Ryan MacMillan

Friend and sometime Laptop Dance participant, Kristina Dryza has started KR LT Studio, a design studio and fashion label. She’s using blog relations as a way of promoting it. As Kristina is a consumer trend expert who writes for people like PSFK, The JC Report and Brand Channel, I thought she’d have an interesting take on things so we did a little email Q&A;

RMM: How do you decide which blogs to approach?

KD: We’re only approaching bloggers we know personally and admire. Also, by taking the time to communicate with them individually, we hope to produce in them genuine feelings of dedication to our work and ideals. We have lots of face-to-face contact with everyone involved in the studio: from our suppliers to our design team, to the shop owners that sustain us with cake and coffee. We don’t just want to connect with people through the work of our studio, but also through the greater connections of life. This is what blogs do.

RMM: What information do you use to tailor your approach for each blog?

KD: The personal history between myself and the blogger. It’s the continuation of our story.

RMM: How do you initially contact them?

KD: Via our usual communication patterns, whether it be randomly running into each other, email, scheduled coffee dates etc.

RMM: What do you want from them?

KD: To tell our story in their own words. While we as a conceptual design studio want to find meaning in the things we design, it’s just as important that others also find and discuss their own interpretation of our meaning. Inspired by our Lithuanian heritage, we created a new style of dress solely for the home, a collection of seven lounging robes that are a modern, glamorous reinterpretation of the housecoat. We see our robes as a transition change, a mood shifter. A way to move from one mental space to another, that’s why the collection is called Inner Space. But what I’m also interested in is others - and here I mean our blogging friends - their interpretation of what inner space as a concept means to them.

RMM: What overall business objective are you trying to achieve by doing this?

KD: We created this different style of dress to help women find their own inner space and way of being in her personal environment. When wearing the robe in the privacy of your own home it caresses you and acts as a protective refuge from the noise. The robe helps you slow down and create a special, sacred atmosphere. The business objective, as such, is getting the concept of inner space out there so all people find the time and space to breathe and be still.

RMM: Is your approach to blogs different to your approach to mainstream media?

KD: Design without a story often becomes decoration, so that’s why we share our traditional rituals and customs with our blogging friends so they can get a sense of the depth and allure of our Lithuanian cultural heritage, as well as our global influences. We’d also like mainstream media to join us in our journey of cultural appreciation to champion Lithuania’s artisans and traditions and share them with the wider world, but it takes time, and an interest, to build these relationships and share this knowledge.

RMM: Are you also approaching mainstream media: why / why not?

KD: Our concepts are for those that want to engage at another level. For those who want to get involved with the stories and emotions of our concepts. If mainstream media wants that level of connection, we’ll be there!