Story Time: Mulling over Mules

I’ll be honest, I’m not very tall. So for work events, I’m always in Mules or a little heels – basically anything that would “elevate” me slightly higher than the ground. So, come March – it’s event season in Dubai (I’m a PR girl) I’m at events and I’m constantly in flats. And it’s a fun story.

So, last year – just before Christmas (roughly 2 and something-ish months ago), I slipped and fell down the stairs in the cinema. INSIDE the cinema. While walking down to leave. I fell long and hard. Tore a ligament on my left ankle. I’ll tell you this, VOX cinema staff at MOE (Dubai) is lovely. They were really nice and quickly got the paramedics to check. It was awful. I was in a cast and absolute misery for over 3 weeks.

My mood swings were beyond me – I was very upset. For someone who’s always running around, moving about and doesn’t have “standing still” in her list of to dos, it was a new battle. Mostly internal but very dramatic. Obviously, it gets better, my brother was in town for a couple of days, and he wanted to go for the movie – and bear the drama that ensued following my fall. Needless to say, he was the one who had to run around like my flying monkey for water, remote and things I would conveniently forget by the time he grunted, rolled his eyes and came to answer my tenth call of the 20 minutes. Yeah, I am not holding my breath for the ‘best sister’ trophy this quarter.

But, this story and the mulling gets better. Just before I tragically slipped and tore my ligament 10 days before, I was at my friend’s wedding – and during this ceremony where the bride’s friends steals the groom’s shoes my other friend’s golden heel went straight in my right big toe. Ouchie. We cleaned it up, I was flying the next morning, so between a hangover, that pain and general wedding exhaustion was served on a platter.

At the wedding and at the event – same golden mules.

The next day I had an event and wore the same (golden mules) to it – being the forgetful bird I am – I forgot to clean them. By the end of the night, my big toe was twice it’s size and at least 8 times more painful. It turned out to be an inflammation. It involved a painkiller injection (my trypanophobia is a whole different story), anti-biotics and me being off my feet for 10 days. The procedure, pain and prescribed pharmaceuticals ended on Tuesday evening. By Friday 6.30 PM, my other leg had a cast.

Look, I’m very clumsy. I have always been – mostly my legs. Actually, mostly to my right leg. I had stitches when my mixer’s blade fell on my right big toe, or when my friend & I fell and I fractured my right ankle. Monthly twists, falling on flat surfaces (no alcohol/heels necessary), or just simply attempting to walk does it. But, it’s always been on my right foot – so my left one is the strong one. So, when I broke my left – my right was just in shock. It was still recovering from the unfortunate inflammation – and now being the main bearer of my entire being.

For the first couple of days, I was just hopping on my right foot, when the full cast went in, for a whole day – I was just remembering so, how am I supposed to even walk? I couldn’t put one foot infront of another. I’m still in a little pain – but it takes a while and I don’t really have an option so… here I am – mulling over mules.

What do PRs do at Fashion Week?

Growing up, I followed fashion closely, maybe that’s why I ended up working in PR in luxury fashion. What really did happen at Fashion Week? I always wondered. If you grew up in India – ‘Lakme Fashion Week’ comes to mind. But this wasn’t just that – this was the real leagues; I’m talking Paris Fashion Week. A dream come true? I would think so!

Taking you through the before, during and after of show – I’m here to tell you what I really do at a show in Fashion Week.

Before the show:

Our preparations easily begin a month and a half before the actual show. We look after the market we represent – so we start collecting names and details of people traveling to Fashion Week. Our lists are extensive – we ask our usual suspects and others. Obviously, not everyone gets a seat or an invite – but for our information – we keep building the list.

Now, most international brands work this way: the first day is the show and the second day is the resee. The ‘Re-see’ is like a presentation of what was presented at the show and everything else that will be launching next season.

The seat allocation for the show mostly comes about 10 days before the actual show – and the number of seats depend on the brand’s presence in the market. There’s three rows – and usually who we put on the second row is where most of our trouble begins with the egos. It’s critical and crucial to not bruise anyone’s ego – yet get most out of the deliverables.

Since most shows now offer live streaming – we pitch and secure key titles – think Vogue, Harper’s, and more – to live stream the show on the day of.

Relentless followups, receiving of angry (influencer) managers, getting them dressed in the brand for the show and all of that after – we get to the actual show. Yes, at a show, it is quite important that the influencer be dressed in the brand – and trust me most of the time I spend hours trying to get looks decided, or fittings booked and then getting them picked up from the hotels.

At the show:

Say a show starts at 9.30 AM, do you know what our reporting time ideally is? 6 AM. The setups are really massive, so we look for our seats, make sure they have name cards and the minute that is done, we (translation: me) are like kids in a candy store. There are models getting ready and practicing the runway walk, there’s people running around with those big headphones like in movies, there’s camera people setting up, and other PRs – like me- wandering around with twinkle in their eyes. There’s a beautiful breakfast set up of my favourite 3 Cs- cake, croissant and coffee. All the while, we watch everything slowly come to life just before the show.

Before the show starts, we go near the doors and look for our guests – media and influencers to take them to their seats. And within minute the show begins. I huddled behind the camera crews, with other global PRs and marketing teams – I will tell you this – it sucks to be a short girl – all my videos from the show of are of the back of people’s heads and the non-stop clicks of the camera. But, that music, the ambience, the clicking of cameras, and that the murmurs of ‘wow’ – warm my Fashion PR soul.

Just as the show finishes, I rush to my guests to make small talk about the show and ask how they liked the new collection. Obviously, since I saw the back of people’s heads – I saw through the many IG lives that were happening while I was huddled behind the sea of heads and photographers. I make sure the media knows I’m sending the assets of the show shortly and that the influencers took content for permanent posts, and after that – head to the hotel.

After the show:

It doesn’t end at the show – we wait for the brand to send the assets, releases, runway images, exclusive backstage images, first row (FROW) guest images and more to secure coverage. Then there’s a detailed post-event report that is submitted after the Resees – compiling all the coverage we secured for the said show & resees.

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Got my heartbeat skipping down 16th Avenue 💗 Straight after the morning at the @loewe show – on my little scooter drive to the hotel 🛴 #Paris #loewe #parisfashionweek #loverlyrics

A post shared by Swati 🧿 (@swatsiie) on Oct 3, 2019 at 6:02am PDT

Me –whizzing back to the hotel in my little scooter below after the LOEWE Spring Summer 2020 show in September 2019.

9 Signs She Works in PR

Know how to spot a lunatic PR person when you see one.

1. She has a gift of the gab
   
   One of the reasons several people take up PR is because they can talk continuously, for hours. Most of these were labelled “chatterboxes” and given regular time-outs in school for talking too much.
2. She has a knack for creating stories out of thin air
   
   On more than one occasion, you know she has created extremely convincing stories from nowhere, whether it’s to get away from detention or attending a boring invitation.
3. Socialising is actually a hobby for her
   
   There are people who stay away from meeting other people, and then there is her. Socialising ranks pretty high up on her favourite hobbies. She makes an actual effort and enjoys meeting people, and visiting new places, and meeting more people. What a total weirdo.
4. Moderator by cause, on more than one occasion
   
   Crisis communication, in other words, is one of her excelling points. She is almost always the one relied upon to solve any squabbles between family, friends and total strangers.
5. She also moonlights as an Agony Aunt
   
   It’s true that she never shuts up- except when you need her to listen. With a warm heart and ear, she is often entertained with stories of emotional turmoil from those seeking advice on life and image management.
6. She is well-read and up-to-date with all the goss and news.
   
   She knows how important it is to have some substance, than just style to back her chip. She reads often, well and a lot, and try to keep everything that is happening around the world- fictitious and otherwise. Whether it’s Ben and Jennifer’s heart-breaking divorce details or why Indians are currently boycotting Snapchat- she’ll know it all. And it’s very rare she’ll be modest about it. 
7. She can multi-task
   
   She has mastered the techniques of multi-tasking. PR experts encounter several tasks on a daily basis, most of which are solved at the same time. She is somewhat in a  capacity to handle 5 things at once- in what she would call an “organised manner.”
8. She knows her Social Media words and hashtags
   
   It’s a new age, and the social media is here to stay. In a region like the Middle East, where social media is the norm, everyone has a firm handle on Social Media. But trust her to know who is who, and are “in” on the latest social media trends. She knows what works, and “who” is here to stay.
9. She actually enjoys writing too
   
   Well, if she can’t write, her affair with public relations won’t be a lengthy one. She probably got into PR because she likes to write and can crack a well-worded story, whatever platform it is for.