Founded in 2013 by Jesse Derris and Lisa Frank in New York City, Derris Fashion PR built its reputation on one core belief.
A brand’s story is just as important as its tactics and execution.
Consequently, Derris Fashion PR developed a dual-pronged approach that distinguishes it from most PR agencies.
First, the agency helps clients shape their message at the strategic level. Secondly, it communicates that story to both consumer and business press.
Most agencies start with media outreach. Derris Fashion PR starts with the narrative itself.
Furthermore, this model has produced measurably impressive results.
Since 2013, Derris has successfully launched and scaled over 25 brands from zero to over one billion dollars in enterprise value.
Today, Derris operates as part of Orchestra, a network of eight leading communications agencies formed in March 2024 from the former BerlinRosen Holdings structure.
Jesse Derris serves as Chief Strategy Officer of Orchestra. The agency maintains offices in New York and London.
Who Is Derris? Understanding the Agency Model
Derris PR operates as a full-service brand strategy and communications agency.
However, its positioning is more precise than that description suggests.
Specifically, Derris Fashion PR describes itself as industry and stage-agnostic.
The agency works only with companies and causes it genuinely believes in, which is an unusual filter for a PR firm.
The agency currently employs about 96 people across its New York and London offices.
RSE Ventures, the firm founded by entrepreneur Matt Higgins, was an early investor, giving the agency access to entrepreneurial networks across sports, media, and consumer brands that would later define its client mix.
Additionally, in July 2022, BerlinRosen acquired a majority stake in Derris, bringing significant operational scale and expanded client capabilities.
Then in March 2024, BerlinRosen Holdings became Orchestra, a 600-person network of eight agencies with teams across 12 cities in North America and Europe.
Accordingly, Derris Fashion PR clients now access a broader communications infrastructure without losing the boutique-agency attention the firm built its identity around.
Key Derris Facts
- Founded: 2013, New York City
- Founders: Jesse Derris, Chief Strategy Officer of Orchestra; Lisa Frank
- Staff: Approximately 96 employees
- Offices: New York, London
- Network: Part of Orchestra (formerly BerlinRosen Holdings) since 2024
- Orchestra scale: 600 employees across 8 agencies in 12 cities
- Investor: RSE Ventures (early backer)
- Notable milestone: 25-plus brands scaled from zero to over $1 billion in enterprise value
What Derris Fashion PR Core Services
Derris Fashion PR offers a full-service brand strategy and communications model that goes well beyond traditional media pitching.
Brand Strategy and Messaging: Derris starts every client relationship at the message level.
The agency builds brand narratives, positioning frameworks, and voice guidelines before a single journalist pitch goes out.
For consumer and media brands, this upstream thinking produces more coherent, durable communications than tactic-led approaches.
Media Relations: Consumer and Business Press. The Derris Fashion PR team targets both consumer lifestyle media and business press.
This dual coverage model is valuable for brands that need both cultural credibility with consumers and commercial credibility with investors and partners.
Publications such as Vogue, The New York Times, TechCrunch, and Bloomberg fall within Derris’s Entertainment PR target range.
Content and Creative: Derris built a Content and Creative division that develops brand creative from the ground up. This includes brand identity work, campaign assets, and creative strategy. Consequently, clients avoid the friction of coordinating separate creative and PR agencies on the same campaign.
Influencer Marketing: The agency launched a dedicated Influencer Marketing division in 2022 and 2023 to meet client demand and reinforce its reputation as a one-stop communications shop for consumer brands.
Experiential and Events Through In-Person, a joint venture with hospitality leaders, Derris Fashion PR, creates temporary and permanent retail experiences. This experiential capability extends brand storytelling into physical, in-person environments that simultaneously generate earned media and social content.
Project Mercury: Derris launched Project Mercury with Mythology to provide brand agency services specifically to emerging businesses led by Black founders. This initiative reflects the agency’s commitment to diversity, both within its team and within its client roster.
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Honest Assessment: Strengths and Weaknesses
Strengths
- Proven DTC brand-building track record. Over 25 brands scaled from zero to more than $1 billion in enterprise value, providing verified, remarkable evidence of commercial impact.
- Narrative-first model. Starting with strategy before tactics produces more coherent, lasting brand stories than reactive PR approaches.
- Dual consumer and business press coverage. Few agencies serve both audiences with equal credibility.
- Orchestra network access. Clients benefit from a 600-person network across 12 cities without sacrificing boutique attention.
- Integrated creative, influencer, and experiential divisions. Brands avoid costly multi-agency coordination by keeping more work in-house at Derris.
- Diverse client roster by design. The 43% BIPOC leadership figure and Project Mercury initiative reflect genuine values, not performative positioning.
Weaknesses
- Not a sector specialist. For brands that need deep expertise in cybersecurity, pharma, or financial services, Derris Fashion PR is not designed for that work.
- Premium positioning. The caliber of the client roster suggests pricing accessible to funded, growth-stage brands rather than early, pre-revenue startups.
- Orchestra integration is still recent. The March 2024 rebrand from BerlinRosen Holdings to Orchestra is relatively new. Accordingly, how that network structure affects Derris Entertainment’s day-to-day PR account service is still evolving.
- Glassdoor reviews have historically noted concerns about internal cliques and workplace dynamics. These are worth exploring before signing.
Who Is Derris Fashion PR Best For?
Choose Derris Fashion PR if:
- You run a founder-led, consumer-facing brand that needs both cultural credibility and commercial media coverage
- You are in DTC, lifestyle, fashion, beauty, wellness, media, or entertainment and need a narrative-first PR strategy
- You want an integrated brand strategy, creative, influencer, and PR from one agency relationship
- Your brand is at a stage where story definition matters as much as press placement
- You need access to a 600-person communications network via Orchestra for complex multi-market campaigns
Derris is not the right fit if:
- You need specialist sector PR in healthcare, financial services, cybersecurity, or B2B tech
- You are a pre-revenue startup with a sub-$5,000 monthly PR budget
- You want a purely tactical media relations agency without a strategic layer
Pricing
Derris Fashion PR does not publish pricing publicly.
Based on its 96-person team, elite DTC client roster, and New York and London office footprint, retainers for foundational brand strategy and communications programs are estimated to start at $10,000 to $20,000 per month.
Before engaging, ask specifically which division leads your account, who manages your day-to-day relationship, and how the Orchestra network integration affects your campaign execution.
Questions About Derris Fashion PR
What is Derris known for? Derris Fashion PR is best known for launching and scaling DTC consumer brands including Warby Parker, Harry’s, Glossier, SKIMS, and Everlane. The agency has scaled over 25 brands from zero to more than $1 billion in enterprise value since its founding in 2013.
Is Derris based in Brooklyn? Derris is headquartered in New York City. While the agency has Brooklyn cultural associations through its DTC and founder-led brand identity, its registered office is in Manhattan. It also maintains a London office.
Who owns Derris now? Derris has operated as part of Orchestra, formerly BerlinRosen Holdings, since March 2024. Jesse Derris serves as Chief Strategy Officer of Orchestra. The network includes eight agencies and more than 600 employees across 12 cities in North America and Europe.
Does Derris Fashion PR work with media and entertainment brands? Yes. Derris Fashion PR works with brands across consumer lifestyle, media, entertainment, and tech sectors. Its industry-agnostic model means it evaluates clients on cultural fit and brand potential rather than sector category.
Is Derris good for startups? Derris Fashion PR works with companies from early-stage to publicly traded. However, its narrative-first, strategy-led model is best suited to brands that have defined a product and market and need communications to build cultural credibility alongside commercial media coverage.
How much does Derris charge? Derris Fashion PR does not publish pricing. Based on its profile, retainers are estimated to start at $10,000 to $20,000 per month for foundational programs.
Making the Right Choice
Derris Fashion PR occupies a specific and valuable position in the US communications market. It is not the biggest agency.
It is not the most globally distributed.
However, it is one of the most credible brand-building communications firms for founder-led, consumer-facing businesses that need narrative strategy alongside media execution.
The 25-plus brands scaled from zero to over $1 billion in enterprise value is a number that demands attention.
Additionally, the integration into Orchestra gives Derris Fashion PR network scale that it could not previously offer on its own.
For DTC, lifestyle, consumer tech, and media brands at a growth stage where story matters as much as tactics, Derris Fashion PR is worth a serious conversation.
Go in understanding what you are buying: a narrative-first, strategy-led communications partner, not a purely tactical press machine.
