Are there certain phrases you’ve come across in the fashion & lifestyle PR industries that you’re not sure about? Allow us to explain!

The beauty, fashion, and lifestyle PR industries sometimes appears to have a language all its own! Let us breakdown some common phrases you may not be familiar with.

We’ve been working in the lifestyle public relations space for years and have accumulated a wealth of knowledge that we wanted to share!

Read below some frequently used terms we say on the regular in the lifestyle PR world!

Desksides for Lifestyle PR

Ever heard the term “desksides” but wasn’t sure what it meant? Allow us to explain!

Typically reserved for CPG, beauty, and accessories brands, desksides are short meet and greets where a company representative (usually accompanied by a PR pro) will introduce their product, its benefits, and highlight any key differentiating points and messages to top-tier editors. Editors get the chance to test out the products and ask questions directly to a brand rep.

We at VLIV love to do desksides with our clients to get valuable face time with editors – often a great pitch can come from these quick meetings! It also provides valuable insight into what stories editors are working on, and how our client may fit into the larger editorial landscape.

Some of our desksides have resulted in placements and brand features in outlets like InStyle, Byrdie, The Zoe Report, Martha Stewart Living, Cosmopolitan, and countless others!

Lookbook

Usually reserved for fashion brands (though any type of product-based business can use them), a lookbook is a compilation of images meant to highlight a brand’s latest collections. Lookbooks capture the vibe and feel that a brand wants to evoke through careful photography, model selection, and styling.

Fashion brands use lookbooks to tell a story about their latest collections, while also showcasing how their clothing can be worn and how it looks on different body types.

Lookbooks are great branding tool to ensure there’s a consistent set of imagery of aligned with the company’s positioning. Editors love to look at brand lookbooks for inspiration for their own photoshoots!

Fact Sheet

Just the facts, ma’am. 🕵🏻‍♀️ A fact sheet, true to its name, is a one-page document (sometimes a little longer!) that details the key points of a product. What might that include?

• Product Name
• Product Size
• Materials/Ingredients
• Benefits
• Product Description
• Price
• Where to Buy
• Company Boilerplate

Fact sheets don’t highlight creativity – PR pros uses pitches and press releases to do fun storytelling. Editors request these one-pagers so that they can easily reference accurate product details.