SALES & ADVERTISING
For advertising inquiries please contact Joseph AT Fashiontribes DOT com.
EDITORIAL
EDITOR IN CHIEF Lesley Scott Lesley AT Fashiontribes DOT com
MEN'S STYLE EDITOR Mark Behnke Mark AT Fashiontribes DOT comPRESS RELEASES & REQUESTS TO REPUBLISH Lesley AT Fashiontribes DOT com. Email definitely preferred - Word docs, jpegs, PDFs, ftp site downloads - over anything snailmail'ish.
SITE DESIGN Shelley Gottschalk, See-Thru Design
BUT ENOUGH ABOUT YOU...
Mark Behnke MEN'S STYLE EDITOR Ever since being pressed into service as a photographer wrangler for a friend in the industry 20 years ago, Mark has had a longstanding interest in fashion. Since then he has been involved on both sides of the runway, and currently writes about fragrance as the Managing Editor at Cafleurebon.com and as the New in Niche columnist on Basenotes.net.
Lesley Scott, FASHIONTRIBES EDITRIX-IN-CHIEF Fashion & lifestyle expert Lesley Scott is the New York City-based editor of the Fashiontribes blog, a premier fashion & lifestyle blog. Not only hasTechnorati.com ranked Fashiontribes as one of the Top 20 Lifestyle blogs, but it is frequently voted one of the Top 10 fashion blogs. Always on the cutting edge of new media, Lesley was one of the first bloggers to live-podcast New York Fashion Week and cover the runway shows as an officially-accredited member of the press. An influential and respected member of the lifestyle blogging community, her expertise is regularly sought after by top New York public relations firms including Kaplow Communications and Marina Maher Communications, and she has appeared in Forbes, the Wall Street Journal, Women’s Wear Daily & USA Today.
Prior to Fashiontribes, Lesley covered New York style & trends as the Senior Editor for Coolhunt, a global trendspotting firm. Her byline as a Lifestyle Expert appeared regularly in countless international magazines about fashion, beauty, streetfashion, lifestyle, and pop culture - including Marie Claire in Asia, Jessica, 25 Ans, GQ Taiwan, and Elle Girl Korea.
After her mom, Mary Jo - and best buddy & travel partner to myriad fun destinations including Easter Island, the Inca Trail & Machu Pichu, Kazakstan, Romania, Nepal, Morocco, the Baltics, Tanzania, Patagonia, Tasmania, Indonesia (pictured) & Burma - died suddenly of breast cancer, she started Fashiontribes.com in her honor. First came the 5 Tribe e-zines-in-1, each customized by fashion personality or "tribe", followed by the Fashiontribes Daily blog. (For now, the magazines are sadly on hold indefinitely.)
Not surprisingly, one of Lesley's pet causes is Breast Cancer Awareness & Research...which means October is mixed bag: fab when it comes to awareness & raising funds, but a heartbreaking daily reminder as well.
How I started Fashiontribes
by Lesley Scott, Editor in Chief, Fashiontribes.com
An extended stint as the NYC-based Senior Editor for the trendspotting firm Coolhunt included penning regular fashion, beauty and style pieces for various international publications including Marie Claire Asia, GQ Taiwan, Elle Girl Korea & Japan's prestigious 25 Ans. One of my trendspotting duties included snapping photos of stylish people in the streets of New York & interviewing them about their personal style. Editing the photos each month, it quickly became clear that the way people dressed spoke volumes
about their life. Anyone in head-to-toe leather, pink hair & multiple piercings might live in the same geographic location as a Chanel-clad socialite with the season’s $2500 "it" bag and a social calender packed with luncheons and benefits – but they "live" in completely different cities…from the restaurants & clubs they frequent (21 Club vs. Arlene's Grocery; Nobu vs. Galapagos in Williamsburg), to the neighborhoods where they shop (Greenpoint vs. the Upper West Side), to the types of drinks they enjoy (Pabst Blue Ribbon vs. a dry martini).
Over the months, the photos seemed to organize themselves into five general categories, which I dubbed the fashion "tribes": Afro Love (boho hippie types); Downtown Doll (Williamsburg Hipsters); Fancy Flirt (skinny L.A. party girl types); Global Chic (socialite jetsetters); Rock Punk (music loving Kelly Osbourne'ites).
And with each month that passed, I would excitedly note that my tribe concept was being validated even more strongly.
At the same time, in the course of covering the runway collections in New York, London, Milan & Paris, I was struck by the fact that while the newsstands were overflowing with magazine after magazine catering only to a single tribe, there were actually plenty of runway looks sure to please the rest of the tribes. (And, in all fairness, why would the extreme ladylike looks that all the main magazines were promoting interest a punk-influenced, leather-wearing, music-loving hipster inhabitant of Brooklyn?) So it's really no surprise that the other tribes began abandoning one-size-fits all print in search of relevant content, resulting in a tidal wave of red ink that continues to flood the newsstand. 
As a way to buck this trend and and customize fashion & lifestyle content, I started Fashiontribes.com: five separate online e-zines, each tailored to a different tribe, from fashion, to beauty, theatre, dining, pets, horoscopes (!) and general lifestyle fabulousness. Admirable, yes – and even critically-acclaimed – however also extremely costly...and not surprisingly, I quickly ran out of money. But in order to continue publishing in some form, I started the Fashiontribes blog. And by consistently doing my best to post well-written, high quality content that reflected my taste, experience & voice – rather than ill-disguised advertiser plugs or puff pieces designed to appease illiterate publishers with no respect for the written word – the Fashiontribes blog ended up eclipsing the original e-zines, which, at this point, are sadly deceased!
One of the most fascinating aspects of being a part of the blogosphere is watching it develop into a unique form of publishing. Rather than simply replicating print online, blogs have begun to transform into a distinct format built around a frequent publishing schedule with reader comments and trackbacks referenced from other blogs as a key part of the process. Yes, readers are typically violently opinionated about what you post – from fawning compliments to outright disgust – however they are engaged & feel heard, know your voice and trust it, and are fiercely loyal.
For a writer, few things are as rewarding.
(images: Williamsburg hipster - dobi.nu; Nan Kempner - bigshinything.com; Beyonce - Teen Vogue; illustration - sassybean.com)
