One from the Mailbag: Wardrobe for Spec Editorials

Here's an email I received that I thought might be of general interest to folks.  Chris writes:

"Hey I have a question on putting an editorial spec together, this is something I'd love to do- I have talked to some people about it and also caught your blog about it - but it seems the biggest challenge is pulling current season clothing without magazine backing, how do you approach this, or do you go with a more abstract idea that doesn't focus on brand clothes? Do you talk to editors to see what sort of editorials they would be interested in or just go with an idea you like?"