In the next in our PR series, Insiders speaks to the innovative founder of AIPR, Adam Iezzi
To get an idea why AIPR, the Shoreditch-based fashion PR agency founded by Adam Iezzi is one of the rising PR firms to watch is to hear how his team will go the extra mile for their clients. “I personally have done the craziest things,” recalls Iezzi sitting in his office, Cire Trudon candles emanating a soothing fragrance. “Like cycling a sample to someone on a Saturday for a shoot. This is the thing about the way we work – we will go to the ends of the Earth to make something happen.”
"I just wanted to work with brands that had a point of view and a really strong message” — Adam Iezzi
Iezzi may have founded AI nine years ago after moving to London from suburban Melbourne, Australia but it was a six-month stint as a scholarship student in Japan in the early 90s that proved a formative experience for him. It was then that he discovered a love of the more experimental end of fashion – cultivated through brushes with cult magazines like Men’s Non No. Moving to London from Australia, Iezzi went on to set up his own firm in 2005. “I fell into PR but I knew it was a good fit because I was really interested in the media, really interested in communication, writing, speaking, creating a message, that sort of thing. But I just had this kind of desire to do something where I had a lot more control over the clients that I represented. I just wanted to work with brands that had a point of view and a really strong message.”
Straight off the bat, he landed Marios Schwab, Ann-Sofie Back and Jessica Ogden – then the toast of young London designers – as his first clients. Since then, AI’s roster stretches from established streetwear brands like Carhartt and A.P.C. to the traditional British label, Sunspel and new stars like Marques'Almeida. “It’s usually about my gut instinct,” explains Iezzi of the process of choosing a client, “I’d rather just wait until the right fit comes along.”
The ‘right fit’ undoubtedly came about when he happened upon the A/W09 show of a rising menswear designer called J.W. Anderson. “At that time I was looking to work with a womenswear brand actually, and he was only doing menswear but it looked so different from everything else out there. You could tell he really considered everything.” Since then, Anderson’s career has skyrocketed from winning awards at the BFC, to consultancies for Sunspel, Versus Versace and Topshop and countless blue chip magazine editorials. “It’s so inspiring working for him because his energy is so contagious. So I’ve learnt things from him and also he’s really respectful towards me as well, so I think that’s why we’ve been able to work together for so long. There’s definitely a mutual respect there, which helps.”
Their long-term collaboration has also led to them working together on Loewe, the Spanish luxury label owned by LVMH where Anderson has recently been appointed as creative director. Being thrown into the big leagues with LVMH is something Iezzi is taking in his stride. “You would have thought it would have been intimidating but it’s been fun. The people at Loewe are really passionate and they take the time. It’s been a fantastic experience.” The formula for AI’s success then is surprisingly simple – a meticulous attention to detail and a refreshingly straightforward approach. “We don’t over-complicate things,” he states. “We’re a fashion PR agency and we do that really, really well. We work really, really hard to do that. So you know, we don’t try and reinvent ourselves. We’re quite transparent about the service that we offer and we do everything that we can to try and achieve that.”
Text by Kin Woo
Next week, Insiders will speak to Karla Otto.
Further Reading: Brian Phillips of Black Frame.
