Faulhaber PR is one of Toronto’s best independent fashion PR companies, and to celebrate the 10th anniversary I created a graphic portrait inspired by the fierce and focused founder, Christine Faulhaber. Faulhaber has been very supportive of my career – it is such a pleasure to congratulate Christine and her team on a decade of great work.

This is for anyone and everyone who wants to come to say hi & bye to me in Toronto.

Debra Goldblatt of rock-it promotions is one of Toronto’s top publicists for fashion, lifestyle and celebrity clients, and has been a great connector and supporter towards the fashion bloggers in the city for years. Her straight talk, genuine warmth and love of the business makes her a total PR darling.

This year rock-it promotions launched their own blog called On The Fourth Floor, and one of the most popular features is called Media Darling, asking PR-related questions of various personalities in the media (including me). I turned the table to get her perspective from the other side.

Who are your PR heroes? What inspires you about the leaders in your profession?

I have many colleagues that I work with in the PR field that are heroes. Some are owners of their own agencies and some are more junior and starting out. I don’t kiss and tell, but I will say that PR people who handle themselves with grace in difficult situations as well as have a sense of humour are my favourite people in this profession. It’s not always easy and it’s a very demanding career and a smile can go a long way.

What do you wish people understood better about PR, especially when it comes to fashion events?

I wish people understood how difficult it is to please all the people, all the time. There is a lot of ego in the fashion world which, to be frank, is quite unlike the other fields we work in (film, lifestyle, health, hospitality, etc). During a really large scale event like a show during Fashion Week, we really do try our very best to ensure that everybody is treated with the utmost respect and occasionally, there is a mistake. It could be a seat forgotten, a volunteer making an error, or an rsvp missed. Trust us that we kick ourselves harder than anybody ever could when those situations happen, so no need to kick us when we’re down (unless you’re dealing with a PR person who isn’t remorseful – then you should kick them. Hard.).

How can an independent blogger grab your attention? What do you look for when you choose the bloggers you want to work with?

I think this is very similar to the feedback we hear from media about PR professionals. I hate spelling errors and I hate it when somebody addresses a note to another agency and sends it to me. It’s impersonal and shows they are saying the same flattering things to another agency to get into an event. I like sincerity and soul. And a blog that is clean, well written and has relevant content for my client(s).

What is your biggest pet peeve when it comes to bloggers?

Not acting professional. Don’t get hammered at an event b/c there is an open bar. If you want to work with us, save the slurred rants and drunk tweets until after you’ve been our guest. It’s no different than us inviting you into our house if it’s our client’s event. You look bad, we look bad. We want everybody to have fun, and believe in freedom of speech, but work with us, not against us. Positive energy is so much better than being a bitch.

Rock-it now has its own very lively, content-rich blog, On The Fourth Floor. What are your thoughts on the blogging experience?

It’s a TON of work! I’ve always had major respect for our friends in the blogging world, but it has been a really eye-opening experience to be the editor of our own site. It’s a collaborative effort in our agency, but most of it falls on a few specific team members and we def. feel the added work. We’ve had a ton of fun getting ‘fan’ mail and we just got our first piece of critical mail, which was equally fun. The Media, Darling posts have been wildly positive. I wanted to create a blog that PR professionals and students, in particular, would subscribe to because it was fun, digestible and offer something of value while being fresh. The fact that other agencies out there have been reading it and letting us know how much they enjoy it, totally rocks. I love that kind of good karma.

Full disclosure: rock-it promotions is a sponsor of Final Fashion. Thanks Deb!

Isn’t she gorgeous? I had the wonderful opportunity to work with a favourite client (and former sponsor), Fresh Collective, to create a paper doll for a press kit promoting the best fall merchandise by several designers. The best part? The doll is in magnet form and will be gracing the most fashionable fridge doors and file cabinets in the city.

There are also a limited number of paper doll kits available for purchase from Fresh Collective – and I’m told there will be some available to win in upcoming promotions.

Thanks Fresh Collective for a fun, colourful paper doll project!

Hey Toronto readers, I have three pairs of tickets to give away for The Clothing Show coming up September 24, 25 & 26. Its a one stop shop for vintage & indie stuff among other wares. If you’d like to go, please leave a comment naming your most coveted fashion item this fall – I’ll pick three comments randomly next Tuesday September 21. Thanks for playing.

Taking place at Nuit Blanche in Toronto, the Art of Fashion competition is a chance for Canadian fashion designers to raise the bar when it comes to being audaciously creative.  From the press release:

TORONTO, ON, August 17, 2010 – Designers across Canada are invited to enter the 12th annual Art of Fashion design competition and trunk show in Toronto, where the winner will be awarded a minimum cash prize of $1000, a complimentary professional photo shoot with model, hair and makeup, street-level exposure in the window display of one of Toronto’s top fashion outlets, and more.  Entry deadline for this career-launching opportunity is Tuesday, August 31^st, 2010.

The design competition and trunk show will take place at King West Fitness in Liberty Village during Nuit Blanche on Saturday, October 2^nd, 2010.  To apply, designers should visit www.artoffashion.org/labelleepoque and fill out the submission form before Tuesday, August 31^st, 2010.

I was invited to customize a pair of Brown’s shoes for the Frugal Fashion Week Gala at the Bata Shoe Museum on Friday.  The shoes I received were bright red patent, just like the Dr. Martens I customized with Ashley Rowe.  I wanted to try dripping instead of splattering and Ashley kindly indulged me in her studio.

She did a super-hot pair of boots which you just get a blurry peek of here.  Want to see Ashley’s and so many other customized Brown’s shoes? Best blog friend Anita is also doing a pair, among others. Buy a ticket to the gala on Friday here.

I am so thrilled to be participating in the second year of the YES/TFI Passion for Fashion program.

This is a FREE program for entrepreneurial young people, ages 16 – 29, offering seminars on business skills and fashion skills – not only useful for designers, but also for up and coming stylists, writers, illustrators, event planners… anyone interested in building a career or a business in the fashion world.  I teach one of the seminars, on visual presentation for fashion.

There’s more – those who complete the program are eligible to take part in a business plan competition with the chance to win a cash prize of $1000 and 50 hours of free business and fashion industry mentoring from the Toronto Fashion Incubator.

Interested?  You should be!  There are just two orientation sessions left — click here for all the details.

Upside Dive at 269 Queen Street East in Toronto is currently featuring my Trash Fusion paillette dress in their window.  So if you ever wanted to get a closer look at every little piece of plastic ephemera that I singlehandedly stitched, one by one, you should take a stroll down Queen Street East sometime in the next week or so and visit the shop.

Thanks so much Mike for kindly offering to give my effort in recycled fashion such a well appointed home for a couple weeks!

There’s lots of stuff to look at at Upside Dive – kitschy knicknacks, handsome housewares, vintage vestures for ladies and gentlemen, and soft spoken sibling shopkeepers.  Check out their blog for a taste.

What a thrill to get to work with Juan Carlos of Magnolia to create an exclusive paper doll, and an even bigger thrill to blow up the doll 800% to create a window display!  We had an intimate little party last night, made a little smaller by torrential rain, and so I freely enhanced the picture above to give you a sense of how the window really looks… below is the non-enhanced version.

Its fun, you can get a peek under her Carrie dress as you walk towards the shop.

I spent the evening cutting out paper dolls and chatting with some of my favourite people – above this is Carrie Hayes, who designed the dress the doll wears in the window.  If you visit Magnolia, you will find books, giclee prints, and laser prints of the dolls for sale, so you too can cut out and play with designer paper dolls.  The exclusive Magnolia doll herself is a gift-with-purchase – and since her wardrobe is inspired by the spring merchandise, you can choose a matching item for yourself if you like.

Thank you to all our brave friends who didn’t let the rain stop them from coming to share the night with us.

Here I am, visiting Magnolia the doll in her window while my party is in full swing.  The window will be up for the month of June, if you are in Toronto you should go visit the shop and take a closer look!  These photos (except for the top two) are all by Raymund Galsim.  Thanks Raymund!

Big thank yous and hugs to Juan Carlos and Magnolia for such an amazing project!