How I Contact Designers and Get Fashion Week Access

After my first Fashion Week show with AADNEVIK, everything changed.

Not because I suddenly became a better photographer overnight, but because I finally had something I could show that proved I understood the world of fashion shows. Backstage moments. Designers under pressure. Models in motion. Real Fashion Week images. That is when outreach started to work. This is how I went from one yes to building real, repeat access.

Why talking less and showing more works

When I first started, I wrote long emails explaining who I was, what I did and why I loved fashion photography.

They mostly went unanswered.

What worked was designing a small, focused portfolio. Not my whole website. Just a tight selection of my favourite frames from AADNEVIK that showed:

• Backstage

• Runway

• Atmosphere

• Emotion

PRs are visual. They make decisions in seconds. A short PDF or gallery says more than paragraphs ever will.

Once I started attaching that, replies went up.

Research beats mass emailing

Every Fashion Week, the show schedule is released months in advance. That is your roadmap.

I use it to:

• Identify designers I want to shoot

• Find out which PR company represents them

• Reach out directly to the right people

Sending one thoughtful email to the right PR is worth more than fifty generic ones to the wrong inbox.

Keep your emails short and professional

PRs are busy. Designers are stressed. Nobody wants to read an essay.

My emails are always:

• Polite

• Short

• Clear

• Visual

Who I am.
What I do.
A link or attachment to my best work.

That is it.

Why relationships matter more than access

Here is something most photographers miss.

PRs rarely look after just one designer. They manage several brands, often across multiple seasons.

If you:

• Deliver images quickly

• Respect embargoes

• Use images professionally

• Are easy to work with

They remember you.

That is how you start getting invited back. Not just by one brand, but by others on their roster.

Fashion Week is a long game

One show gets you images.
Two shows gets you experience.
Three shows gets you recognised.

The real goal is not one invite. It is becoming someone PRs trust to do a good job under pressure.

That is when Fashion Week stops feeling like a closed door and starts feeling like a network.

Final thought

Getting access is not about selling yourself.

It is about showing that you understand the job, the pressure and the people who make these shows happen.

Do that, and the invitations start to come.