Interview with Danielle Fowler, Freelance Writer for Marie Claire and InStyle (digital)

Danielle Fowler is a digital journalist with experience in producing fashion, beauty and lifestyle content including breaking news, shopping round-ups and features. After graduating from the London College of Fashion, she landed her first junior writer role at Grazia. After six years in London freelancing for the likes of Harper’s Bazaar, Yahoo Style and Stylist, Danielle decided to chase her dreams on the other side of the world. In October 2019, she moved to Sydney, Australia where Danielle has been working for the Marie Claire and InStyle digital team ever since. Reach Danielle via her LinkedIn here.

How has the nation’s coronavirus lockdown affected your role?
Nobody is immune from the COVID-19 pandemic and like most journalists, I have swapped the office for a makeshift desk in my bedroom. Thankfully, I’m incredibly lucky to work online in these unprecedented times with more people scrolling through their phones than ever before. I have tried especially hard in recent weeks to produce fun and entertaining content which will hopefully give readers the chance to escape their thoughts for a little while.

For a press release to stand out to you, what should it contain?

A friend once said to me, “Don’t overcomplicate it” and it’s a phrase I come back to throughout my work. With a huge number of press releases gracing my inbox every morning, prove to me why I should continue reading in the subject line and opening paragraph.

What made you choose a writing career specialising in fashion, beauty and lifestyle content?

Growing up, I saved my pennies to stock up on magazines every weekend. After frantically googling how Betty Suarez of ‘Ugly Betty’ landed her job, I applied to study Fashion Journalism at the London College of Fashion. I remember my first pinch-me moment was at a London Fashion Week show when I realised that there was nowhere I would rather be in that moment. I haven’t looked back since!

What are the pros and cons of being a freelance journalist?

The greatest draw to freelance journalism is having the freedom to work for a number of publications. Moving offices, meeting new people and pitching to a room full of strangers means there is no room to shy away, which has certainly helped to boost my confidence. Though freelance life can be lonely sometimes and a long stint working from home a few years ago without anyone but my dog for a colleague proved tricky.

 How do you go about finding ideas and information for your stories?

Whether it’s for a shopping gallery or fashion feature, my love of tracking down Instagram’s designer-of-the-moment or the latest ‘It’ item comes as second nature. If I spot something I know others would love to read about or I want to give an up-and-coming company a shout-out online, I’ll write a reminder to think up ways to tackle the idea on Monday. When it comes to collating information, I’ll speak to people in the know.