Digital has enabled everyone to adopt a self-starter approach so give yourself a platform to write
– Scarlett Conlon
I took a stroll to the V&A this afternoon and I’m so glad I did. I picked up a map from reception and then noticed an event happening on Careers in Fashion and the arts. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that I was just in time for a talk on Fashion Journalism with Scarlett Conlon, News Editor of Vogue.co.uk
The talk was brilliant. It was concise and full of so many invaluable tips and industry knowledge for writers. It really drives home how much we all need to keep honing our skills and striving to do better in our jobs. It was an inspiring talk. I’ve broken down what I took away from Scarlett’s talk into bite sized headings to make them a big more digestible.
The future of fashion journalism
The world of print is changing and evolving said Scarlett and this in turn means that there is greater diversity across digital platforms. “Digital has enabled everyone to adopt a self-starter approach so give yourself a platform to write.” She spoke about the immediacy and reactive nature of online journalism. Adaptation is key is key to success. “You can now monitor your work and get instant feedback. You can see the appetite of readers and what they liked or want to see more of. This means that you need to think about story selection and traffic to pages. She advised learning Google Analytics so that you can stay informed of what topics or issues, performed well. “It can be addictive to see how many clicks come in on something you have written, it’s really exciting.”
Invaluable nuggets
Scarlett’s next tip really resonated with me as I’ve made a path through my twenties in a range of writing roles. “Don’t become obsessed with one dream job, instead be the best you can be at any job.” She spoke of the value of internships to learn and get experience in the fashion industry but also of the financial realities of taking low-wage, or unpaid positions. She studied a degree in English and used internship placements after university and it gave her the steely backbone needed for a career in fashion journalism. “Be agile and work your way up. Getting competitive doesn’t help and people don’t forget the way that you behave.” She spoke of making tea but also of the importance of knowing your time and place and that bigger jobs would come around as well as the small jobs that need to be done. “Integrity is everything, I’d advise all of you to do your research, stay well read and write and much as you can.”
Utilise archive material
Scarlett spoke about the importance of looking at archive material as a fashion journalist and to consistently educate yourself in fashion history. She mentioned Vogue Runway as a resource to look at past collections and shows. She also spoke about how history and world events shape our knowledge of fashion. I never knew that the first edition of Vogue was published in Fleet Street 1916 and then during WWII, Vogue never missed an edition of being printed. She touched upon Lee Miller – a female journalist at Vogue during the War era in London and how her writing become some of the first long fashion articles in the magazine. Right up to present day she said it’s important to stay up to date, “Know the last show McQueen did before he died, get to know the new names in the fashion houses that are beginning to be repeated. That is the person who is going to become big in five years time”.
Show reporting
Scarlett spoke of the importance of capturing what you are seeing and the power of language to generate emotion and truth. What if someone reading your piece couldn’t see the pictures? Would it be true to the reality and beauty of the piece? When looking at a collection or streaming it live, Scarlett said to watch out for references to fashion history. She said to pay attention to material compositions, to understand the type of cotton, the difference between chiffon and gauze. She urged everyone to have an opinion and to look at the overall ambience of what you are seeing. What music is playing? Where is the show on? What is the setting? All of these elements will bring your written articles to life.
Expand and push your vocabulary
Don’t sit on your laurels and defer to the words, colours or phrases that you commonly reach for. Utilise language and give it room to breathe. The next time that I sit down to write about a piece of clothing or describe a hue, I’ll take a bit more time. Is it cyan, hot pink, or magenta? It’s about a re-connection with the joy of descriptive language.
Stimulate the reader through layout
Scarlett said that at Vogue, print journalists engage in a collaborative process of layout and design of pages and long features. Working on the digital side at Vogue.co.uk, she said that it is very important for a journalist to use pull quotes, stand firsts, correct formatting and use tools to be able to upload articles through the CMS system. Long features at a magazine can be 3,000 words + where a web article might be 150 words. This means that different writing skills are needed. A print publication has a three month lead time and an online publication is immediate. Scarlett explained how as an online writer you need to be aware of the ‘dwell time’ on a webpage by a reader and to be concise. “Read as much as you can from other writers to learn how to adapt your style.”
Fashion musical chairs
To be successful in fashion journalism, Scarlett suggested building your knowledge of the prominent Creative Directors and CEOs in the fashion industry. Kering for example, a global luxury group has all of these major fashion houses under its umbrella – Stella McCartney/YSL/Louis Vuitton/Balenciaga and Gucci. Get to know the masthead and job roles of everyone at a magazine or a publication and understand what that role entails. Know the difference between an Editor in Chief and an Editor at Large for instance and people moving around houses and publications”. This knowledge will bring a greater understanding to industry roles and how things fit together.
A reading list Scarlett reads every morning
The International New York Times
People to know and writing styles to learn from
Lucinda Chambers – Vogue Fashion Director
Suzy Menkes – British Journalist and Fashion Critic
Tim Blanks – Fashion Critic
Sarah Mower – Fashion Critic