Hi Juan. How’s your day?
I’m good, thank!
Would you tell us a bit more about PR YOU and yourself? What does PR YOU do and what are the main focus in PR YOU’s scope of business?
PR YOU was born 2 years ago after having worked around 10 years next to emerging designers or big names of fashion industry, with the aim of accompanying young brands with a global strategic expertise. We are a communication consulting agency and a press office having the objective to structure and promote emerging designers with a sustainable and inclusive engagement.
On my side, I followed technical studies where I learnt sewing and mechanic for textile industry, before going towards a fashion designer graduation. This helped me develop a real sensibility to the products and understand the issues associated with the industrialization of brands – from the drawing to its creation in factory. After all of these experiences, I was facing with the same choices as all of my classmates and other graduating designers – to build my own brand without knowing where to start from; or to start by understanding how to create a community and discover what we mean by public relations and communication. Mechanic may seem quite far from communication but in the end, I think it benefits me a lot. When you learn how to think and understand what works and what doesn’t, thing will be solved quickly and easily.
What followed was a powerful piece of an evidence. In the end, a series of beautiful encounters the pushed me forward and accompanied me to where I am today.
So, we can say your past experience in public relations and communication after graduation somehow inspired you to establish your own agency, PR YOU?
Yes. After many experiences in various offices, I’ve noticed that some designers lacked a lot of help in terms of brand structuration and product communication. They might have some brilliant ideas, but they don’t know how to market them. Instead of copying the modus operandi of other communication agencies, I chose to highlight on fostering young creators, dedicating my experience to help their brand grow.
As a founder and CEO, what are you vision to PR YOU?
I wanted to create an agency that is deeply anchored in the present, not afraid of digital communication and capable of advising brands on their structuration and key strategies and investments. We’re a young team and are not afraid of the evolution of press and media environment. If things change, we have to adapt.
Could you run through quickly to some of brands you are currently representing?
We represent various brands and from all around the world and in different fields. For instance, we work alongside The Silk Road Paris, the first European platform specialized in promoting and vending sustainable, ethical and artisanal brands from all around the world and especially South Asia. Their curation is super selective and they must visit the brand’s workshops to be sure of what they offer, they work with Carbone-neutral senders…We’re also working for the France and Hong Kong-based footwear label BOTH, whose soles are made of natural rubber and recycled plastic (EVA). Our new entries includes NORMANMABIRELARGUIER, whose first collection was showed at Festival de Hyères and ModaPortugal after receiving diploma at Geneva’s HEAD; Miss Boo, who dresses most of Parisian drag artists and MOSSI, who has created a free haute-couture school in the suburbs of Paris.
Let’s tell us about the key values of PR YOU and your sustainability and inclusive approach? You mentioned that you would like to work with brands that are environmental-friendly and discrimination-free. These are two issues not so easy to tackle. What made you decide to focus on these values?
These values are the pillars of our agency. Of course, it is difficult to be completely blameless in this field, as fashion industry is extremely polluting, but our goal is to provide sound strategies that fit to our sustainability and inclusivity approach. The curation of our brand, our business and media partners are also the base of these pillars. Commercial development is also a key factor to consider when you are a brand with a sustainable business model. Hence, we offer strategies adapted to this point so as not to rely heavily on the wholesale model.
How will you position yourself and PR YOU in the ever-changing fashion industry?
I think that our strength is our age range and our flexibility. Our team members grew up with the evolution of media and our vision for public relations extends beyond print press. Social networks are a large and potential platform on which we could implement our values and strategies.
According to you, what makes PR YOU different from other Public Relations and Consulting firms? What can PR YOU offer to them additionally that other Public Relations agencies might not be able to offer?
We work firstly with a strategy before on the product. We prefer consistency over quantity. We make people understand that public relations work is related to a more global communication work, which eventually related to the brand essence: We need to know who the brand is and where it wants to go. We don’t work with the same targets for different brands.
Now, we would like to talk about your “incubation” initiative. Each year, PR YOU will select 3 young brands and support them to grow professionally in the communication and fashion industry. What are the traits that you value the most when choosing the young brands to support?
When we initiated this program a year ago, our objective was clear – to discover new talents, which was also the reason behind the foundation of PR YOU. With my associate Leo, who is specializing in image, we analyzed the brands and their products, their commercial viability, added value and their essence for the society. We make sure to promote designer who are dedicated, but also those who are truly motivated by their brands and creations!
What channels, media and means you use to discover and scout the young designers?
There is no precise place to dig these designers out, but social media is definitely the best platform to understand a brand at the first glance. Some of contacted us directly, but we also participate in competitions and seek for new local brands while traveling. As you know, talents are all around the world
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As an incubator, what does PR YOU provide to these young designers?
For the incubator program, we provide the exact same services as for the other existing brands. However, the difference is that the programmed service is planned only for 1 year. We are very cautious about their investment in this collaboration, as we put a lot of energy and effort into it. Basically, we help a brand to be structured from the ground up, develop their first commercial lines, their very first strategy and positioning. This is a long process, and it is also a process of mutual engagement. As we believe in them, we expect them to listen to our advice and put efforts in making progress. At the end of the sponsoring, we analyze our collaboration and decide whether to continue working with each other.
What are the future plans for PR YOU?
Indeed, we have a lot! I’d love to develop PR YOU in Latin America, for example in Medellin, Colombia. There’s a decent number of talented designers who are not represented here. It would be first and foremost a core project, a positive personal payback to my life, as I was born in Colombia and adopted by my French family when I was 3. I’m extremely grateful to my parents and I know how lucky I am to be at where I am today. It would be a cool way to open a new chapter from where everything started.
