Graft, The Advance Edition

I love that Style.com's blog wrote an item on how the U.S. publicists are spending most of their time trying to arrange discounts for American fashion editors, desperate to spend but stymied by the exchange rate. Discounts are, of course, an industry norm. Editors expect to get 30 percent off at most of the major houses. Some only give 10 or 20 percent, but this is considered cheap. And I have heard of 50 percent, which is what employees tend to get, but never seen it in action. Once upon a time, editors could get 30 percent off of sale price -- but that was a long time ago, before the euro ruined shopping for most of us. (It was so much more fun when everything was a billion lira and you never really knew what you paid until you got your credit card statement.) Some brands, like Hermes and Bottega Veneta, have a very strict no discount rule. At others it can depend on the country you're in. And it always, always, depends on who you are and who you work for.

But beyond the discount is the ability to order. Ordering means that editors pay the same price that the stores pay -- which used to mean roughly double the cost of making the item, but now means whatever the brand thinks it can get. Since there's often a mark up of four times at retail, it's a big cost savings. But not everyone is allowed to order. You have to be a friend of the brand. And you also have to know what you're doing, as you can't try anything on in your size before you commit. One is supposed to pay when the clothes arrive, but of course oftentimes the bills for the most important editors simply disappear. That's the kind of exchange rate editors can deal with.