Kelly Cutrone

Founder of People’s Revolution, a new judge on America’s Next Top Model, an author, and always dressed in black (with a minor exception), Kelly Cutrone is a PR mastermind.  From how she got started in the biz to her new venture with Chris Burch (Tory’s ex), Kelly has lots to tell us.  Read on darlings, because this is part I of my interview with Kelly.

S: Let’s start from the beginning.  Why PR?

K:   I moved to New York when I was 21 and quickly met someone named Anthony Haden-Guest who at the time was the art critic for Vanity Fair.  He also coincidentally dated Anna Wintour when she was very young, which I think is funny. He told me I should be a publicist.  I said, “What is that?” and he said “It’s what you do already; you just talk and put people together.”

I went on a job interview at a renowned music publicist’s office and she gave me a quiz and I got every question wrong accept one about a type of lace.  She said, “Out of all the questions you got wrong, this is the first time anyone has gotten this question right.”  I became the owner’s assistant and within a year, I worked in public relations at Spin Magazine and then I started my first PR company called Cutrone & Weinberg with Jason Weinberg around 1988.

S: How did People’s Revolution come about?

K: It  came out in around 96’ and I wanted to call it PR because it’s straight and to the point.  Then people started to ask me what it stands for and I said People’s Revolution.  At the time, I already had a PR company with my name in it and I really didn’t like that my name was going out all over the place—it was a familiarity that I didn’t want. People’s Revolution is a cool name, but it’s not for everyone.  It has good energy.

photo credit: chance tv

K: It’s kind of like a three-part process. One is intuition, two is a leap of faith (not baby steps), and three is to be practical.  Before turning 32 is an amazing time to do radical things.  You figure out who you are while you figure out who you are not.  Any jobs or internships to support yourself is what you need to do, but it’s not easy to have both.

S: Tell me about your new venture with Chris Burch.

K:  It’s a brand called Electric Love Army and there will be stores.  We went to Canton for some inspiration.  There’s going to be lots of denim, cool graphics, and tees. It’s really like an Agent Provocateur experience at a Topshop price, so it’s going to be a cool and fun environment. The designer of Anthropologie is designing the store with Chris and I.

Stay tuned for part II of my interview with Kelly tomorrow. 

with style,

S