Olivia Palermo Milan Fashion Week Fall 2018

"It's not the about fun part of fashion week," admits Tracey Manner, Partner & Vice President of public relations, marketing and digital agency Think PR about wrangling influencers for her clients' New York Manner Week shows and events. "Information technology becomes such a game."

Because on top of planning logistics for runway show productions, dealing with press requests and outreach and managing customer expectations, PR agencies are also treatment invitations, contract negotiations and even car service arrangements with influencers who populate the front row, from celebrities to socialites to social media stars, ranging from from micro-influencers to powerhouse names, like Chiara Ferragni, Chriselle Lim and Danielle Bernstein.

Manner has been part of the fashion week PR auto for nearly 10 years (and xx seasons), and during that time, has wrangled influencer attendees for clients that have included Halston, 3.1 Phillip Lim, Bibhu Mohapatra and Improver Elle. Now, Mode is currently in become-mode for stacking her clients' front rows for Fall 2018.

"I literally just left a fashion week planning meeting and it was nearly slammed at me: 'We take to take people!' Because everyone's seen the social capital letter of information technology," she says.

Fashionista defenseless a moment with Manner before she started the onslaught of calls and emails to VIPs (or their agents) to discuss the nitty-gritty involved in wrangling influencers for NYFW, including what negotiations are involved, why dressing influencers doesn't terminate afterward the rails lights go downward and how a Trump family unit member'south attendance (or non-omnipresence) threw a wrench in the seating chart final season. Hither are the highlights.

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How do you outset preparing, reaching out and starting negotiations with influencers prior to NYFW?

If a customer has budget, if they're after someone specific [and/or] if there's a clear relationship established [between the brand and influencer], we'll reach right out to that person. If not, we'll find out who's in town first, because we've constitute, later years of honing, that it's such a craven-and-egg situation. A lot of digital influencers are just every bit proactive. Our team works with them throughout the twelvemonth, and so they're already asking us what shows we have on our docket.

What are the negotiations similar?

It really depends on level of talent. If it'due south someone stellar that we're going to pay, there is a full-on contract. It'southward a personal appearance agreement and can include everything from a fee or a huge clothing merchandise to a guaranteed number of social media posts and the corporeality of fourth dimension they spend [at the bear witness] — fifty-fifty down to nitty-gritty: "Y'all must arrive on-fourth dimension beforehand to meet the designer backstage and have photos with designer backstage;" "You must see designer after show and take photos." It is super specific. "You must come dressed in full look," or "you must come dressed in one piece." Nosotros've found the more specific we can get in those contracts, the better. You tin can program as much every bit you can and set up cars and all that, but the tighter the contracts are on that kind of stuff, it's a petty bit easier to then say, "But she didn't fulfill her whole time."

How dissimilar are digital influencer negotiations from celebrity negotiations?

They're really different. A celebrity generally plays by the rules of that contract. I would say more than of the digital negotiation is a handshake agreement and, bluntly, sometimes they don't show upward. Fifty-fifty if yous sent clothes to clothes them. At that place are a few different types [of digital influencers]. At that place are some that look at their world like a business, and you lot have others that are like, "I'k doing what I can and information technology's a privilege to go to shows." The ones that are more than professional, they brand an agreement to come to a show and they're going to be dressed there — and they're in that location.

We've been in situations when they don't show, then they will come to showroom the adjacent day or a week subsequently to keep the relationship, particularly if the brand is of import to them. They sympathise in that location are brands, if y'all miss their bear witness, they might non desire to work with you every bit much. But and so in that location are others that just are no shows and that causes the PR hustle of who is sitting in this seat at the last minute.

Megan and Tracy Morgan at Bibhu Mohapatra's Fall 2017 runway show, which was the best thing always. Photo: Courtesy of Think PR

What type of loaning or gifting is involved, and how is it negotiated?

It depends on who it is. Some digital influencers will wear clothing in one case and requite it back, others would like the gift and some look at the souvenir as an commutation of finances for their advent. With Bibhu, for instance, his drove does accept fur — all ethically sourced — but i of our negotiating points, because he does not pay talent, is we could give them a fur, potentially. But influencers, specially digital ones, they come in for fittings — we accept fittings starting already in our office — and pull outfits considering some of them change their clothes 4 or five times a 24-hour interval.

What'southward information technology like for your team members wrangling the influencers on the mean solar day-of the show?

Yous're dealing with booking machine service and talent is notoriously late for car service. You lot're talking to their assistant or, whomever, "Your car is there." If you have to provide glam — hair and makeup — you're making sure that that was finished, but also depending on the event, sometimes there'south agreements, equally well, with hair and makeup existence no pre-photos, which happens. And so, depending on the scenario with the talent, if the talent is giving interviews, as well, y'all have to coordinate the interviews, and make sure the editor is there on fourth dimension and that the talent is set for them. You have to make sure they're comfortable when seated and their guests typically sit behind them, then make certain they're fine, as well. And brand sure they're fix for photos, whether it'southward front end row or backstage. And then, it's a lot of handholding.

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Exercise you coordinate street fashion photography for the influencers outside the runway venue?

We alert sure street style photographers if [influencers are] coming to the prove. We do not telephone call paparazzi, only we practise know certain street manner photographers that accept told paparazzi who'due south at the shows, which is fine.

How practice you coordinate with influencers for social media outreach during the show?

Generally the digital girls, they're in that location to bear witness the content to their followers. For the nigh role — I would say nine out of 10 times — you don't fifty-fifty have to button to go them to post during fashion week, especially in their Instagram stories. I always give social media cards out at shows with the hashtags and the handles — just as a reminder — particularly to those that yous tin can't really expect annihilation on social, unless yous pay 100 percent. But it's just a helpful reminder. Generally, they're all playing the game, too.

How do y'all and so written report back to your client after the show?

Instagram Stories disappear, and so we have a team that goes into checking all of anyone that checked in through [Launchmetrics, formerly Fashion GPS]. They're checking all the influencers' social media immediately and watching it for the next 24 hours, and then we count all the metrics through that. Because information technology'south important for clients to empathize if they got 4.4 million Instagram likes or something like that. Our clients like to see the impact they fabricated socially, as well, outside of merely press clips.

Olivia Palermo wears a Charlotte Simone scarf during Paris Fashion Week on October three, 2017. Photo: Edward Berthelot/Getty Images)

How else do you work with influencers during manner month?

Sometimes our designers have seen more impact from influencers wearing something on the street than at their event. Like, Charlotte Simone is a really good example of that. We exercise her show in London. She has astonishing British "It" girls everywhere, just it'south more impactful for her to apparel people when they're in betwixt shows and then at her evidence. If Chiara [Ferragni] is spotted in a Charlotte Simone beret, which happened during fashion week last year, it was such a good content.

What additional work does that entail?

It's a lot of figuring out what influencers and celebrities are wearing. It'south a lot of loaning, fittings and people coming in. It's too working with celebrity stylists. Nour Hammour, a leather jacket brand from Paris, makes custom jackets for people. It's just a heightened time for all of them. And it's funny because every client — manner, accessories — anybody's senses are heightened at that fourth dimension, looking at who'due south wearing what and where they're going. Because Nour Hammour doesn't prove [at fashion week] — they're still a baby make out of France — it's so of import that nosotros go jackets on people. Eva Chen is a large supporter and wore their jacket during New York and Paris, and for them, it had a huge bear upon.

You lot watched this style week front row get from celebrity to influencer then celebrity-influencer crossover. How has the whole game evolved for you?

I think in that location'southward still something to be said about a killer on-brand celebrity forepart row. It will never go abroad. I think that brands are really trying to find that complementary aspect where you lot accept your neat glory front row or your influential women, simply then yous as well can get the digital side, as well. I recollect it's finding the remainder. It besides depends on who the brand is. If the brand is targeted at just at millennials, maybe they don't need celebrities; maybe they merely demand digital because their consumer is actually clicking through on Instagram and buying.

What'south the biggest influencer crisis moment you lot've had at fashion week?

As an agency, I don't retrieve we've really had influencer meltdowns during style week, ever. Nosotros had a Trump situation last yr. The show that Tiffany was at was not mine, but she was supposed to come up to 1 of ours. So, we had Underground Service walkthroughs and security problems and nosotros fabricated a decision on the PR side that [her attendance] didn't need to be every bit intentional. Nosotros did non wearing apparel her, and she did not come up. We welcomed her because she had a personal relationship with the designer, just we just felt, as an bureau, and likewise for the designer, we didn't need to make it such a purposeful thing. But because nosotros didn't send the dress, she didn't come up. All of that preparation that happened and all of those hours of piece of work, information technology was for null, basically.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Peak photograph: Social media personality Chantel Jeffries and "Orange Is the New Black" actresses Jackie Cruz and Selenis Leyva at Nicole Miller's Bound 2017 runway show. Photo: Nicholas Chase/Getty Images

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