I sauntered into my first fashion show in Paris, thanks to my friend’s generosity and my willingness to ASK, made small talk and exchanged phone numbers. I waited at the venue for 45 minutes after the show ended, hoping a photographer would come up to me and take photos of my look. A stranger who happened to be a micro European magazine’s stylist struck up a conversation with me and I told her it was my first time. She explained to me how a fashion week works . . . how photographers have the entire schedule and locations of the shows (they’ve been coming for multiple seasons so they build a close-knit community that shares information) and run from one venue to the other to catch good photo ops of celebrities and influencers, which in turn they sell to publications.
I have been completely inspired by something I once heard from the managing director of a top Mumbai-based brand solutions company. And it was about a mega global icon whom I truly admire. Priyanka Chopra. The managing director told me that when Priyanka Chopra moved out of Bollywood to the Los Angeles and New York circle, she cracked the space by making her presence felt everywhere.
She was willing to take a 12-hour flight to be seen at the right place at the right time and then another 12-hour flight back to where she needed to be. Her global positioning and her international branding went to incredible heights because nothing replaced ‘showing up’. I activated this advice. In my industry, there was a major lack of representation from Indian influencers. I saw the gap in the market and I used my advantage of being located in Europe. I started attending international events. And the more I did, the more I got noticed and then invited to three more. So, ultimately, from just pretending that I had arrived, I did actually arrive. I didn’t generate any revenue from this strategy for a while, but I was willing to invest in myself (in terms of time, energy and money) to build a greater brand.
Also read: Akbar was obsessed with Caracal. Ain-i-Akbari featured extensive text of the cat
I attended one presentation and one show out of the 50 that showcased, but I gained so much more. I understood how a fashion week works on the ground. It wasn’t an unknown territory any more. I learnt that even though I attended just one show, my audience loved all the content I created while I was at the fashion week. My engagement went up 40 per cent. I learnt that being out of my comfort zone pushed me to work harder. I needed to grab more of these uncomfortable situations.
By my second fashion week, later in 2018, I was a lot more prepared. For this run, I changed tack. I decided to first reach out to the Indian counterparts of the international brands showcasing there. In the fashion weeks of Paris and Milan, you’re (usually) never paid to attend a show or an event. It’s just good enough that you’re invited! It’s an investment for the person attending – i.e. me. So, instead of telling the brands that I would like to go for a fashion week and ask if they’d ‘sponsor’ me – my approach was, ‘Hey, I am going for a fashion week to Paris and Milan. Are you hosting any events that I could cover on your behalf?’ I was personally investing in travel, lodging, expenses and accompanying team members but I knew I could make it fruitful.
I’ll explain in brief: How did I make money and drive revenue for my business while attending a fashion week and upping my brand value? The revenue comes from supplemental brand collaborations. And what exactly is that? Well, a lot of brands are more than happy to do brand collaborations (paid ones) while you are travelling to these cities because this is the time when an influencer’s reach and engagement is extremely high. It benefits the brand in question to feature on the influencer’s page during this period.
The approach would be to reach the fashion week a day prior or plan your calendar in a way that you have time to create content for these partnerships and then strategically drop the content online during the fashion week. I got three positive responses for my second fashion week. I attended those events, networked, and got to know the global teams. It was Bvlgari that gave me my first opportunity. Over a dinner event, as I got to know the global Bvlgari team, they suddenly asked me if I was free (of course, I was – but I couldn’t let that on right away!) the next morning to participate in a global campaign they were shooting with ten influencers from around the world with a famous photographer. It would be aired on all the global Bvlgari channels. They wanted me to be part of it. Me! My head exploded! This was huge and incredible.
This excerpt from Masoom Minawala and Aditi Shah Bhimjyani’s ‘She’ll Never Make It: My Journey from Doubt to Dominance’ has been published with permission from Juggernaut books.