21 March, 2026

From the vaults: The end of public relations

Bon Magazine - Gatekeepers and the End of Public Relations by Navaz Batliwalla

I loved reading Lucy Maguire’s recent Vogue Business story on the changing face of fashion PR. 13 years ago I wrote a similar feature for BON Magazine on the changing face of PR and fashion weeks in the (then) new social media landscape. What’s funny is how things have changed and how things have stayed the same.

At the time, ‘Oscar PR Girl’ (aka Oscar de la Renta publicist Erika Bearman) and ‘DKNY PR Girl’ (aka publicist Aliza Licht) were major influencers alongside Kelly Cutrone, a notoriously ball-breaking New York PR who had her own U.S reality TV show. I remember cold-emailing Kelly to ask if I could send over a few questions. I heard nothing until my phone suddenly rang one lunchtime and a voice at the other end bellowed, “Hi, this is Kelly Cutrone. You wanted to talk to me?” As I was in the middle of something else and didn’t have my notes in front of me, I innocently asked if I might call her back the next day. “NO, THAT’S THANKSGIVING!” (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 2 Comments Ad campaigns, Art, Bloggers, Brands, Business of fashion, Designers, Fashion shows, Magazines BON magazine, Business of Fashion, fashion shows, Kelly Cutrone, long read, New York Fashion Week, public relations, Vogue Business

11 December, 2017

Craft work

Daniela Dregis reversible cashmere nylon jacket Tiina The Store

Now that the temperature’s dipped to around the 1-degree mark, I just want to stay in and hibernate. My default winter work-from-home-wear is Heat-Tech, a Hanro long sleeve tee, three fine-knit merino sweaters topped off by a shrunk-in-the-wash men’s Margiela nubby knit and Levi’s.

The nubby knit is important. Chunky, textured jumpers and socks are all I want to wear now and they’re all the rage. Partly because they feel good and partly because a crude, craftsy sensibility is permeating everything as a counterpoint to tech fatigue. I wrote about this for BON magazine’s autumn issue, which you can read here. (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 1 Comment Design, Magazines, Shopping, Trends BON magazine, dsign, knitwear, retail concepts, shopping, Tiina The Store, trends

13 April, 2017

In pursuit of imperfect beauty

Bon Imperfect Beauty

My distaste of Instagram brows and ‘flawless’, matte-finish foundation can be traced to my early-90s initiation into beauty rituals. Although it was the decade of Kevyn Aucoin and his haute supermodels, it also saw the parallel (and arguably more influential) rise of Bridget Hall’s outdoorsy glow and Annie Morton’s morning-after-the-night before undereye shadow. (more…)

Disneyrollergirl 1 Comment Beauty, Magazines, Shopping, Trends beauty, BON magazine, magazines, make-up, Peter Lindbergh, photography, shopping, trends

7 March, 2016

On Chanel and the rise of playful luxury

From designer stickers to cartoon character smartphone covers to kidult footwear, there’s no stopping the rise of playful luxury. And no-one is more in tune with this emerging product category than Chanel, whose LED trainers illuminated the SS16 catwalk. As the AW16 Chanel show kicks off, Bon has published my article on how the heritage house embraced the next generation of international big spenders, one kitsch accessory at a time. Read the article at Bon.se.
Bon Magazine Chanel playful luxury