‘It’s a little PR for PR’

Srimoyi Bhattacharya. Pic/Rushika Radhakrishna Tyabji

One of the introductory chapters in Pitch Perfect (Penguin Viking) starts with the bottom-line: If you work in fashion, beauty, or a category in the lifestyle space, this book will feel like it was written specifically for you. If not, you'll have to do some work, but you will find much material for your domain and I will not let you down."

The public relations (PR) landscape is changing, rules of the game for luxury fashion players have especially undergone a huge shakeup thanks to the pandemic and new media formats. In the chapters that follow, its author Srimoyi Bhattacharya attempts to decipher the value of authentic communication apropos building a brand in the increasingly digitised marketplace which is useful for aspiring publicists and fashion entrepreneurs.

Drawing on first-hand experience from the time she did an internship with design stalwart Yohji Yamamoto, "a job that consisted of stamping envelopes" to consequently working in Paris, New York and finally calling Goa her home, the book comes from an involved insider with a 25 year-plus career that continues with her boutique PR agency, Peepul Consulting.

For the most part, however, the book offers mini-essays from her industry friends and allies. There's a forward by Hidesign founder Dilip Kapur, and some unclichéd submissions from designers like Manish Malhotra, who reveals his "greatest virtue could be minding my own business". Nonita Kalra, former editor at Elle India and Harper's Bazaar India, tells you "there's no formula to storytelling so do what comes naturally to you".

The voice is perfectly dressed, Bhattacharya's wisdom steadily piling up with some humour. And the collage-y structure really means that this is not a book to be read end-to-end. Visit it when time and curiosity permit.