It is that time again. We just sent out our list of Fashion Week registrations. We've got over a thousand people who've said they're coming to New York for New York Fashion Week. It is that time of year. I'm not going to talk about Fashion Week and whether you should go, but I'm almost positive I'm going to answer that question in the next few weeks because I'm sure somebody's going to ask, "Should I go to Fashion Week?"

I've seen 15 bloggers taking polls from their audience, "Should I go to Fashion Week?" which is for me is very eye-rolly. It's like, "Hey, everyone, should I-- I don't know, I'm so over Fashion Week but if you guys think it's important, I'll go." It's like, "Fuck you, just make up your mind." I think the polls asking your audience if you should go to Fashion Week are nauseating. They're so frustrating. They're just full of entitlement. I hate it. It's wrapped up in this like, "I want to give my audience what they want," which is total bullshit. It feels very self-serving. That's that. Let's put that aside. We're not talking about that today. I'm not going to get derailed.

How can you get to big shows? A few big PR companies run things at Fashion Week. A lot of the big fashion PR companies in the city, HL group, KCD, Alison Brod, Purple PR, LaForce now, do a lot of the shows. The easiest way to get into the shows is building relationships with the big fashion PR companies in the city. You can do a search for those to find them. Reach out to them and say, "I'd love to be considered for Fashion Week shows. How can I get you-- " say, "I'm interested in going." Just email them. If you've never been to Fashion Week before, you need to think, let's take two years, four Fashion Weeks. Let's say you want to go to the big shows in two years, with the PR companies, you want to build your name up inside those companies.

The first thing they're going to do is they're going to invite you to the presentations. The presentations are not as exciting. They're going to invite you to the ones that they're having a harder time getting people to come to. Go to those presentations, cover them, send emails to the brands, tell them you went, show them your post, do them a favor. You're not doing them a favor by going to Chanel, everybody wants to go to Chanel. There are brands that are more difficult to get people go to. It is their fucking job to get people to go, help them be good at their job. Do something, wait for it, for someone else. Imagine, help them out.

You could email them and say, "Hey, first time going to Fashion Week. I'm so excited. If there's any presentations or shows that aren't as heavily attended, I'd love to be considered." That is a very humble way to come into it. That is what it will feel like to the PR people. You have to understand they are-- I know influencers talk about how busy Fashion Week is, and it is very busy for influencers, it is fucking insane for PR people. They would be working three or four shows a day, they're in the office 'til 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. While you're at the after-party for Alexander Wang, they're closed up in a fucking office doing clippings for press mentions for all their shows, getting those reports to the brands the next day. It is a very stressful time, it is not their job to make sure that you have a fun Fashion Week so try and be humble. Try and be realistic with your ask and see what you can do for them.

Beyond that, then it's a relationship game. You have to grow your following. You have to be-- They've only got so many seats allocated to influencers. That allocation is growing every year so it gets easier and easier to get into these shows. They're also making shows bigger and bigger to accommodate more people as the industry changes and as Fashion Week changes, but at the end of the day it becomes a numbers game or a relationship game. You can either build really strong relationships or you can just have really big numbers. To get into those really coveted shows, to get into the Diors, to get into the Balenciaga, the Celines, the Chanels, the Louis Vuittons, you're going to have to build strong relationships. You're going to have to find the people at those brands and you're going to have to try and ingratiate yourself.

As busy as the time it is for PR people, it is also fun. I think if you're honest and say, "I have always loved this brand and I understand that it is 100% probably not feasible for me to go to the show now but one day I would love to, if there's anything I can do for you please let me know." Be humble. Understand that if this is your first Fashion Week, it's a journey. Each year you'll get more and more access, you'll build more and more relationships, it'll get more and more interesting. If you do a good job for the brands, they will continue to invite you. They will talk amongst their PR firm, "I invited her to a show. She was great. She did a bunch of coverage. She sent me a report. She's awesome." Be professional, be humble, do a good job, that is my advice. That's totally fine.