Consumer and lifestyle · National
How to get featured in Refinery29
How to get featured in Refinery29: what its editors cover for millennial and Gen Z women, how freelance pitches work, and the honest route for brands.
- Website
- refinery29.com
- Lead time
- News and trend pieces: days to weeks. Seasonal shopping and gift content: typically planned one to three months ahead.
- Last verified
At a glance
Audience. Millennial and Gen Z women interested in beauty, fashion, money, relationships, wellness, and culture.
- Beauty
- Fashion
- Work and money
- Relationships and sex
- Wellness
- Entertainment and culture
- Shopping
- Staff reporting
- Editors and staff writers cover beauty, fashion, money, wellness, relationships, and culture, often through personal voice, trend reporting, and identity-focused features.
- Contributed articles
- Refinery29 commissions freelance writers rather than publishing brand-contributed posts. Its published pitch guidelines (for its international editions) describe personal essays, reported trend pieces, and features.
- Opinion and op-eds
- Personal essays and first-person pieces are pitched as freelance stories. There is no separate op-ed submission channel for brands or executives.
- Press releases
- Releases are not published. Product news reaches readers through editors' roundups and trend stories, which favor products with a clear story and diverse founders.
Pitching Refinery29, step by step
Read Refinery29's recent coverage in your category to learn its voice, which is personal, conversational, and culturally specific.
Find the editor for your section from recent bylines; Refinery29 does not publish a US PR pitch inbox.
Pitch a story, not a product: a trend, a founder's perspective, a reader problem, with the product as one part of it.
Include diverse expert sources and founders; Refinery29's guidelines emphasize amplifying under-represented voices.
Keep the pitch to a paragraph with a working headline, and follow up once.
How Refinery29 decides what to cover
Refinery29 writes for millennial and Gen Z women across beauty, fashion, money, relationships, wellness, and culture. Its voice is personal and conversational, and its coverage leans on lived experience, trend reporting, and identity. Stories frequently come from a writer’s own perspective, and editors look for angles that reflect a diverse readership.
The company has gone through ownership changes and cutbacks in recent years, including the closure of its UK office reported in 2025. Staff and section structures may change, so check current bylines before pitching anyone.
How to pitch Refinery29
Refinery29 does not publish a US PR pitch inbox or a brand submission process. Its published pitch guidelines, from its Canadian and Australian editions, are aimed at freelance writers and ask for a single email with a working headline, a short outline, a proposed word count, who you would interview, and why it matters. Those guidelines also note that product roundups are rarely assigned outside regular contributors.
For brands, that sets the realistic route. Identify the editor covering your area from recent bylines and pitch a story your product belongs in: a trend you can document, a founder with a perspective worth hearing, a reader problem your category solves. Keep it to one paragraph, offer expert sources, and include founders and experts from varied backgrounds, which the guidelines explicitly value.
Contributed articles and op-eds
Refinery29 does not publish contributed articles from brands. It commissions freelance writers for essays, reported pieces, and features. An executive with a strong personal story could, in principle, work with a freelance writer who pitches it, but the editorial decision rests with Refinery29’s editors.
Frequently asked questions
Can you pay to be featured in Refinery29?
Editorial coverage is not for sale. Advertising and branded content are handled commercially and labeled separately.
Does Refinery29 accept guest posts?
No brand guest posts. It accepts pitches from freelance writers.
Who should I pitch at Refinery29?
The editor covering your category, found through recent bylines. There is no general US PR inbox.
A PR-led agency pitches Refinery29 with a reader-first story and the right voices around a product, not a launch announcement. Our media relations work is built around that kind of angle development.
Mistakes that get pitches ignored
- Product-only pitches for roundups, which are mostly assigned to regular contributors
- Generic press releases with no angle for its audience
- Mass pitching many editors with the same email
- Ignoring the outlet's emphasis on inclusive sourcing
Keep going
Related outlets
Sources for this profile (2)
- Refinery29 Canada: How to pitch Refinery29 (writer guidelines)
- Press Gazette: Refinery29 closes UK office and lays off journalists
Profiles describe public editorial processes and are reviewed periodically. Digitize is not affiliated with Refinery29. Spot something out of date? Email [email protected].