Guest Post: Fashion Hacks’ Matthew Caines talks London Fashion Week

Following on from our Media Spotlight on Fashion Hacks, an advice-site and publishing platform for wannabe fashion journalists, today we have Editor Matthew Caines share his journalistic experiences at London Fashion Week (LFW) and who he thinks are this year’s the top designers as well as tips and advice on pitching to Fashion Hacks.

My Experiences so far at LFW
I have a small team, so it’s not been too stressful keeping an eye on them and getting them coordinated. As editor I’ve been a little chained to the desk, coordinating coverage from a laptop in the press room – and live-coverage takes a lot more time than people think, mainly because you can’t miss a second so you have to be switched on from the first show to the last. 

I’ve been drinking five or six coffees (free for the press) per day to just keep up!

But when I do get out I just try to switch off and take it all in – I love the live shows but I also enjoy the exhibitions; getting a chance to talk to the designers and see their creations up close makes you feel a little special. Oh, and my bag has been filling up to the brim – any handout, newspaper or poster can give you plenty of inspiration, so I’m going for that glam-bag-lady look!

My top fashion designers
From what I’ve seen so far I’d have to top the list with Mary Katrantzou. I’m a huge fan of her work anyway, so being able to witness first-hand her next line was a real honour, but closely behind her must be Ashish Gupta in all his flower-print glory. I was so disappointed to miss John Rocha, which looked amazing as did Jean-Pierre Braganza and my team we’re also very keen on Corrie Nielsen.

Making the Pitch: My Tips and Advice for Pitching to Fashion Hack
From a journo’s point of view, a good subject header for the email is vital. As someone who gets eighty or so emails per day (others get up to ten times more!) I’ll often read the email header and decide immediately whether I can afford to trawl through the copy. It’s not that I’m being dramatic or egotistical; I can just think of better ways to spend a morning than looking through forty or so press releases.There’s also a big debate about how to send releases and info.

I think the key is to separate or provide links to the relevant areas, be that video interviews, images or copy. Almost like a story package, it makes journalists feel like they’re doing their job by putting it together instead of cutting up two pages of fashion copy without any stimulation.

Editorial information on Fashion Hacks, along with thousands of other European websites, can be found in our CisionPoint media database.Also see our Top UK Fashion Blog and Twitter Rankings