How does it work? Well, the company began with a database of “statistics, detailed information and background” on about 1,000 prominent fashion bloggers like top Tumblr Eva Chen, Shine by Three and the amazingly titled How to Talk to Girls at Parties.

Each profile includes traffic stats and interaction data to let promoters know how popular a given writer is and how likely he/she is to engage with publicists (along with contact and pitching information). Oh yeah: bloggers must apply and be “vetted” if they want to join the list.

The platform could also help hungry brands promote themselves: partners include Kate Spade, Oscar de la Renta, Lucky Magazine and more.

We’re not incredibly familiar with the glam biz, so let us know: how valuable could this resource be? Would the model work in other industries as well?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

We were pleased, on some level, to learn that the latest winner, Mallory Hagan, hails from Brooklyn (which is our longtime home, though we can’t claim it as our hometown), but we’re a little confused by her latest WWD interview…

She confirmed that she won’t be attending FIT until another winner is crowned (OK, we get that) but refused to take the opportunity to promote some of her favorite designers, saying:

I will keep that to myself for now. When I’m done being Miss America, I will tell you a myriad of names.

…while listing Forever 21, Zara and H&M as her favorite stores (yeah, right). Then the interviewers asked her a more sensitive question: why will she be wearing only Canadian label Joseph Ribkoff at all of her public appearances as Miss America? We think this is a good question from a PR perspective, but she quickly shut the query down:

“It shouldn’t matter where the clothing comes from,” since her Miss America mission is more about broadening education and empowering women.

The answer: she’s wearing Ribkoff because it was one of the pageant’s main sponsors, along with cosmetics brand Amway Artistry. We don’t mean to go all nationalistic here, but isn’t it a little strange for a Canadian brand to sponsor the Miss America winner, much less the pageant itself? Surely there’s an American brand willing to step up and embrace a great PR opportunity like this one, right?

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Barney’s CEO Mark Lee unveiled his company’s newest PR offensive yesterday at the retailer’s Madison Avenue flagship store with the help of Disney CEO Bob Iger, fashion icon Sarah Jessica Parker, and a certain mousy celebrity (who thankfully appeared as the full-sized Minnie).

The campaign, based on Disney’s classic “Main Street Electrical Parade”, drew a bit of criticism for transforming Mickey’s lovably round soul mate–and her friends Snow White and Daisy Duck–into waif-thin caricatures of modeldom. There’s little doubt that the unbelievably slender characters depicted embody a physically impossible fantasy land filled with pouting divas, desperate paparazzi and snooty, unforgiving tastemakers…

Oh wait–we just described the fashion industry, didn’t we? Check out these pictures direct from the Barney’s window display and see for yourself:

Minnie shows more than a little leg

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

In the midst of a recession that’s proven especially severe in that corner of Europe, Zara rose to the very top of the fashion business.

Yet the most interesting aspects of the Zara empire are the things the company doesn’t do. It doesn’t create partnerships with top designers. It doesn’t try to label its products “upscale”. It doesn’t tweet very often, and it definitely doesn’t organize any one-off promotional stunts. Its founder, now one of the world’s richest men, refuses to give interviews.

The company doesn’t even create ads–that’s right, no ads at all. In fact, the PR rep who spoke to The New York Times during an extended magazine profile refused to give her name in keeping with her employer’s “modesty rules”. Not the kind of operation you’d expect from such a massive brand.

So how did the minds behind Zara create such a monster? To put it simply, they followed one rule: listen to your customers and respond accordingly by giving them what they want, not what you tell them they should want.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

WWD

“There’s a favorite old quote of Gandhi’s — no, not about minimalist messianic style — that might have some relevance here: ‘Truth is one, paths are many.’”

Actually, no that quote has no relevance here. Not only because I don’t know what WWD’s “truth” or “paths” are, but because Gandhi espoused peace and civil rights while fighting for his country’s independence and WWD is a fashion magazine with a revamped website. (Lesson for PR pros and your clients: Make sure your quotes have something to do with the announcement you’re making.)

At any rate, the website is promising a few things that broaden the pitching possibilities.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Jane Bianchi has been named senior news editor at Seventeen. She had been associate health editor at Family Circle.

John Koblin has been named media reporter at WWD. He had been media reporter at The New York Observer.

Nitsuh Abebe has been named pop music critic at New York. He had been writer at Pitchfork.

Katherine Heintzelman has been named entertainment editor at Parade. She had been entertainment director at More.

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New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.