How to Pitch Your Fashion Brand to Media Outlets

Alright fashion fam, let’s dive in! If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent countless hours building your brand, perfecting your products, and now it’s time to get the word out. Pitching to media outlets can be a game-changer, but it’s not just about having a great product—it’s about telling your story in a way that gets editors and journalists excited. Today, I’m breaking down the real deal on how to pitch your fashion brand so you can secure that coveted media coverage and shine in the spotlight you deserve. Let’s get into it!

As A Product/Service Based Fashion Brand

As a product/service based business you should be able to identify key features and selling points that can go in your pitch, and make those points unique enough that a journalist or outlet will spend the time to write about your brand. What’s the story behind the brand? Is it compelling enough to be used in the pitch? This is beyond just a basic bio about the company or the founder, and could be a great opportunity to incorporate personal elements that will speak to the journalist and bigger audience.

As A Fashion Expert

As a fashion public figure, expert, or professional, many outlets are looking for those individuals to give their opinions on the current state of the fashion industry, controversial topics, as well as be the topic for featured articles/content. If you are pitching yourself as a fashion expert, you need to be able to identify what your expertise is. For example, I have key “zones of genius” when pitching myself which consist of: the business of fashion, fashion media (editorial, public relations, and journalism), fashion entrepreneurship, plus size styling content, fashion education & careers (as someone who has degrees in fashion, is a fashion professor, and working to create my own fashion academy), & diversity in fashion. If you’re able to establish your expertise very specifically, it is easy to find outlets that relate to that and pitch yourself.

As A Fashion Influencer

Similar to the above, you can pitch yourself to give fashion + style advice and shopping recommendations to outlets. In addition, you can pitch yourself for style roundups and featured articles/content of your influencer brand. As a fashion influencer you should be able to speak to your style & your content focuses (OOTD, roundups, deep dives on trends, etc).

How to Pitch

1. Research relevant outlets that relate to your core audience. These outlets should include: magazines, online blogs/magazines, newspapers, social media accounts, & podcasts.
2. In addition, research journalists within the outlets you select to pitch to. Just because they are “fashion” doesn’t mean they write or report on everything fashion related for that outlet, and big outlets have multiple fashion writers. In addition, many journalists are freelance and write for multiple outlets which is a great thing for you (potential for bigger exposure).
3. Create your pitch email which should include:
   • Attention grabbing subject
   • Personalization – include the journalists name
   • Short, sweet, and brief yet engaging
   • Make sure to include your unique selling points/unique brand takeaways
   • Include an easy/accessible way to view visuals and brand elements (such as a Google Drive or Dropbox link, sending attachments may be too big and will cause the email to bounce back). Visuals and brand elements can include media/press kits, brand 1 pagers, look books, additional press links, speaker reels/videos, & recent campaigns
4. Pitch via dm. In the event you can’t find a journalists’ email but you found their X account, Linkedin, or Instagram, dm has been something that seems to be converting just as well as pitch emails. If you are pitching via dm, the message should include:
   • Introduction – as a fashion editor and just someone that is a stickler for “communication protocol”: introduce yourself when you are dming someone you don’t know. A proper introduction can go a long way. For example “Good morning, I hope your day has been amazing. My name is XYZ……”.
   • Condense your pitch. Simply state that you are inquiring on pitching for any upcoming stories that may have coming up and how you/your brand would be a good fit.
   • Inquire on the best contact email. This helps keep the communication going and builds a rapport with the journalist.
5. Join Qwoted. Qwoted is a platform for brands and experts to pitch (either themselves or per their PR team) as sources to media outlets such as Forbes, Travel Advisor, etc. I personally have used Qwoted and have been featured in Glamour, Teen Vogue, Instyle, and more. My magazine Advisor. also accepts pitches via Qwoted. You can sign up for a free account, and this is a good way for you to take control of your PR efforts until you ready to outsource and pay a publicist.
6. Hire a publicist. I put this last for a number of reasons, but the main reason – as a small business or if you’re just starting in your journey, you may not have the budget for a publicist, and with PR not being guaranteed, if may be easier to play publicist to start. In addition, a lot of people get PR, advertising, and marketing mixed up and think they need a publicist vs focuses on marketing campaigns.

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