Office Style Blog: River Island HQ

Liza Crompton-Prall, PR Controller

Liza wears New Balance trainers, River Island jeans & shirt, Sister by Sibling jumper, Moroccan market rings

"I deal with creating strategy for the brand, including PR & celebrity. My days are very different; one day I could be meeting a new designer we want to do a collaboration with, and the next day I might be having breakfast with a celebrity or magazine editor, or attending an industry event on behalf of the brand." 

"I've always been in PR and have worked right from the very bottom, to the very top. I previously worked for agencies and luxury brands, including Luxottica, RMO (who look after brands including Erdem, Mary Katrantzou and Preen) and then before that I worked at Purple PR, looking DKNY and Donna Karan. Then before that I was at Rupert Sanderson, so it has always been luxury, which helped as here at River Island we have a very aspirational view of our clothing."

"River Island do everything in-house; we have a head office in Hanger Lane, which houses everyone from the designers to the buying and marketing teams, IT, merchandising -  it's like walking into Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory, its amazing!  We are quite a creative, organic business to work for, we don’t micro-manage so people are allowed to shine - and that's when you achieve really interesting, creative things."

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Melissa Collins, PR Manager

Melissa is wearing head to toe River Island, including the new Brook flared jeans, snake print platforms and an embellished bomber, and rings from Mango.

"As UK PR Manager, I'm liaising with the press on a day-to-day basis, working on campaigns, sample loans and circulation, and I also do a lot of work reaching out to up and coming bloggers. The biggest collaboration we've done with a blogger was the RI x 5 Inch and Up shoe collection, which was amazing. I'm also involved in the Fashion Film and Design Forum initiative - we launched the Jean-Pierre Braganza collection in store recently."

"I'm lucky enough to travel quite a lot with my job - I was in Dubai to launch our SS15 collection to the press in the Middle East, and to Mumbai as we sell through an Indian retail site over there. I've also had business trips to Sweden and America - I work really closely with the international teams to ensure we keep the same brand image worldwide, which is really important because the global business is huge and growing constantly."

"I originally started working in magazines, interning. But when I got a year-long internship at BoxFresh as press assistant and moved to Ralph Lauren, my career changed direction. I then went to Warehouse as Press Assistant and was there for two years, followed by four and a half years at Arcadia, working on  Dorothy Perkins and Wallis before coming to River Island, where I've been for three years."

Emma Goble, Social Media and Marketing Editor

Emma is wearing Skinny Amelie Jeans, shirt, blazer, and shoes all from River Island

"Basically I manage all of our social media channels and blog for River Island; I also write and manage all the editorial for the Style Insider magazine, which goes into stores. My role can really vary; day-to-day I could be talking to our two million plus audience on Facebook, tweeting live from an event, writing an exciting blog post or working on the next feature for the magazine!"

"I studied Fashion Journalism at uni and always wanted to be going into fashion writing - but instead of choosing the magazine route chose blogging and social media.  I interned at Topshop and various places a few years ago, and have worked with La Senza and Accessorize. I love that the River Island customer is that age that live in the social world, living and breathing digital. Instagram and the rest of social media is a great way to connect from a brand to a consumer, and that’s why I love it."

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Rosie Day, Press Officer

Rosie is wearing a grey jumper and high-waisted black skinny jeans from River Island, Topshop heels and a collar from Cos. 

"I deal with the press and online press, across all platforms, every day - from just helping with samples or pitching a new story, store appointments and showroom appointments, where fashion editors come to pick the River Island pieces that they want to feature in their magazines or websites. We also have regular meetings with our director as a team to discuss any new events or ideas we want to implement."

"I studied Fashion Promotion at uni, and part of the course included a work placement and I ended up coming here. It was meant to be for two weeks but I got kept on for three months and I really enjoyed it. After leaving uni I went to Topshop head office and worked in their creative VM department, but I knew that PR was what I always wanted to do. From coming here as an intern, a job for press assistant came up, and I worked my way up from press assistant to press officer - now I've been here three years."

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Laura Smith, Press Assistant

Laura is wearing River Island top, watch, bangles and jeans, New Balance trainers and Pandora rings

"This is my first proper job - I'm the press assistant and am on my placement year from Nottingham Trent studying Fashion Management, so most days I am in store appointments, meeting press or calling in certain items that they want. Or I am in the office doing media alerts which we send out every week, answering emails, and also helping to plan our bi-annual press days.

"I would love to get into fashion PR or fashion editorials for magazines, because I like writing and being creative but also love PR and all of the events that go with it, either would be amazing. I love that River Island's collections have definitely been elevated and it's really great for the high street - the quality and the styles, and how quickly it reacts to trends are great for girls who love fashion." 

River Island

Open to UK residents aged 18 and over. To enter the giveaway all you have to do submit your answer and details in the above poll. This giveaway opens on 17th March 2015 and closes at 23.59 on 22nd March 2015. Answers received after the closing date will not be considered. The prize is a £50 River Island gift voucher (X5) which will be sent out to the winner's chosen address. The winner will be randomly selected from the correct answers received. Hearst reserves the right to amend the terms and conditions for this competition at any time without notice. See website for full terms and conditions.