The editor-in-chief of Russia’s most respected fashion magazine, Alyona Doletskaya, is leaving her post, Condé Nast International’s president informed Tuesday. Doletskaya has headed Russian Vogue since 1998 when it was launched, and is now leaving her post of her own free will.

Alyona Doletskaya graduated from the Philology Faculty of Moscow State University and later did her doctoral thesis at Oxford. She has also published several translations of books by Ray Bradbury and William Faulkner.
In the early 1990s, Doletskaya turned her professional interests towards media and PR. After working as a reporter and producer with several European media organizations, Alyona Doletskaya was appointed PR Director at the British Council in Russia. Working there, she successfully carried out several cultural projects, including the “Living Bridges” exhibition of the Royal Academy at the Tretyakov Gallery and “Treasures of the Tower” joint exhibition in the Kremlin and the Tower of London.
In 1998, she was asked to head Vogue Russia, which was the first quality glossy magazine in the country. During the 12 long years under Doletskaya, Vogue proved to be the most authoritative fashion magazine in Russia.

Source: Russia Today

As a fashion editor of a glossy magazine I have to work in a close contact with PR managers of different fashion brands. Unfortunatelly most of them even don’t know the basics of their profession. So, I’ve decided to dedicate this article to dos and don’ts of the magazine-brand interaction.

To tell you the truth, as a PR manager you don’t need to do anything to get media attention if your clients are Chanel or Dior, in all other cases you have to work hard and smart.

Be sure that your brand is really interesting for the magazine’s audience. If you represent a cheap teen clothing brand don’t try to sell it to high fashion women magazine with readers age range of 35-55.

To introduce yourself to the particular editor or journalist you can send him a personal email (no bulk mails!) If he didn’t reply you can make a call and invite him to share a business brunch with you, where you can discuss possibilities of your future cooperation. In fact, most of editors often refuse this kind of invitation and it’s ok. They have a lot of work and they don’t have enough time to meet with everybody. But you left a good first impression – that is important.

Primary things that you must have to give to journalists upon their first request are:
1) High quality still life images of the every item from the current collection (no need to tell about hi-res?);
2) Campaign images and look books in hi-res also;
3) Price list;
4) Full info about the brand.

Good if you have a special section on your website for press, where journalists can find everything they need (including listed above). In addition you may create a photoalbum on Picasa or Flickr where they can look at the whole collection. It’s a good form to send branded CD (with all info) with printed lookbook and a small sample from the collection (like t-shirt or bracelet as a gift) for the beginning of the season.
Never send emails more that 2 Mb, if you have something to share – use file hosting services.

It’s better if you know magazine’s issues schedule. Most of the magazines make August issue in May for example, so it is useless to send in April news about May activities, hoping that your news will be in the May issue. You had to think about it in February.
If you don’t have any important news – invent them. For example, you can make an accent on your key items, making a special selection – “We present you the top 5 dresses for May” or “Spotted: Kate Moss wears tight jeans!”. It is clear that this kind of trash will never be published but it’s a chance to remind of you. Some magazines publish items with prices. If your company allows you can give to magazines your price list, if not – be extra prompt when you get a price request from the magazines.

Don’t be annoying, don’t call an editor to ask him if your news was interesting or not. Do you like to hear “no”? And nobody likes to tell “no”.  Don’t try to obtain editor’s personal cell phone’s number and never call him after 6 p.m. But it will be nice if you find out editor’s birthday and give compliments to him that day.

Photocredits: Patrick McMullan

“The fashion world may be enamored with bloggers — but not when they post future advertising images without permission. Images from the spring-summer campaigns from the likes of Dior, Balenciaga, Celine and others have been circulating on Modelinia, Fashionologie and other sites this week, ahead of their appearances in February magazines, causing puzzlement and consternation at some design houses.

Fingers have also been pointed at the new blog of Love magazine, which acknowledged some ads — including those of Loewe and Givenchy — were posted with the blessing of designers, while others were snatched from fellow blogs. “This was a genuine human error, made in enthusiasm, and it was certainly never our intention to upset anyone, in particular designers we hold in such high esteem,” Love editor in chief Katie Grand said, assuring “practical steps have been taken to ensure no unauthorized campaign content can appear on the blog at any point in the future.” WWD

Come on, we’re already in the XXI century, it’s impossible to ignore possibilities of the digital world, you don’t have to take offence at it, you have to use it. Magazines and newspapers will never be the first again. It’s essential to create a place for luxury in the internet that could easily replace glossy sheets. And it would be better to let people download hi-res ads from the official site than compain about moire and overcompressed 300×150 pictures that can’t really convey the spirit of luxury.

November 28-2009, Moscow

Jeremie Rozen, founder and creative director of Surface2Air gave a lecture on Multifunctional Solutions For Fashion Industry.

Carrying the theme of Russia – recently I’ve found something interesting in my mailbox. I know, my long holiday is not an excuse for missing it but I haven’t been interested in Russian gloss since the legendary OM magazine closing. I guess this one is kind of revival of intellectual glossy magazine. Anyway I already love it because it’s NOT TAVI on the cover.

This issue of Black Square magazine has two covers. One of them features Vogue Russia editor-in-chief Alena Doletskaya, on the second – a 13-years-old model whose name is not yet known to anyone, and whose future is as undetermined as that of Russia. The same young model played the central part in the conceptual project by the artist Pavel Pepperstein, who opens the issue and whose words appear on both covers. The BS winter issue features his rap manifesto against contemporary art that had been written for the Russian Pavilion at the 53rd Venice Biennale.

Alena Doletskaya, the editor-in-chief of the Russian Vogue, became the central character of a fashion shoot during the Paris Fashion Week and told Black Square about the aim of her life which does not exist, about an injection of high-caliber taste and about expensive things sometimes getting cheap.

Reading the preview: “Sergei Loban, the author of the legendary Dust movie, talks with Valeriya Gai Germanika about the end of art, about living in a cooperative and about his new project. Sergei Bratkov, the Man with a Hasselblad Camera and a live classic of the new photography, on the eve of his large exhibition at PinchukArtCentre tells the BS readers about paratroopers, waste tailings, the Doomsday and other milestones in his artistic career. Andrei Kuzkin, once an “normal man”, now an artist of the new generation of Moscow’s art scene, discourses upon art being unable to change the world and his personal attempts to disprove that. The French artist Cyprien Gaillard showed BS his new work about unfulfilled modernist dream of bestowing the world with perfect architectural forms. Аgnia Kuznetsova, the young actress who played in Cargo 200 and Everybody Dies But Me, answers the questions of Karl Marx’s daughters, In Actor’s Studio TV program and a 1985 issue of Smash Hits magazine“.

By the way, I was pleasantly surprised that Black Square’s magazine co-editor is Anzor Kankulov who used to be an editor-in-chef of my loved OM magazine. Good luck, guys!

Twin Magazine debut issue has been launched in London this Thursday, on November 5. This is not a regular fashion magazine, but some kind of biannual hard-backed fashion bible. The idea belongs to Becky Smith, the former creative director of Lula magazine, who decided to make “the Lula girl older and a little bit more independent”. For The Twin Magazine Smith colaborates with British Vogue’s Aimee Farrell and stylist Celestine Cooney.

The first issue consists of 21 chapters and includes articles by Carol Ann Duffy, Miranda July, and photography by Todd Selby, Boo George and Garance Doré. Art editor Francesca Gavin, who is also an editor for Dazed & Confused and Elle UK, explains: “I think [Twin] is walking a balance between accessible and inspirational. Its not super pop but its not overtly conceptual. There’s something more thoughtful about the work we’re showcasing… I think magazines have an amazing opportunity to become forums to show artwork, in the same way as a gallery or museum. I’m playing on that by including specially curated projects in magazine exhibitions by curators–a way to look at contemporary art in a fresh way not just as profiles of the next big thing. Books and magazines are an amazing way to interest someone in art without the discomfort of stepping foot into a private gallery. It is away of making artwork public.”

It is interesting that Twin is not a totally offline project. On their site you can watch exclusive behind the scenes videos as well as read the blog and buy the magazine online for £15.

Visit: http://www.twinfactory.co.uk/

Credits: Interview, Twin

While three-year-old Suri Cruise tries on baby high heels, 13-years old Tavi Gevinson writes in her blog about adult fashion world. Nobody cares about Hedi Slimane’s look nowaday. Everybody looks at 16-year-old Charles Guislain and discusses 8-year-old Arlo Weiner’s new outfit. Who are all those children and why they are so popular?

Arlo Weiner, 8 years old

Arlo Weiner is a son of Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner and architect Linda Brettler. He has been creating his own style since the age of three—when he asked his parents for a top hat. “A few weeks before my third birthday, I watched this movie where a guy wears loads of hats, so I asked for a top hat and a monocle for my birthday,” says Weiner of his early passion for finery. His mother adds, “I think it was one of those old Abbott and Costello films, but I just remember that he could barely speak and he told us that’s what he wanted.” Arlo takes inspiration from old film stars and heroes of bygone eras: “I like old movies, ‘Picture of Dorian Gray’ has really cool frock coats, Boris Karloff dressed really cool, and I liked the way the guys in ‘League of Extraordinary Gentlemen’ looked.” He’s also a big fan of SpongeBob SquarePants who although needs some style advice “I’d give him black pants and a brown belt, and instead of his red tie, I’d make it a blue tie.” Discover Arlo’s style at GQ.

Tavi Gervinson, 13 years old

Tavi Gevinson is an ordinary girl from Chicago who has unwittingly turned herself into an overnight celebrity through her blog Style Rookie. She began her blog in 2008 just for fun and since then, she has had up to 50,000 readers. Eight months after the blog launch, she received an email from sisters Mulleavy (Rodarte). ”Knowing that they read my blog, I had an extreme moment of ‘fangirling’,” Gevinson said. She has since become their muse, posting excitable photos of their studio and helping them present their line. “Tavi makes you think about things differently,” said Kate Mulleavy. This autumn Tavi is on the cover of Dasha Zhukova’s relaunched Pop magazine, interviewed by Pixie Geldof in Katie Grand’s new issue of Love, and has been pictured on the front rows of this season’s biggest fashion shows, with editors and celebrities seated behind her.

Oh ho, I just can’t ignore the feeling that she’s Evelina Khromchenko little copy!

Charles Guislain, 16 years old

This young Parisien is already a fashion icon because of his personal style. Discovered by Diane Pernet he’s been spotted front-row at all the major Paris shows. What he does? He just looks cool, loves fashion and dreams to attend Central Saint Martins in two years time. He doesn’t want to be a model, he wants to be a designer. Seems like he’ll do both. “I fell in love with fashion the last week of June in 2006 when I saw the suspenders from Dior Homme by Hedi Slimane. I was 13. When I think about that I can’t stop smiling because they were my first door into fashion, something very thin and minimal. Since then, my knowledge of the industry hasn’t stopped growing. I started to draw a week later, but only womenswear and I knew I wanted to get involved in the creation of clothes and be able to share my vision of garments and human body”, Charles said. Nothing to add, just pictures.

Kira Plastinina, 17 years old

I wasn’t sure about adding Kira to my review. Among Tavi and Charles she looks ‘weird’. It’s like to say that “Suri Cruise has a perfect sense of style”. But I did it because she presents herself as the youngest fashion designer and many people were hooked on this PR hoax. Her father, multi-millinaire Sergei Plastinin got for Kira her own fashion empire named Kira Plastinina with stores around the world. “When I grew up, I stopped wanting to be a princess. I always said I wanted to be a designer,” Kira explains. “Or do something that has to do with fashion. My dad asked me to show him the sketches of what I really liked and what I think is cool, and then I think he showed it to some professional people, but I don’t know because I wasn’t actually there. And then my dad said, ‘Are you willing to do this?’ I was like, ‘Are you serious?’” Kira’s dad reportedly paid Paris Hilton $2 million to attend one of her shows. I’ve got an idea, what if Sergei Plastinin helped Charles Guislain instead?

Julia Frakes, 19 years old

In the end, I just want to say some words about Julia Frakes. She’s already not a child, not yet an adult but she’s extremely popular because of her blog and her work for Paper magazine.

Credits: The Love Magazine, The Pop Magazine, LA  Times, Independent UK, The National, Guardian UK, NY Mag, Diane Pernet, Jak&Jil

Newsstand Seller photo credit: Friedman Archives

Wanting the YSL message to reach a wider audience, Pilati created the Manifesto, a booklet featuring Gisele Bundchen in the house’s autumn/winter 2007-2008 campaign, Kate Moss for spring/summer 2008, Naomi for autumn/winter 2008-2009, Claudia Shiffer for spring/summer 2009 and Christy Turlington for this season, fall/winter 2009-10. Pilati sees the booklet as the continuation of Yves Saint Laurent’s legacy of using a democratic approach to deliver luxury branding to the consumer branding.

Вам когда-нибудь приходилось выгребать из почтового ящика каталоги fast-fashion марок, а потом их выбрасывать вместе со вчерашними газетами? Или, приходя домой с обновкой, вам доводилось находить в пакете увесистый, но бесполезный буклетик с картинками? Все мы так или иначе попадаем под прицелы директ-маркетинговых кампаний различных марок. Беда в том, что большинство компаний не умеют правильно использовать огромный потенциал этого направления в маркетинге. Yves Saint Laurent – единственный люксовый бренд, осмелившийся прибегнуть к инструментам партизанского и прямого маркетинга с целью распространения осведомленности о бренде и привлечения новых клиентов. Речь идет о проекте Manifesto.

The fifth Yves Saint Laurent Manifesto was released on September 12, 2009 where over half a million copies of the eco-consciously printed Manifesto were distributed in the streets of Paris, New York, Milan, London, Tokyo, Hong Kong and, for the first time, Seoul. Like past seasons of Manifesto distribution, the first 2,000 passerby in each city received the Manifesto in a custom cotton tote bag designed by Stefano Pilati. The Manifesto was created in order to focus the public on Yves Saint Laurent clothing, instead of just the high-priced accessories that push the most business, and therefore are always receiving the most magazine space and attention. The overall message of the mag seems to have been corrupted by its very purpose. The bag was supposed to be a complimentary gift to those who picked up the magazine, but it was all Yves Saint Laurent followers were raving about.

Using street marketing as a communication tool when being a top luxury couture symbol like YSL seems risky for the brand image but the daring parisian house did not hesitate to change the rules, even when somebody like Ruth Mortimer finds it “meaninless”. She writes in her blog: “I can’t help being disappointed by what was probably a very expensive piece of direct mail to produce but fails to say anything at all. Fashion has a reputation for being shallow but there is far more to the industry than just pretty looks, so this sells it short in my opinion. I would love the next YSL Manifesto I receive to be something that really calls for action.”

To promote Manifesto this year Yves Saint Laurent jumped into social media. The French fashion house launched a Facebook page, “Yves Saint Laurent — the official page,” as well as a Twitter account. For the first time, the Internet also plays a role in the launch of YSL’s Manifesto. On Sept. 1, the fashion house launched a special microsite, which featured an archive of previous editions, as well as a Manifesto blog monitor, and links to YSL’s Facebook and Twitter activities. On Sept. 8, the company uploaded a behind-the-scenes video of Manifesto, which was shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin and features Christy Turlington. The entire publication has also been downloadable from the microsite on the day of the launch.

Download Manifesto F/W 09

Photos: YSL Manifesto

See also: Vogue, Dazed Digital, Runway to Retail, The Flair, WWD, Telegraph

Люди встают рано утром, занимают очередь, часами стоят под дождем для того, чтобы заполучить свой экземпляр Manifesto (отбросив весь пафос, фактически – рекламный каталог). Те, кому не хватило, охотятся за промо-персоналом по всему городу и добиваются своего. А те, кому не повезло - перекупают через Ebay у тех, кому повезло, за немаленькие деньги. Немного смахивает на безумие, не так ли?

Что из себя представляет Manifesto?

Это 20-30-ти страничный буклет, содержащий в себе фотографии актуальной коллекции, представленной известной моделью. Осень-зиму 2007-2008 показывала Жизель Бундхен, весенне-летний сезон 2008 – Кейт Мосс, следующий сезон – Наоми Кемпбелл, далее – Клаудиа Шиффер и, наконец, Кристи Тарлингтон представляет осень-зиму 2009-2010. Обычо Manifesto печатается на переработанной бумаге, но при этом он не теряем своего лоска.

Ценности буклету добавляет его упаковка. Как правило, это хлопковая сумка с эксклюзивным дизайном Стефано Пилати. Иногда помимо буклета в ней можно обнаружить приятные мелочи, вроде USB-флешки в форме сердца, как это было в феврале этого года по случаю Дня Святого Валентина. На самом деле, именно за этой сумкой все и охотятся потому, что ее, в отличие от Manifesto, можно носить, бесплатно показывая свою “как-бы” причастность к бренду. Интересно то, что Manifesto изначально задумывался для того, чтобы отвлечь внимание потребителей от аксессуаров (которые многие могут себе позволить) и сфокусировать его на самой одежде. Однако, облачив Manifesto в сумку, YSL стал заложником все тех же аксессуаров, за счет которых, кстати, и держится марка. Этот спасительный дисбаланс спроса касается не только YSL.

Поддерживающая кампания

В этом году Стефано Пилати особенно ответственно подошел к выпуску Manifesto осень-зима 09. Датой распространения было назначено 12-е сентября. Уже 1-го в сети появился микро-сайт, посвященный проекту. На нем можно было посмотреть историю предыдущих буклетов, а также почитать блог и проследовать по ссылкам на Facebook и Twitter (также новинка сезона). 8-го сентября на сайт было загружено видео о съемках буклета, а 12-го, в день Х, можно было уже скачать Manifesto в pdf-формате.

Распространение

Буклет тиражем в полмиллиона экземпляров распространяется совершенно бесплатно на улицах Парижа, Нью Йорка, Лондона, Токио и Гонконга, в этом году к ним присоединился Сеул. Однако специальные сумки достаются обычно только двум тысячам счастливчиков.

Сложно оценить проект с точки зрения коммерческой рентабельности. Manifesto – не самый дешевый промо-материал, однако самый обсуждаемый. Он – предмет желания миллионов модников и модниц, которые пишут об этом в своих блогах. Несмотря на то, что буклет абсолютно бесплатный – тем не менее, он остается в какой-то степени эксклюзивом. Возможно, он не был бы таким, если бы не сопровождался четко спланированной поддерживающей кампанией, инициирующей ажиотаж, и доставлялся бы Мариванне прямо в почтовый ящик в Бирюлево.

Фото: YSL Manifesto

Статьи по теме: Vogue, Dazed Digital, Runway to Retail, The Flair, WWD, Telegraph

From October 1st to November 1st, Vogue magazine shows its best covers on the Avenue Les Champs-Elysees. This retrospective will let you discover the work of major photographers and artists who helped make this magazine an icon synonymous with elegance since 1920. Horst, Steichen, Man Ray, Hoyningen-Huene, Andy Warhol, Benito Lepape, Oatmeal, Penn Randall, Clarke, Jean-Loup Stieff, William Klein, Helmut Newton, Guy Bourdin, Peter Lindbergh, Mario Testino, Patrick Demarchelier, Richard Avedon, Bakst, Cecil Beaton, Christian Bérard, Salvador Dali, Robert Doisneau, David Hockney, Mert & Marcus, Joan Miró, Bruce Weber…

С 1-го октября в самом центре Парижа, на Champs-Elysees, проходит выставка, посвященная журналу Vogue. Прогуливаясь вдоль самой известной улицы Парижа, можно наблюдать  лучшие обложки в истории журнала во Франции. Но если такой возможности нет, вас спасет выпущенная по случаю юбилея книга The Vogue Covers 1920-2009. Не только спасет, но и покажет на 42 обложки больше, чем уличная выставка, которая продлится до 1-го ноября этого года.

The Vogue Covers, 1920-2009 book (with 122 covers inside) published by Editions Ramsay is available at Amazon.

Коротко о главном

С 1-го октября в самом центре Парижа, на Champs-Elysees, проходит выставка, посвященная журналу Vogue. Прогуливаясь вдоль самой известной улицы Парижа, можно наблюдать  лучшие обложки в истории журнала во Франции. Но если такой возможности нет, вас спасет выпущенная по случаю юбилея книга The Vogue Covers 1920-2009. Не только спасет, но и покажет на 42 обложки больше, чем уличная выставка, которая продлится до 1-го ноября этого года.

Street photo: AchimH’s Flickr

Street photo: AchimH’s Flickr