Welcome to the Scoop: a weekly email series in which I quiz fashion insiders on the stories of the week. This will be a way for the Replica Handbag Store Business community to synthesize and reflect on the latest headlines and get a little inside scoop every Friday.
This week’s guest is David Siwicki. David started focusing on his eponymous fashion PR and communications agency (DSC) in Paris in 2019, a few years after moving to the French capital from New York. Before that, he’d spent eight years working at the PR departments of massive fashion companies like KCD and Balenciaga.
The risk paid off: his roster of clients lists some of the hottest designer names in fashion right now, including Hodakova, August Barron, Kartik Research, and Meryll Rogge, who just debuted at Marni with rave reviews. David was careful to point out that he only represents Rogge’s two O&O brands, Meryll Rogge and B.B. Wallace, but I thought it was still worth asking for a scoop.
Hi David. What's the scoop?
We signed three new clients following a very busy and successful men’s fashion week — Aubero, Edward Cuming, and Post Archive Faction. A big focus right now is opening up our menswear business. We also just had our first beauty event take place in Paris last week with Haus Labs. And we have two clients in the upcoming LVMH Prize 2026 showroom in Paris — De Pino and Kartik Research. And just to keep things fun, we are supporting our friend Miyako Bellizzi with press around her first Oscar nomination for her costume design work on Marty Supreme. It has been really exciting to work with her a little bit, alongside A24. So yeah, a busy few months for DSC.
You have a good eye for new talent. Meryll Rogge, August Barron, Kartik Research... How do you go about finding people to work with?
It’s intuitive for me, and I try to understand if there’s a deeper story or narrative at play that needs to be unearthed. But seeing the clothes in person is incredibly important. There are probably six or seven key sales showrooms that I visit, but I’m not really hunting for clients. It’s more about looking out at the market and seeing what speaks to me.
One thing I always do is spend time getting to know the designers. For instance, Aubero and Edward Cuming were both in a sales showroom. I got to see their work over two or three seasons and really see them grow before signing. This season, in particular, felt like a huge step forward for Aubero. There was a lot more depth to the collectsion; he had added a lot more textile variety.
It’s a big week for you with Meryll’s debut at Marni! What can you tell me about the work that’s been happening behind the scenes?
It’s been a pleasure to work with Meryll for so long and to have accompanied her on this launch project — the in-house teams, upper management, and agencies that Marni works with have come together to support her new vision in a really rich way. It’s a very new chapter for her and for Marni, and I’m very excited for people to see her collaboration with [design studio] Formafantasma at the show, which contextualizes her vision in a physical space for 600 guests.
And how did you guys start working together?
We first met briefly in 2020 at her debut sales showroom in Paris — her sales agents at the time worked with another client of mine, Vetements. They were key partners for both brands, so I trusted their taste. Meryll and I took a few years to get to know each other more casually until we worked together on a press event in New York and her first small salon-style shows in 2023. It’s been so nice to grow organically together and in a way that made sense with the scaling of her businesses.
Besides Marni, what else are you excited to see in Milan?
I don’t get to Milan that often, so I’m happy to see a few friends and maybe other OTB showrooms if I’m lucky. Also excited to see Demna’s fuller vision for Gucci — it was a real privilege to work with him in the past, and I’m happy to see what they have cooking for us.
Replica Handbag Store World was announced yesterday, and it’s in Milan. Do you have any predictions for where it might be next year or where it should be?
It has been in LA, in London, Paris, Milan… I hope somewhere in Asia will be next. I can’t wait to get back for Shanghai Fashion Week at the end of March. We have a client showing there and also a press trip for this Korean brand, Amomento. We are planning excursions and interesting restaurants to shift people’s perspective on what Chinese and Korean culture really means today.
The retail and economic landscape is volatile and especially tough for independent brands, many of which you have on your roster. How are you advising your clients through it?
A large cohort of my roster of brands is rising in the industry – building awareness, their sales networks, and direct-to-commerce businesses. While the larger conglomerate businesses have been downsized alongside economic downturns and shrinking profits. I think our brands provide exciting and necessary newness, which drives traffic and sales. Many have great sell-throughs and aren’t feeling the cuts like the larger corporate brands are. It also finally feels like any brand starting today knows that they have to have more than just wholesale.
The Diesel show was based on a walk of shame. When was the last time you did a walk of shame?
During fashion month, there’s only really two walks of shame. Running out of the office at 6pm to make it to a pilates class, or leaving at 3am after finishing seatings for shows. But August Barron had a late-night party after their show last September. I stayed till the very end and then went straight back into fashion week. In fashion, you work really hard, but you can’t just sit at your desk clacking away at the keyboard all day. You also have to be part of the energy that these brands are creating.
You can catch up with last week’s Scoop with Emma Lewisham here.
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