Business of Fashion

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…)



Could Substack supersede Instagram in the race for affiliate clicks?



Liana Satenstein Neverworns Substack

It’s no secret that Instagram’s strategy is pushing video content over carefully curated fit pics. The result? OG influencers are feeling rejected and dejected. After 10 years of rapid-growth followings lapping up their fashion recommendations (and clicking on their affiliate links), it’s understandable that Instagram’s star tastemakers feel unceremoniously side-lined, not to mention concerned for their future earnings. And there’s not much they can do about it. To paraphrase Francis Fukuyama, it’s the algorithm, Stupid!

The solution appears to be a mass exodus to Substack. (more…)



On my radar: Soshiotsuki



Soshiostuki ss26

Congratulations to Soshi Otsuki, who just won the LVMH Prize.

Since launching as a menswear brand, Soshiotsuki, in 2015, his “distorted elegance” (also the name of his AW25 collection) in the tradition of Armani, Cerruti and even Studio Nicholson, now includes a number of women’s pieces.

To be specific, that means taking western men’s tailoring and filtering it through a Japanese lens – cardigan-soft fabrics, gentle gathering and draping, voluminous tailored trousers, enveloping knits – and juxtaposing them through careful styling. (more…)



Me+Em’s Goop-style glow-up



Me+Em Marylebone

Has Me+Em had a secret Goop-tinged glow-up without me realising?

The successful British brand is going from strength to strength, catering for a mid-tier busy working mum customer with a contemporary edge. But stopping by its new-ish Marylebone store, it suddenly felt less ‘Marylebone mom’ and more LA-London luxury-lite-core.

The store itself does a lot of heavy lifting. It’s beautiful; light-filled, spacious and fabulously merchandised. But the product also looks really good. (more…)