A Morning With Elle <3

A highlight of New York Fashion Week, the year 2011 and my life so far, was spending a morning with Fashion Director of Elle Norway, Petra Middelthon, and thereafter visiting the Elle US headquarters! At Elle’s offices we met with Elle.com’s Keith Pollock, Editorial Director, and Britt Aboutaleb, Style News Editor. Needless to say it was a incredibly inspiring morning. Since my teens I’ve been a avid reader of Elle. The gorgeous editorials, their clever coverage of collections and trends, and their inspiring stories always leave me wanting more. Elle has definitely contributed to me wanting to pursue a career in fashion. Getting the opportunity to step into their headquarters and meet the inspiring people who work there was a dreamy experience.

Meeting Petra Middelthon, Fashion Director of Elle Norway

Petra Middelthon is a woman I greatly admire. Us bloggers were all keen on learning as much as possible from Petra and about Petra when we went to meet her for breakfast. She greeted us with a smile at her hotel and shared with us her experiences working in fashion. She told us about how she got her start when she moved to Paris and started working as a au pair. The family she worked for, stylist Nicoletta Santoro and photographer Max Vadukul, introduced her to the fashion business. She travelled with them to New York where she spent 2 years studying at the prestigious Fashion Institute of Technology before returning to Paris. In Paris Petra gained experience, landed styling gigs, built a portfolio and became a freelance stylist. As a freelancer she worked for magazines such as Elle and Norwegian Tique. Thanks to hard work and dedication she landed her current position as Fashion Director of Elle Norway!

Petra was very encouraging about us following our fashion dreams and gave us plenty of advice to keep in mind along the way. She told us that the key to success lies in working hard, being passionate about what you do and always giving it your best. She also stressed the importance of grasping the opportunities you get, but at the same time knowing your limits and not taking too big steps at a time. Fashion is a hard industry to break into and in order to do so fashion has to be your lifestyle, you have to always be available and always look for inspiration.

As Fashion Director Petra is responsible for creating fashion stories for the magazine. These are created through a process of thinking about which trends and themes to feature in the magazine, then a production stage where models, photographers and stylists are booked, hair, make up and location is selected, and the photo shoot takes place. It is a lot about team work Petra tells us. Her job is a lot of work and challenging at times, but Petra loves her job. There are many perks to being a Fashion Director such as being able to see collections, choose trends for the magazine, produce editorials and travel a lot. The most rewarding part of the job for Petra is being able to travel to some amazing places. Earlier this year Petra went to Africa where she styled model Aleksandra Nilsen in beautiful bohemian looks for a photo shoot. The photos were taken in gorgeous locations and featured lions. Take a look at the amazing result here.

Visiting the Elle US offices and meeting Keith Pollock and Britt Aboutaleb from Elle.com

After breakfast we went to the Elle US headquarters! I couldn’t quite believe it when I walked into the reception of Elle! It is on the 41st floor with a magnificent view over New York. We passed Joe Zee’s office, hardworking staff and a wall covered with Elle covers as we made our way to a conference room. There we were joined by Bryanboy and Keith Pollock and Britt Aboutaleb from Elle.com. Keith Pollock is the Editorial Director of Elle.com. He has previously worked in public relations for companies such as Balenciaga and Proenza Schouler. Britt Aboutaleb’s experience is within the online fashion world, she worked for successful blog Fashionista for three years. Currently she holds the position of Style News Editor for Elle.com. Her job consists mainly of writing news for the website, a task she really enjoys. In addition she writes a story for the magazine each month.

We talked about how the online fashion world has become increasingly important over the past years. These days there is a overwhelming amount of bloggers and websites, it has become a oversaturated market. Therefore it is important as a fashion site to find your own voice and differentiate yourself from others. Britt and Keith explained how they avoid the obvious story and always try to find an interesting angle. For example with the launch of the Missoni for Target collection they could have done an article on the 5 things to get, looked at Missoni on the runway vs the Target collection or looked at collaborations over ten years. As bloggers this was their main advice to us: find your own voice and be unique! Other words of wisdom on how to make it in the fashion industry included intern and get experience, network and get contacts in the industry. Keith explained that you are only as good as your last job and that people get hired due to their contacts.

Elle has a strong voice, not only as a magazine or a website but as a brand. Beyond fashion journalism Elle has a clothing line, TV shows, organizes events and even sells work-out videos! As a website Elle.com is backed up by the Elle brand, a very distinct brand in the fashion world. The website is an important part of the brand, as it is where readers can come for of the moment coverage. Their online presence also allows Elle to interact with it’s readers. By using social media Elle can quickly pick up on which stories readers would like on the website and in the magazine. The magazine, website and Elle ipad app are all complementary features of the brand.

Looking back at the surreal and amazing day I went to Elle I’m getting more and more inspired. It was a fantastic experience and such a pleasure to meet Petra, Keith and Britt! :) A big thanks to Elle for having me!

 Photos:

1: Delicious yogurt, granola and berries for breakfast
2 & 3: Petra Middelthon
4: Bonnie and I at breakfast
5: Petra and bloggers
6: Bryanboy at Elle US
7: Keith, Britt and bloggers

Thanks to Jessica for photo 4 and 7!