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Freelance Journalist Focus: Katie Rose

“A small bit of research and a nice email every once in a while” can make all the difference for our freelance Focus interviewee Katie Rose; writer of fashion, culture, beauty and lifestyle features; admirer of Marina and the Diamonds…

About your journalism

What do you write about?
Mainly I write about fashion and culture, but I’ve been known to write about beauty and lifestyle too.

Where are we likely to see your work?
At the moment I write on a regular basis for Twin, BLOWonline and Berlin-based news service for avant-garde fashion Modabot. I also write features and interviews for 1883 magazine and I contribute a weekly ‘Dress of the Week’ blog for Girl Meets Dress.

What’s the most memorable work you’ve done?
I suppose the first piece I did for Modabot is one of my most memorable because that was my first stab at journalistic writing in German and it was actually quite a success.

Generally, I’m so proud to be working for Twin – they’re so talented and it’s amazing to be on board. One of the most memorable pieces I did for them was an interview with a really interesting guy called Ted Polhemus. He’s an anthropologist but has been photographing ‘style tribes’ for years. He’s essentially one of the first street style photographers.

Oh and I’m sure I’ll always remember the Bora Aksu show at Fashion Week AW11 (18th-23rd February) as I managed to grab a minute with Marina Diamandis from Marina and the Diamonds to ask her what she thought of the show. I was proud that I managed to get an actual quote from her that I could use in my review of the show rather than first launching into admiring rhetoric!

What interview or feature would you love the chance to do?
I’d love to have a double page fashion feature in ELLE or Vogue or in one of the great newspaper’s fashion pages like the Telegraph or the Guardian. As for the topic, I’d love to do a piece on trends – something interdisciplinary comparing literature with catwalk trends, or fashion photography with art.

About you an PRs:

Where do you source ideas for articles?
I think a lot of ideas just come to me because I’m really caught up in the industry and constantly reading, mainly blogs and online magazines. If there’s an interesting exhibition of workshop coming up I’ll want to cover it or if there’s an issue that’s relevant to me or something I’d like to read about it’s obvious that topic might have a wider relevance and I just try and run with it.

How can PRs be useful to you?
By sending me press releases and info on upcoming projects that might be relevant to the publications I contribute to – that way I can keep abreast of everything that’s coming up. It’s tricky to do it alone. But it’s vital that PRs pick and choose what they send you – I really only want to hear about things that my publications might cover. A small bit of research and a nice email every once in a while – perhaps with a list of upcoming projects – can make a lot of difference.

How and when do you like them to get in touch?
Just sending an email with a brief outline of what they’ve got coming up is enough because if I’m interested I’ll get in touch and arrange to pop in to the office or just ask for more info. I never really switch off so any time is great – so long as it gives me enough time to turn a piece around if I’m interested!

Do you find press conferences, trips, parties and other events useful or an interruption?
It depends on the event. If it’s relevant then it can be a great chance to find out something new or meet new people. I’m always looking for a new angle or a really exciting story.

If you could make one change to the way PRs deal with you, what would it be?
At the moment I don’t get sent that much stuff regularly so I’d love more PRs to be in touch with events, exhibitions and fashion news.

About you:

How would you pay the bills if you weren’t a journalist?
I’d probably be a PR. At the moment I do the odd bit of consulting for brands and I’ve got experience in PR so I’ve seen how PRs and journalists interact from both sides.

If we gave you £1000, how would you spend it?
I like to think I’d buy a handbag but I don’t think I could justify that amount of money on one item! I’d probably head to a few sample sales and Selfridges. I’d like to pick up some Marni shoes, an Acne biker jacket, something by Eudon Choi… And I’d stop by ArtWords in Rivington St on the way home to pick up a selection of the kind of magazines I can’t afford to buy every month.

What books are on your bedside table, magazines in your bag, or blogs on your screen?
On my beside table there’s a selection of great literature – Angela Carter, Italo Svevo, Thomas Mann and a first edition of Oblomov by Ivan Goncharov that I found in Oxfam in Angel.

My magazine library is filled with ELLE, Vogue, Twin, Grazia, Harper’s Bazaar, Tatler, The Gentlewoman, Love, ES, Style, Marie Claire, The World of Interiors and Home and Garden and the odd copy of every other glossy you can think of – my aim is to have a good overview of each magazine’s style, as well as know the ones I love inside-out.

Blogs-wise I love LibertyLondonGirl (http://www.libertylondongirl.com/), The Three Graces (http://the-three-graces.com/), Ligature magazine (http://www.ligaturemagazine.co.uk/), Pamflet (http://pamflet.co.uk/), Bip Ling’s blog (http://www.bipling.com/), Into the Gloss (http://intothegloss.com/), ELLE’s ‘What ELLE Wears’ (http://www.elleuk.com/style/what-elle-wears), Vanessa Jackman for street style (http://vanessajackman.blogspot.com/) and my friends’ blog Uberlin (http://www.uberlin.co.uk/) which is all about their lives in Berlin. I used to live there and I miss it a lot so it’s my daily fix!

[lnk|http://www.journalistdirectory.com/pr/XgEzX/Katie-Rose|_blank|Katie Rose]
[img|jpg|Katie Rose]