Fashion Titles

As a designer who wants to establish firm relationships with their target press contacts, it is vital that you understand exactly who you should be contacting at a publication and why. Flick through the credits page in any magazine and you will see a vast number of names attached to various job titles. The set up of a publications' fashion team can appear confusing; who do you contact for editorial coverage, who is the best person to contact if you want to send over images of your new collection, etc.

The Pocket Guide To The Fashion Media features a simple break down of the various individuals within an editorial fashion department. Below is an extract from the list, including quotes from leading Editors, writers and stylists from the fashion industry.

Fashion Features Director/Editor

Key responsibilities include generating fashion features and interview ideas for the magazine. Fashion Features Directors and Editor’s are also required to maintain strong relationships with fashion PR’s and industry contacts to secure stories and interviews that will be relevant to the publication and its readers.

“My job is fairly pressurised as there are so many different demands on my time but as I am responsible for a specific section of the magazine my role has set boundaries, and is therefore manageable! My role includes keeping abreast of all the latest fashion and shopping news to compiling fashion news pages and commissioning freelance writers and editing their copy where necessary”. Fashion Features Editor, Marie Claire magazine

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Senior Fashion / Fashion Editor at Large
Generator of new ideas for features, a Senior Fashion Editor and Fashion Editor at Large contribute editorially however they are not necessarily based in-house. Topics of contribution are often of their own choosing and are required to add a sense of variety to the publication. Editors at Large are not usually responsible for major decisions within the editorial team. As before, an Associate Fashion Editor is just below a Fashion Editor in terms of the staff hierarchy.

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Executive/ Fashion Editor
Usually reporting to the Editor in Chief, the Fashion Editor controls the direction of a publications’ fashion pages, overseeing the creation, development and presentation of the fashion sections. Responsible for ensuring all fashion writers submit features on time, providing feedback and editing the content if necessary. Varying job titles are commonly used to reflect slight variations in experience and kudos of the individuals concerned.

“The role of Fashion Editor of Cosmopolitan entails producing the fashion pages for the magazine on a monthly basis. The challenge is to keep them full of fresh ideas, pack them with product whilst keeping them beautiful to look at. I look after our shopping pages and produce main fashion shoots in addition to styling our celebrity cover shoots. The Fashion Editor engineers how the fashion pages are represented in your magazine, what you edit is seen by hundreds of thousands of people so it’s a big responsibility to get it right and ensure you are providing what your readers want.” Fashion Editor, Cosmopolitan magazine

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Online Editor
The Online Editor assumes overall editorial responsibility for an online magazine. Highest ranking position, they are in control of a team of writers, stylists etc.

‘No two days are ever quite the same, but my key responsibility is making marieclaire.co.uk a must-visit online destination for fashion-savvy, thirty-something women. I have a team of writers and picture editors underneath me creating unique content for the site, but I also work with the magazine editorial team who contribute to the site on a daily basis too. As an editor, an important part of my job is liaising with the marketing, publishing and commercial teams on traffic-driving and advertising initiatives” Editor, www.marieclaire.co.uk

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Freelance Fashion Writer/Journalist/Reporter
Almost identical job description to a Fashion Writer but freelance fashion writers are independently employed, working on a commission basis. It is not uncommon for successful writers to embark on a freelance career following a career in-house at a magazine or newspaper.

“Whatever happens, I’m on my laptop every morning reading up on all the blogs I follow as well as the day’s news. I’m usually pitching ideas for stories so this will involve research and then emailing the appropriate editors for the story. When I’m working on a story I’ll be on the phone to PR’s, the editor, writing and getting images together or interviewing someone and then transcribing.” Kiki Georgiou, Freelance Fashion Writer

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Bookings Editor
Responsible for casting and booking the models and/or celebrities used in the fashion pages and on the cover. The Bookings Editor aims to match appropriate models with the upcoming shoot/story, e.g. classic beauty for a high fashion sophisticated shoot, then presents the images of chosen models to the fashion editors who will make the final selection.

“My job title is Fashion and Celebrity Bookings Editor and my role is to produce the fashion and celebrity shoots for the magazine. This involves casting, locations, logistics and budgets as well as co-coordinating the working schedules of Editors to ensure the shoots happen on deadline and within budget”. Bookings Editor, UK Vogue

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Fashion Assistant

A fashion assistant is usually responsible for maintaining an orderly fashion cupboard (home to all the product samples sent it by brands/PR’s) and are on hand to assist editors and stylists accordingly. Duties vary between liaising with PR’s to answering phones and requesting, receiving and returning press samples on behalf of the fashion editors. They may also have their own feature (s) in the publication to work on. Publications may utilise the term “Senior Fashion Assistant” to differentiate between levels and responsibilities of internal assistants.

“I do my own pages at front of book and assist the Fashion Director on main fashion and covers. I also do some of my own shoots for fashion features." Fashion Assistant, Elle Magazine

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Fashion Intern
A common prerequisite for those wanting to embark on a long term career within a fashion publication, internships are generally unpaid blocks of work experience lasting anywhere between a week and several months. Generally interns are of degree age (18+) upwards and duties vary from assisting the fashion assistant’s to returning products to brands and PR firms.

“Most interns assist on local shoots. Responsibilities might include packing up all the samples for the shoot, organising taxi’s for the team, setting up and steaming clothes, getting lunch etc. You will more than likely pack all the clothes up once the shoot is over and return all the items to their respective PR’s over the following week or so.” Fashion Intern, Wallpaper