### Article structure
- Titles: aim for a maxim of 60 characters. If using a quote in the title, use
single quotation marks
- Article length: Ideally between 200-500 words for a non-feature article or
500-1,500 words for a feature article.
- H2 (or subheader): Include H2s for featured articles. The longer the article,
the more H2s you should include.
### Countries
For most articles, we can publish to all English speaking countries to expand
our reach. So: UK,IE,IN,NZ,CA,COM. Exceptions to this would be if the news is
hyper-local (a small brand opening a store somewhere) or news about a company
that only operates in one market.
When publishing to UK, please always add IE as well.
### Uploading to EXEC
EXEC news is corporate news usually found on a company’s Investor Relations
page. It includes, but is not limited to:
- All trading updates
- All acquisitions/stake sales
- All investments
- All exec hires or exits
- Anything else published to a company’s Investor Relations page
Because of the way FashionUnited was set up, uploading EXEC news is a little
more tricky than regular news, but once you get the hang of it it can be done
just as quickly.
The [Editorial cheat sheet](/docs/editorial-cheat-sheet/#executive-education) explains how we do it.
### Quotations
Please use double quotation marks for all quotes except for A) If it’s in a
headline or H2 and B) For quotes within quotes. For these two exceptions, single
quotation marks should be used here.
For anything that is not a quotation, for example, the names of collections,
programmes, initiatives, exhibitions etc., single quotations should be used.
Quotation marks are formatted in different documents, so sometimes can appear as
“” and other times as "". Please be consistent with the ones you use.
Quotation marks are not needed in a Q&A style interview. You can simply use H2
for the questions being asked and the paragraphs in between for the answers -
the context of the introduction of the article should make it clear who is
speaking.
### Sources
Remember to always include the source of your news in an article, whether that
be a rival publication, social media post, press release, press conference etc.
Please try to avoid referencing rival publications unless they have an exclusive
story and/or you can’t find any more information by searching online or
contacting the brand.
Please add your sources, such as the press release or link to another news
publication, to your Trello card. This makes it easier for our other countries
to pick up the news story, and also helps in the future if a brand asks us to
change incorrect information, by allowing us to see exactly what the editor was
using as a source.
### Dates and numbers
Dates should be written in the following format April 10 2014, not 10
April 2014. No ordinal numbers so July 1 not July 1st; March 3, not March 3rd.
If the day you are writing about is in the current week, you can just use the
day of the week. Eg: “...Nike announced on Monday”. If in the same year you can
omit the year (because it’s already implied). So “In March…”
Write numbers 1-10 as digits, then numbers above that as numbers. So 9, 10,
eleven, twelve, thirteen etc. The exception is units of measurement (5 kilograms
and 9 kilometres), percentages (6 percent) and in titles (5 spring-summer 2021
trends).
Numbers over 1000 should have a comma, so 4,500, not 4500; 150,000, not 150000.
Try to round to the second decimal place, so 5.29 billion euros not 5,289
million euros. Convert thousands of millions to billions, so 5.29 billion euros
not 5,289 million euros.
If a specific time is used, rather than just ‘“on Monday”, for example, include
the timezone as we have a global audience. For example, “at 9pm GMT”.
### Fashion seasons
In the body of the text please first use format spring/summer 2022 (no
capitals), and then afterwards you can use abbreviated SS22 format. You can
write either autumn/winter 2021 or fall/winter 2021 (US news should lean towards
the former and UK news towards the latter)
For metakeys, we use FW22 and never AW22.
### Symbols
All percentages are written in figures (not %) Eg: 1 percent, not 1%
Other abbreviated terms should be written out Eg: Square feet (not sq ft), euros
(not €), dollars (not $), pounds (not £), 400 euros (not Euro 400). For currency
like Swedish kroner (SEK) and Swiss francs (CHF), first write out the words with
the abbreviation in brackets. Thereafter you can use either the words or
abbreviations.
When writing dollars in an article, we assume it is US dollars. If using any
other type of dollar (Canadian/Australian etc.), specify the first time which
type of dollar it is. You can then just write ‘dollar’ thereafter.
Also, note that currencies aren’t capitalised.
### Brand/retailer/group names
At the beginning of the article (or at least once somewhere in the article) use
the company’s full name, eg: VF Corporation, Yoox Net-a-Porter, British Fashion
Council immediately followed by its abbreviation in brackets (VF Corp, YNAP,
BFC). From then on, you can just use the abbreviation.
We almost never use full capitalised names for brands, even though many write
their own names like that. Even most acronyms (Asos, Cos, Adidas) we do not
capitalise. The exception to this is when the acronym is spelling out a name
(LVMH, SMCP)
Although we usually write ‘and’ instead of &, if it appears in a name of a
company and therefore is part of their trademark, then it is kept the same
(Marks & Spencer, Ralph & Russo)
Brands/companies and groups are always singular. So “LVMH has decided” not “LVMH
have decided”; “H&M launches” not “H&M launch”
### Race
In line with a growing number of news platforms, we are now capitalising the “b”
in the term “Black” when referring to people of African descent. We already do
this for other proper pronouns like Asian, Hispanic, Latino, African American
and Native American. The lowercase “black” just refers just to colour, not
people.
### Job titles
Job titles should not be capitalised. So “creative director”, not “Creative
Director”; “chief financial officer”, not “Chief Financial Officer”.
Exceptions are for acronyms so ‘CEO’, not ‘ceo”; “CFO” not “cfo”.
For SEO and readability reasons, try to alternate between terms like “CEO” and
“chief executive officer” in an article if the term is repeated often. Writing
the full title out is particularly relevant if there are multiple C-level
changes discussed in one article.
### Country names
In articles, please write “UK” and “US” not “U.K” and “U.S.”
### Photo credits
Write credit as “Image: _____” In the space, add the company you’ve received the
photo from eg: “Image: Nike”. If you got it from social media, include that too
eg: “Image: Nike, Facebook”.
Add more info to photo credit if it makes things clearer, for example, if it is
of a particular collection/event/person and you want to make that clear eg:
“Image: Nike CEO John Donahoe, courtesy of Nike”.
### Reporting on sustainability and avoiding greenwashing
As sustainability plays an increasingly important role in the fashion industry,
we have to be careful to report on fashion companies’ actions and pledges
accurately and objectively. If not, we risk simply repeating and amplifying
their greenwashing.
Below are some things to look out for when reading companies’ sustainability
claims, and how to be more critical about them:
Vegan fashion: Just because something doesn’t use animal-derived
materials doesn't mean it is more sustainable. Is it made up of harmful
plastic-based materials, for example? Is it a product that would not normally
include animal-derived materials anyway, and so ‘vegan’ is being added as a
superfluous buzzword?
Biodegradable fashion: A brand saying something is simply ‘biodegradable’
is very vague. Technically, just about everything is biodegradable. How long
does it take to biodegrade? Does it release harmful micro-plastics into the
environment when it does? Has the company measured the biodegradability itself
or has it been verified by a third-party company?
Recycled fashion: Saying something is simply recycled, or contains
recycled materials, is very vague. What composition of a particular item is
recycled? What is it recycled from? Is it verified by the Global Recycled
Standard (GRS)?
Context, context, context:
When covering sustainability in general, a good way to cover news without
amplifying greenwashing efforts by a company is to simply provide more context.
For example, you might report that a fast-fashion brand has released a
‘sustainable’ or ‘conscious’ collection, but you can also mention that this
likely only comprises a tiny fraction of their complete range, and you might
also mention that the company has a poor history of churning out a lot of
fashion and being a big part of the problem.
Certification:
Fashion companies lend support to their sustainability claims when backing them
up with certification. Some of the main sustainability certificates include
Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), B Corp, Bluesign, Canopy, Cradle to Cradle
(C2C), Ecocert, Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS), Peta, Fairtrade
International, Global Recycle Standard (GRS), Regenerative Organic Certified
(ROC), and Oeko-Tex.
Note: While having certification is a positive sign, the process can also be
expensive, so a lack of certification, especially for smaller brands with
tighter budgets, might not necessarily equate to greenwashing.
Low hanging fruit:
Be sceptical of ‘easy wins’ for fashion brands when it comes to sustainability
actions. Sustainable packaging is an example of something we are seeing brands
of all sizes introduce. Sure, it’s a small positive, but it will hardly offset
the damage they are causing.
Similarly, many brands are announcing carbon offsetting initiatives at their
headquarters. While a step in the right direction, their headquarters are often
a tiny fraction of the energy emissions created across their entire supply
chain.
While we can cover this news, mentioning that their efforts only mark a minor
benefit in the grand scheme of things paints a more accurate and honest picture
for our readers.
Vague, flowery language:
Brands love to use flowery phrases like “earth-friendly”, “saving the planet”,
“protecting the environment”, “natural”, “eco”, “eco-friendly”, “organic”,
“green”, “our most sustainable collection to date”. Without context these
statements could mean anything, so we should be sceptical about what they
actually mean by them. Do they qualify any of those statements by saying
why they use those adjectives? If not, we can leave it out. Where
possible, try to use the words “more sustainable” rather than “sustainable” if
their claim isn’t objectively verifiable.
When in doubt, use quotation marks:
If brands use language or claims that they don’t back up, but you still think it
is important to use in the article, then it is a good idea to use quotation
marks to make it clear that FashionUnited is not stating their claims as fact,
but simply quoting them. Quotation marks used in this way put the burden of
pressure on the brand and can even imply some degree of scepticism about the
claim in the article.
Claims such as a “100 percent sustainable collection” and “our most sustainable
collection to date” mean nothing without context. In the first example, we don’t
know what the company’s definition of “sustainable” really is. For the second
example, being the “most sustainable collection to date” still doesn’t
necessarily mean it’s sustainable. By including speech marks we are making it
clear that those are their words, and haven’t been verified by FashionUnited.
Asking companies for more information:
To avoid simply copying brands’ ambiguous sustainability claims we should ask
follow up questions. If companies offer limited information, or don’t provide
further clarification, mention that in the article.
### Metakeys
Please use a max of five metakeys per article.
We are really trying to tidy up metakeys, which means making sure we are not
adding unnecessary ones, and making sure the ones we do use are correct.
We have created a list later in this style guide to highlight some of the most
used metakeys. If unsure what a metakey should be (eg. sustainability or
sustainable fashion?), please check this document. If it’s not there and you
think it’s an important one, please flag it to Huw so it can be added to the
document.
We currently have many superfluous metakeys, so please ask yourself if it’s
really necessary before adding. For example, names of people are interesting if
it’s a big figure in the industry who is likely to come up several times in our
articles (eg. Big designer or CEO). But if it’s a celebrity doing a one-off
collab or a new board member, a whole tag page isn’t necessary.
### Style Guidelines - FashionUnited’s Voice
Please keep in mind that you are writing for FashionUnited and its readers, so
your tone of voice within your articles should be neutral and not overly biased
(unless writing an opinion piece, which should be made clear it is such).
We do not include links to third-party pages - this also applies to appeals for
donations, charitable campaigns, etc.
Remember that the content we publish should reflect what our readers (industry
insiders and professionals - not consumers) want to read and what they need to
know.
We are not a PR agency and do not write over-the-top marketing pieces for brands
and designers, no matter how much we may like them (or dislike them).
Be extra careful in this day and age about the word ‘sustainable’ and what that
means. A brand’s ‘most sustainable collection to date’ is not necessarily
sustainable at all. If they make these claims, make it clear that this is what
**they** are saying, or justify why it is actually sustainable.
Choose your words carefully when writing and avoid using overly descriptive
adjectives or ‘colourful language.’ Although you may want to use many expressive
terms when writing about a collection/style/individual etc keep in mind it needs
to fit within FashionUnited overall tone of voice.
Stick to conveying the relevant facts and information within your articles and
try not to go off too much of a tangent. Remember to remain with your subject
matter.
Although it may be tempting to write in a particular manner for your individual
country, keep in mind FashionUnited has a wider audience on all its platforms.
Spelling differences between US and UK are not too important, as we have an
international audience, but if a story is about a US brand, then it makes sense
to use US spelling. The most important thing is to be consistent within an
article.
When writing Opinion pieces try to make sure that your viewpoints are
constructive and not overly negative or positive. (Good example:
[D&G: When a fashion statement goes wrong](https://fashionunited.uk/news/fashion/d-g-when-a-fashion-statement-goes-wrong/2015031715886))
Feel free to inject more of yourself and your personal writing style in Opinion
articles, but try to keep in mind that the article’s tone of voice should still
be in line with FashionUnited’s tone of voice. It should not be overly casually
or too business-focused, but still convey your thoughts and opinions in a clear,
cohesive manner.
When writing a personal or opinion piece you may be tempted to use the word ‘I’.
Please try to use this sparingly and only when relevant to the article in
question. Try not to use ‘I’ to share your thoughts eg ‘I think H&M sucks’ but
use it when sharing an anecdote or story that is relevant to the article and
helps the reader relate or understand your point of view better.
When writing Interviews choose carefully what information or quotes need to be
included and what can be left out. Feel free to edit certain quotes to an extent
for your article, but do not rewrite what others have said to suit your purposes
as the content must remain true to the speaker.
### Vocabulary/common spelling mistakes
FashionUnited **not** Fashion United or FU\
London-based **not** London based\
FashionUnited **not** Fashion United\
Line-up **not** lineup\
Brick and mortar **not** brick-and-mortar\
High street **not** high-street or High Street\
Direct-to-consumer **not** direct to consumer or Direct To Consumer\
Trade show **not** tradeshow or trade-show\
Trade fair **not** tradefair or trade-fair\
Covid-19 **not** COVID-19\
E-commerce **not** ecommerce or eCommerce\
Fast fashion **not** fast-fashion\
Second-hand fashion or pre-loved **not** secondhand fashion or second hand
fashion\
Womenswear/menswear/kidswear **not** women’s wear/men’s wear kid’s wear\
Omnichannel **not** omni-channel Buy now, pay later or BNPL **not**
buy-now-pay-later Click and collect **not** click-and-collect or click & collect
(Not to be confused with Collect+ - this is a brand)\
Prêt-à-porter **not** pret-a-porter\
Ready-to-wear **not** ready to wear or RTW\
EBITDA **not** ebitda dollar, euro, pound **not** Dollar, Euro, Pound Marks &
Spencer **not** Marks and Spencer or Marks & Spencers or M&S Asos **not** ASOS
Dr Martens **not** Dr. Martens Lands’ End **not** Land’s End Adidas **not **
adidas Allsaints **not** All Saints ISawItFirst **not** I Saw It First Foot
Locker **not** FootLocker Missguided **not** Miss Guided Pull & Bear **not**
Pull&Bear or Pull and Bear ThredUp **not** Thred Up JD Sports **not** JD Sport
Sports Direct **not** Sport Direct Frasers Group **not** Fraser Group Loungewear
**not** lounge wear Officewear *_not_ *office wear Ralph & Russo **not** Ralph
and Russo Brick and click **not** Brick-and-click E-tail **not** etail Flash
sale **not** flash-sale Pop-up **not** Pop up Square metre **not** sqm\
Square foot **not** sqft\
Billion **not** bn Million **not** mn Percentage points **not** ptts And **not**
& Point-of-sale **not** point of sale Showroom **not** show room T-shirt **not**
t shirt Gen Z **not** Gen-Z 90s **not** 90’s\
1990s **not** 1990's\
Resale **not** re-sale\
Lifestyle **not** life style Hanger **not** hangar Harrods **not** Harrod’s
Sainsbury’s **not** Sainsburys Boots **not** Boot’s Clarks **not** Clark’s\
Pre-loved\
Like-for-like\
Year-over-year\
Year-on-year Colourway Millennial\
Baby boomer On-trend
### Common Metakeys
**Pricepoints:**
Discount\
Premium\
Luxury\
Fast fashion
**Retail:**
High street\
Retail park\
Footfall\
Store opening\
Pop-up (not pop-up store)\
Delivery\
Returns\
Logistics\
E-commerce\
Social shopping\
Mobile shopping\
App\
Buy now pay later
**Category:**
Childrenswear\
Womenswear\
Menswear\
Footwear\
Streetwear\
Athleisure Activewear\
Second-hand Bridal Beauty
**Sustainability:**
Resale\
Rental\
Reuse\
Repair\
Sustainable fashion\
Recycled fashion\
Circular fashion\
Second-hand fashion
**Fashion seasons:**
SS22, FW22 and not spring/summer 2022, fall/winter 2022. ALWAYS use FW22 and not
AW22 (even though you can write autumn/winter in articles, we just want to keep
metakeys to one page).
**Fashion Weeks:**
General metakeys = Fashion week, Catwalk season,
womenswearcatwalkseason,menswear, Couture week, Resort
LFW\
London Fashion Week\
PFW\
Paris Fashion Week\
NYFW\
New York Fashion Week\
MFW\
Milan Fashion Week
For specific fashion weeks please do not add the year.
**Digital/innovative:**
Digital fashion\
VR\
AR\
3D\
NFT\
Cryptocurrency
**Other:**
Next gen materials Influencer Labels to watch\
Coronavirus (not Covid-19)\
Collaboration\
Diversity\
Workinfashion\
Workers rights\
Supply Chain\
Start-up\
Omnichannel\
Trends Fashion education\
Interview\
womenswearcatwalkseason\
African fashion