Life as a Fashion PR Girl

I have been given an amazing opportunity to do a three-week placement at M&S with the Womenswear and Lingerie PR team. I have made a short list from my experience of the main tasks you do in Fashion PR.

Maintaining the Fashion Bible: The fashion bible contains all of the contact details of editors, journalists, bloggers, celebrities, stylists and other professional individuals within the fashion industry. From Vogue Magazine to celebrities such as Pixie Lott and Dua Lipa, this book needs to be kept up to date with the latest contact details as maintaining relationships is the key to success within PR.

Gifting: It is important to keep relationships with people as they are the ones who promote M&S clothing. During my placement, I had to make hundreds of gift bags for events and send limited edition clothing to journalists and celebrities. I felt like my years practice of wrapping clothing up for customers in retail stores as a sales assistant for the past three years, had finally payed off. As I was now wrapping clothing for Winnie Harlow, Pixie Lott, Holly Willoughby and Dua Lipa (Maybe one day I will be on the other side receiving these amazing gifts).

Events (Press Show SS18): The most important show of the year for M&S is the press show which happens in November. I was very lucky that my placement was during this busy time as I was able to see the SS18 collection. I also got the behind the scenes outlook, of photoshoots, the creation of the look book, inviting guests and setting up the show. On the first day of the press show, fashion editors from Vogue, Elle, Good Housekeeping, The Sun, Daily Telegraph and The Guardian were the first to get a preview of the collection. On the official press day sparks card customers were invited as well as journalists, bloggers and directors. There were many events going on during the press show such as international dinners, meetings and interviews with the designers and customising your own bag. Another event that happened in November was when Pixie Lott went to the Marble Arch store to read a story book to children promoting the M&S Christmas advert which included Paddington Bear.

Call In: After the press show, journalists do call ins to receive samples of the clothing to shoot for their magazine. During my placement I had to do a call in for The Sun, Vogue, Elle and Good Housekeeping magazine. I read the description of what the photoshoot was about such as a Christmas Party, then I had to select samples which would be suitable for the theme. They would then choose the clothing they wanted for their photoshoot from my selection. Vogue, Elle and Good Housekeeping magazine wanted the press samples days after the press show so they could shoot the S118 collection ready for their March Issue.

Media Coverage: Everyday it is essential to go through all the magazines, newspapers and supplements, to see the current news on M&S clothing. Everything needs to be scanned and put into a report ready to be sent to journalists and directors. After, we calculate the AVE which gives us the price of how much the coverage would have cost if we had to pay for it. Advertising is what you pay for, it can cost a million for one page of coverage. However, PR is free as the journalists choose to write about the product from the information they have received from gifting, press releases and events.

Press Releases: Press Releases are written to captivate the reader and get them interested in the new product. I wrote a few press releases on “Glamorous Xmas Lingerie”, “Xmas Jumpers” and “Novelty Nightwear”.

Photoshoots/Look book: The PR team assist on photoshoots and creating the look book. The SS18 look book was split into four themes Horizon, Explorer, Art Haus and Global. It was so good to see the mood boards and the process of choosing the perfect photos and making sure the layout is professional.

Here are some images of the look book in the making:

Showroom: I was able to visit the showroom which is located at the Marble Arch store. This is where all the press samples are found. Private meetings are set up with the press so they can view the collection and have a talk about the new trends. Call ins are also made at the showroom and it gives the journalists a chance to have a one-to-one talk about the collection. They can then select items that they want for a fashion shoot.

Click the image to view video:

Overall, it was an amazing experience and I learnt so much about the fashion industry.

Thank you to Marks and Spencer for teaching me so much, I have developed lots of new skills and have made lots of contacts within the industry. I cannot wait for the future.