Kat Collings has become a fashion darling of her own accord since she was appointed to editor-in-chief of Who What Wear.
Since taking the helm of the publication in 2015, she has not only established herself as a force of style — she currently has more than 20,000 Instagram followers eagerly awaiting her every #OOTD — but as a true arbiter of industry trends. In the last year, she’s curated looks for Who What Wear’s inaugural fashion show in February, helped launch the site’s first e-commerce app and continued to lend a design eye to the brand’s popular Target collection — and that’s on top of overseeing all of Who What Wear’s editorial content.
In January, she added to her role when she was appointed executive director of all of Clique Brands’ editorial entities — meaning that while Who What Wear is her main priority, she additionally manages content across all sites.
She walked us through a recent jam-packed day in Los Angeles, which included juggling strategy meetings with planning for Who What Wear’s next Target collection. It culminated with a fashion show to debut the new H&M and Erdem collaboration.
Collings attending New York Fashion Week in September
7:30 a.m.: I wake up and immediately reach for my phone to scan Who What Wear, MyDomaine and Byrdie. I’m trying to get in the habit of waiting a beat before hopping online, but I can’t help myself most mornings.
8:30 a.m.: After showering and putting on makeup, I check the day’s fashion news on my phone over my usual breakfast of cereal and milk — not the most glamorous meal. When I have a bit more time, I’ll spring for a bagel with cream cheese, avocado and Trader Joe’s addictive Green Dragon sauce.
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9:00 a.m.: I have a check-in call with our Byrdie U.K. editorial director, Amy Lawrenson. She catches me up on all things related to the site, including an upcoming shoot, the traffic goal and 2018 budget planning.
10:00 a.m.: This week is our annual national sales conference, where each of the site’s editorial directors presents their 2018 editorial calendar in tandem with the marketing team. We worked for over a month on shaping our content direction for the coming year, so naturally, I film each site’s presentation like some overly proud stage mom.
11:00 a.m.: Between presentations, I wade through emails and add things to my to-do list. I’ve been trying to stick to the Pomodoro method of time management, which breaks work into 25-minute intervals with short breaks in between. It works… mostly.
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1:00 p.m.: I break to discuss talent for Who What Wear’s spring issue with our bookings team. Our fall issue starring Kate Bosworth was such a success, and we’re hoping to build on it even further for next season.
1:30 p.m.: I squeeze in a quick lunch: delivery from Real Food Daily. I rotate between the Mediterranean bowl and the BLT sandwich.
2:30 p.m.: We have a runaway traffic hit on MyDomaine today, and I quickly strategize with the site’s editorial director, Sacha Strebe, on how we can capitalize on the momentum through increased distribution and making each article as sticky as possible.
3:00 p.m.: I sit down with the U.S. editorial directors for a quick touch base on a new story format our product team has released. We sync about what volume of these stories we need to produce to fulfill our content strategy plan and how we’ll roll it out to the editors to minimally alter current workflow.
4:00 p.m.: I receive a box of shoe samples for our Who What Wear Collection line that’s available at Target. We have this killer white mule with a blonde wood heel that’s coming out next year. I have to pick the shade of wood from a few prototypes. No one is surprised at all when I unknowingly end up picking the most expensive one.
5:00 p.m.: I pop into the office next to mine to meet with Michelle Plantan, our executive director of creative strategy (as well as my work wife). We discuss feedback from some of our reader messaging programs, like our Facebook Messenger bot.
6:00 p.m.: I head to Beverly Hills with Who What Wear’s editorial director, Bobby Schuessler, for an Hermès launch event. We have a glass of champagne with the brand’s PR manager, then we excuse ourselves to make it to the Erdem x H&M runway show across town.
7:00 p.m.: The venue is at The Ebell of Los Angeles on Wilshire, and it’s flat-out gorgeous. They’ve flown in a lot of New York–based editors and international press for the event, so just for a moment, Los Angeles’s bubble of a fashion scene seems just a bit bigger. The collection is strong — one of the best high-street collaborations I’ve seen yet — and the casting is especially on point. After the show, director Baz Luhrmann appears to debut his short film for the collection. Just as expected, the film is dreamy, and Baz is eccentric and hilarious.
7:45 p.m.: We get a sneak peek at the not-yet-launched line, and I consider getting the shrunken baby blue sweater that Zendaya showed up in. I ultimately decide to back away from the impulse buy, but I’m glad Fashionista’s west coast editor, Dhani Mau, got it.
8:30 p.m.: We cap off the night with pizza slices from our favorite local spot, Vitos. I force Bobby to join me in tying the scarves from the gift bags on our heads (as one does), and we do an impromptu Instagram Live on Who What Wear’s account, answering readers’ fashion questions.
9:30 p.m.: I walk home and settle in with my boyfriend to watch a little “Broad City.” I wind down by cracking open my new book, “Sing, Unburied, Sing.” I make it a few pages in before falling asleep.
