Are you planning on attending the Spring/Summer or Autumn/Winter Fashion Weeks for the first time? Or are you a regular attendee who still struggles to understand how to get spotted by fashion photographers? To help everyone with these and other fashion queries I asked one of the top fashion photographers, who’s been working in Milan, Paris and Copenhagen Fashion Weeks for more than 10 years, to give us some insider tips and tricks.
Raimonda Kulikauskiene is a popular fashion photographer from Denmark. Every season she visits fashion events and takes pictures of influencers, celebrities and famous people. Her Instagram account streetstylespy.dk has more than 160k followers, her pictures are published in NSS Magazine, L’Officiel, ELLE Japan, Harper’s BAZAAR, British VOGUE and Teen VOGUE. In addition Raimonda runs her blog www.streetstylespy.dk with the latest and most famous of her photos, upcoming events to visit and other details about her work. Her professionalism and huge love of fashion photography is visible to the unaided eye which is why on her pictures everyone looks mega stylish and jaw-dropping.
What do Denmark fashion weeks look like? What’s the difference between Milan and Paris?
Copenhagen Fashion Week isn’t as big as Paris or Milan. The first fashion shows were held in 2006 but since then it has become more and more popular every year. It lasts only three days, meanwhile Paris lasts nine days and Milan five, but despite this, Danish Fashion Week is still popular and well-organised. The main other difference is that the atmosphere, people’s style, feelings and vibes at the Denmark fashion week is more relaxed and people, me included, seem to love that. In my opinion, Copenhagen fashion week is the best because there is no rush, no fences everywhere, no crowds, no noise and there are positive and stylish people around.
As a photographer, what kind of style or people are you looking for at fashion weeks in Milan, Paris and Copenhagen?
I’m looking for people who represent street style and those who amazingly integrate popular trends into street style. Street style is really cool and sometimes especially in big fashion cities it’s very difficult to get as many pictures of it as you want.
Do you ask a person to let you take their pictures? Especially when you realise that this look is what you want to picture.
Sometimes I do stop people, but in general about 70% of my pictures are snaps. Often when I take pictures of people they don’t notice it, just because you don’t have that much time to concentrate on a specific thing and those pictures are the best. They transmit real life, they look natural which is much more interesting in a photo than poses.
Is it ok to ask a photographer to take a picture of me?
Yes, it is! People do that and some are specifically hunting for photographers so that their pictures get posted in fashion magazines. But the problem is photographers don’t post pictures in magazines, we send images to some editors and they decide which pictures will be posted in their magazine.
It’s much better to invest your time into your whole look, search for what is trendy this year, and adopt it into your style rather than hunting for photographers.
How can I understand which photographers are from famous fashion magazines? And is there any chance of being published there?
You understand that only if you know these photographers in person, but lots of people ask us where we work or who is from the fashion media. But as a photographer I don’t recommend doing that, I mean asking a photographer where they work. My main advice to everyone is to attract them with your style. Many photographers at fashion weeks are looking for stylish people, those who represent unique but also trendy style, trendsetters and even those who showcase minimalism. It’s much better to invest your time into your whole look, search for what is trendy this year, and adopt it into your style rather than hunting for photographers. If you represent cool style and feel confident in that, photographers see that and they want to take pictures of you.
My second piece of advice is to not dress up for photographers, don’t try to impress them, use fashion week as a way to represent your style or if you are a stylist give examples of how to wear a trendy or complicated item organically and so on.
Are photographers hunting for people who dress trendily or extravagantly?
It really depends on the show. If it’s a fashion show where extravagant pieces are being shown, you can wear them too and photographers will take pictures of you. But still, these pieces have to be used organically or reflect the brand style. Unfortunately there are some people who overdo this, they try to get attention with their nonsense look. I want to reiterate that it doesn’t work like that. Photographers work at fashion events, they need to take pictures that bring them income or which editors asked for them to take; more and more photographers understand and know trends – they know what is cool and what is not. My second piece of advice is to not dress up for photographers, don’t try to impress them, use fashion week as a way to represent your style or if you are a stylist give examples of how to wear a trendy or complicated item organically and so on. Today it is easy to find you on social media and if you represent a style which you follow and on your Instagram or Pinterest accounts they can see that, photographers will tag you and may even recognise you and take pictures with pleasure.
Where can people find the pictures photographers take of them at fashion weeks?
It depends on the photographer.If it is a photographer from a fashion magazine all the pictures will go to this magazine. Some photographers, myself included, work with Getty Images. You can go there and use keywords to find your picture. We use people’s names if we know them, but you can find your pictures by writing a keyword, for example Milan Fashion Week 2023 or ‘yellow silk dress’ or ‘orange bag’ and you will get all the pictures with a yellow silk dress or orange bag etc. It works really well. But you can always collaborate with a photographer and get amazing pictures, just send an email or DM on Instagram before the fashion week.
Can I buy pictures of me directly from a photographer?
Yes you can, and it’s common. You can even order a personal photoshoot during the fashion week or you can buy pictures directly from the photographers who snap you during the event. You can ask them how to contact them so that you can buy pictures that you like directly. I am always really happy when I get DMs or email requests to sell them pictures from the week or to have a photoshoot and this helps me a lot, because I work as a freelance photographer.
When is the best time to be spotted by photographers? One hour before or after the show?
For those who attend fashion shows it doesn’t matter; if you didn’t have time to take pictures before the show you can easily get pictures after the show. For those who don’t have invitations the situation is quite different, the worst time is the entrance hours. When attendees are entering the show, photographers try to spot them first, because these are special guests, celebrities, etc.. But for non-attenders it is still important to be there, if you want to get pictures from fashion magazine photographers, because they are all there and when the show starts and no people are around they can take pictures of you.
What common mistakes do new bloggers make at Fashion Weeks? Are there any mistakes even experienced fashion bloggers make? What should you do and what should you not do?
“Less is more”. I think the big mistake new attenders or even experienced ones make is over-dressing or over-doing their look which of course draws attention but not interest or inspiration from that look. When you try to be noticed by wearing weird clothes or accessories that don’t make sense with the style you miss an opportunity to be spotted by photographers from the fashion media. You can look amazing and interesting when you follow your style, when you adopt trendy garments or accessories into your everyday look, or when you show people how to wear the latest item. Interestingly, this attracts photographers more than a massive hat which is obviously being worn as a way to get attention. The colours and prints are very important, if you know how to mix colours and wear them perfectly this makes you stand out of the crowd.
If you want to succeed as a fashion influencer or blogger ask your-self: “Why are you coming to the fashion show? What are you sharing with others? Is this what you represent on your social media and real life? How can this inspire others? Why should they look at you?”
Another recommendation is to please be friendly and nice and don’t talk with fashion photographers or influencers as if you need them for information or your needs; everyone understands that and no-one likes it.
Where will we find you in the upcoming fashion season? Where can people see your photos?
I’m going to Paris Haute Couture in July, Copenhagen Fashion Week in August, Stockholm Fashion Week in August, and Milan and Paris Fashion Weeks in September and October. (schedule)
You can find all my pictures on Getty Images, by searching using my name (Raimonda Kulikauskiene) or you can email me with a request or DM me on Instagram (link).
