all, our preview was incredibly successful from both verticals. Our clients were pulled for several resort and spring stories, and we caught up with editors, stylists, and producers we haven’t seen in person in some time, and built new relationships and friendships. The process of planning a preview can be a bit stressful, but it is one of the things we love to do the most as a firm, and we’re excited to have our Fall/Winter 2013 Preview in March.
Theme: We wanted a fun and whimsical feel to the preview. Our showroom boasts lavender and fuchsia accent walls, which makes for a vibrant flow of energy throughout the space. We had miniature cupcakes and macarons, in addition to sparkling rosé. It was very important to us, while it was indeed a work event, that attendees enjoyed themselves and could view the offerings of the brands we represent in a comfortable and pleasurable setting.
Brands: Miz Mooz (footwear), Meira T (fine jewelry), Lisa Blue (swimwear), and JilRo (women’s ready-to-wear)
Attendees: Attendees were editors at national and NY-based regional publications, in addition to weeklies, online outlets, producers, and stylists. The outlets represented at our preview included Footwear News, Life &Style, Real Simple, InStyle, The Examiner, Woman’s World, Redbook, O! The Oprah Magazine, Lucky, and Seventeen.
Set the scene: Moderne Press invites key editors and bloggers to preview upcoming collections and products from our clients. We provide a sneak peek of new products, providing the media a chance to discover more about our clients and hopefully, develop a deeper understanding about what each brand offers. During this event, we often introduce or refresh brands to the media, and believe it helps keep them top of mind for future stories/shoots. The event provides the opportunity to learn about current stories/shoots the media might be working on, as well as pitch our ideas to them (when appropriate) as well. The preview also offers us the opportunity to meet editors and bloggers in person, a step in developing a long-term working relationship.
Theme: Modern, bright, relaxing
Brands: Crane & Canopy, Ellington Handbags, Elva Fields, Initials, Inc., Jaleh Clothing, Kelly Moore Bag, May28th Watches, MySweetMuffin.com, ShopHORNE.com, RabLabs
Attendees: Fabulous editors and bloggers – recent media outlets who attended include Real Simple, Martha Stewart Weddings, House Beautiful, Elle Décor, DailyCandy, O the Oprah Magazine, People.com, InStyle, Redbook, Glamour, Matchbook Magazine, Sous Style and more!
Moderne PR image via Shop Sweet Things
Did you recently or are you planning a press preview? I’d love to hear about it!
