One of the great tenets of public relations is a news story has more impact than an advertisement. But what of being featured in a reality TV show where you seem to be the only real person in a room of heavily-kohled eye-rollers playing make-believe with their careers? Well if you’re Kelly Cutrone, you stick well enough in the public consciousness to become a regular fixture on said show (The Hills) as well as its spawn (The City) and eventually get to headline your own (Kell on Earth).
The forthright way in which Cutrone has presented herself, a candidly honest businesswoman devoted to her clients and quick to say what’s on her mind, hardly appears to be a marketing strategy for fame of the sort reality show stars court. Instead you get the feeling Cutrone’s life has changed very little since that season one appearance on The Hills that led to her being positioned as the level-headed advisor to pretty, young, Angelenos looking for fame in the fashion industry via US Weekly style pages.
In a 2008 story in the New York Observer, Cutrone mused on her growing fame: “Your clients, they don’t want you to be more famous than them. But at the same time, they want to have a powerful publicist.” A tough line to walk, especially when your office is being laid bare every week on TV. The Observer profile offered insight into the career of the People’s Revolution founder, her years as a publicist for musicians and storied New York hotspots and her Warholian affiliations. The writer, Meredith Bryan, who Cutrone first met when she was writing the profile, would later be brought on board by Cutrone to help with the writing of her recently published book If You Have To Cry, Go Outside (HarperCollins Canada, $29.50).
“Oddly enough when I was interviewing with her, she was such a good listener that it was scaring me,” enthuses Cutrone, when I meet her discuss her book. “And I had this need and want to tell her these things that normally I wouldn’t say to a writer… I knew that I had given her a silver tray with guns on it, and I just didn’t know where she was going to point them.”
While Bryan’s profile certainly touched on the career highlights and on the interesting milieu in which Cutrone lives, it gave little indication of the incredible lows that almost derailed her completely. The 44-year-old is emphatic that telling her own truths—in the book she details her divorce, a former meth habit and suicidal thoughts—was necessary.
“I think it’s hard to take advice from people that don’t give any inclination that they’ve actually been through what they’re talking about,” says Cutrone. “I think it’s important because instead of it being really preachy, it allows them to take that journey with me and then apply those things to themselves. So it’s kind of like the rule that if you give somebody advice, you don’t say: ‘You should—.’ You say: ‘You know, that reminds me of when I—.’”
related features
Comment on this article
Editor's note: This is a moderated forum, so your comments won't appear until approved by the moderator. Please help us foster a friendly environment by keeping your posts civil and on-point. We reserve the right to delete comments that include foul language, personal attacks on others, sales solicitations or any other inappropriate content. Posted comments reflect the opinions of the poster, not of Fashionmagazine.com. Read our privacy policy for more information.
Your comment