A day in the life of Kitty McGee, senior PR executive at the British Fashion Council

My Day

7.30am: I wake up and grab a shower and a super strong coffee to kick start the day. I pick out my favourite black Whistles dress and slip on my comfy brogues (stuffing my Mulberry boots in my handbag for later) before setting off for work.

8.15am: I meet my colleague Marcos en route and we travel into work together by tube. Although we’re friends outside of the office, conversation usually turns to work on our commute, today we are bouncing ideas off each other about three upcoming events over the next 10 days and sharing our excitement about London Fashion Week (LFW).

8.45am: Arrive at the office to get half an hour of quiet time to respond to emails.  This close to LFW my inbox is filled with accreditation queries from UK press, photographers and broadcasters. Over 5,000 press and buyers attend LFW every season so we all have our work cut out.

10.00am: Key editors of the glossies and fashion directors of the nationals will be at their desks by now so I put a few last-minute calls in to chase attendance for an event we’re running tonight at Soho House. This year our chairman is hosting a cocktail reception to announce and celebrate the nominees for the British Fashion Awards 2010, and we’re keen for all of the key press to be there.

11.30am: Several phone calls later, tonight’s guest list is looking strong, so I turn my attention to recent press coverage. All print and online press coverage is monitored daily and I review this fortnightly for our internal newsletter. Over the last two weeks we have announced the winners of the Harrods and BFC Colleges Council design competition, as well as announcing the line-up for the BFC’s ethical initiative Estethica (sponsored by Monsoon this is now in its ninth season and growing in strength every season, in September fair-trade fashion ambassador Laura Bailey is amongst those at the opening). We’ve also released details about new designers confirmed for the LFW Exhibition line-up, so we’ve achieved some great press coverage, particularly across trade and online publications. I summarise this for the ‘BFC in the Press’ element of the newsletter as well as inserting important industry news over the last two weeks to keep the team up to date.

1.00pm: I send out the news about tonight’s BFA nominees under embargo to the nationals so they cover this in the news in tomorrow’s papers. The Guardian can’t make tonight’s event but is really keen to write a news piece so I chat to the fashion team for a little while about the nominees and this year’s ceremony.

2.30pm: With tomorrow’s coverage on my mind I put a quick call into Vogue.com and the diary pages to remind them about tonight’s event. With designers, press and other guests confirmed we know what the stories will be, so can direct the photographer and chat to press on the night.

3.30pm: I pick up the phone to hear the friendly voice of Stylist’s new fashion writer. Amongst other things we discuss how to fill the Most Desired page in its pre-LFW Fashion Special. I give her the news about the three designers nominated for the Designer of the Year award and suggest she uses a piece from one of their A/W collections. She’s thrilled with the hook and I can’t wait to see the issue on 15th.

5.00pm: We have a team meeting before heading over to the venue for tonight’s event. As always, this is a high-profile event involving top designers, influential fashion figures and key press so everything must run smoothly.

7.00pm: The party is in full swing, Sienna and Savannah Miller are chatting to Hilary Alexander on the terrace, Alexandra Shulman is catching up with Erdem and the teams from Burberry, Mulberry, Pringle of Scotland and Victoria Beckham’s office all made it. Model of the Year nominee David Gandy is here posing for photos. Mary Katrantzou and Michael van der Ham, two of London’s hottest emerging talents, are enjoying the night too.

7.15pm: Our chairman takes to the microphone to say a few words congratulating all of the nominees and thanking guests for attending.

9.30pm: With all of the guests gone and the announcement press release on timer, I slink off with Marcos and the team to grab some dinner and drinks to celebrate a successful evening.