INDESIGN PROJECT Alexandre Raymond
Fashion marketing & communication, Level 5, 2020-21 5FAMK003C Visual and video techniques CWK1
Teacher: Nicolas Godon 1
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INDEX RESEARCH
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EDITORIAL BRIEF
20-26
EDITORIAL PREVIEW 27-33 LOOKBOOK
34-41
MINISITE
42-45
BIBLIOGRAPHY
46-47
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WEAR YOUR FREEDOM
Corporate Profile w
The brand was created in Tokyo by Rei Kawakubo in 1969, inspired by popular clothes and a Japanese custom: sashiko, consisting of extending the life of clothes by reinforcing or sewing several layers. Comparable to patchwork, a recurring pattern in the Comme des Garçons collections even today. Kawakubo for her first show in Paris in 1981, broke the codes by exhibiting a collection of black and asymmetrical clothes that went against the aesthetic, “anti fashion was born”. Very innovative for her time, Kawabuko was very criticized by the fashion world at that time for this totally new style which did not correspond to the criteria of Western or Asian fashion.
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In 2002, the Comme des Garรงons play clothing line was launched, Rei Kawakubo authorised more authentic and streetwear clothing from her brand where each piece is signed with the heart logo with the eyes.The brand became more famous of the public, collaborates with major streetwear brands such as Supreme with whom it has already collaborated more than 10 times but also Nike or Lacoste, even with luxury brands like Louis Vuitton. Comme des Garรงons had a big impact on fashion culture and the way the clothes were purchased. The brand now has more than 200 stores around the
world, the first store opened in Tokyo in 1975 and Rei Kawakubo who will come to settle her brand in France in the following years will open her first store in 1982 in Paris, the brand then established itself. in the various big cities of the world. The brand has always been innovative whether in terms of design or communication.Today the brand is modern with always a punk style but has added more colours and futuristic style to its collections. Rei Kawakubo also invites Japanese designers to draw for his brand and to create their own lines under the Comme des Garรงons brand.
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Market Position Even though Comme des Garรงons started as a Luxury brand Comme des garรงons has also diversified its products lines into different sectors such as streetwear and has now more than 30 products lines overall.By reaching a wider audience, Comme des Garรงons competes with a large panel of brand from streetwear to luxury fashion brands such as Kenzo, Clothing, Supreme, Issey Miyake, Louis Vuitton, Maison Margiela,Yohji Yamamoto. The brand is one of the few that remains completely independent still today.The company chose the brands it wants to work with. As Louis Vuitton, which now has Virgil Abloh and brings a streetwear side to luxury clothing, Comme des Garรงons has already this culture for twenty years, particularly with these collaborations with Nike, Supreme and even Converse. The Brand creator remains a mystery Rei Kawakubo hardly ever giving an interview to the media and remains private about her private life. The Comme des Garรงons culture is leaded by the fact that the brand is completly independent and forge their uniqueness trough creation but also by collaborations with artists and their influence in the art world.
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G N I K N I H T AND DOING Current Situation
Going back to the brand’s first successes, particularly anti-fashion, can show what the brand has brought to the fashion world, for me, what made the essence of Rei Kawabuko’s fame is the new style that it brought to fashion, but also its openness to different cultures such as streetwear, the brand can therefore create a collection starting from its origin but while remaining in the air of our time. Adapted from what was anti-fashion from the 80’s to today’s 20’s.
Comme des Garçons is now a famous brand in the fashion industry, however, the brand’s history is not necessarily known to the general public.During the 1980s, Comme des Garçons clothing was often monochromatic or asymmetrical. The label was often associated with a “punk” image. Today, we can find many more colors and a more futuristic style in the different collections.
As a anti-fashion and rebellious brand personality ,the new collection will be back to their basic and taking his inspiration from iconic pieces of Comme des Garçons, it will have a very asymmetrical style while keeping the iconic colors of the brand which are red, white and black.
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Communication Background We also find the unique style of Comme des Garçons in the way it communicates compared to other brands. Indeed, since its creation, the brand has gone off the beaten track in term of visual communication. Comme des Garçons with its “underground” communication Comme des Garçons seeks to distinguish itself from other brands by offering above all an identity specific to customers through their creation.
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MAGAZINE Between 1988 and 1992, COMME des GARÇONS made a biannual magazine series named Six which was about the theme of the sixth sense.Helped by graphic designer Tsuguya Inoue for artistic direction and Atsuko Kozasu for editorial the magazine was only in black and white with an A4 format, it was used to launched the new collections of Comme des GARÇONS. There was no real meanings,designs or structure layout in Six magazines, and there was mostly abstract illustrations, and black and white photography.
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ADVERTISING Also Comme des Garรงons has used different print advertising campaigns in their history, some that still remains iconic. If we compare the different advertising campaigns of the brand,We find in the advertising posters of Comme des Garรงons the characteristic of the clothing lines: an asymmetry in their light / filtered typography. Additionally, advertising posters are often used with poetry and meanings,references to art in their various posters.
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n i e v e I L E B r e t t e b a w o r r o m to
An inconic print advertising of the brand representing evokes the sunflowers of the painter Van Gogh who had a great admiration for Japanese art, indeed some of their slogan use japanese typographicv. The source of inspiration for their poster is mainly poetry and art.Here the communication style of Comme des Garรงons differs from that of others luxury fashion brands. Most of the photos have not been edited and some of them even seemed closer to a style of reportage than fashion photography.
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LOGO Another visual aspect of the brand is also its famous “heartâ€? as logo. Create in 2002 and very easily recognizable, it is now part of the visual culture of the brand and it has allowed to expand the visual colors of the brand, very anchored in the dark this logo created the inspiration for more light color such as the red for the brand visual communication. Used several times this logo is quite important because it has allowed the brand to show a different image by offering simpler and more structured visual designs,far from the obscure and unstructured creations of Rei Kawakubo. Today it is the most widespread and accessible line. these simple designs available in many colors this allowed Comme des Garçons to gain success otherwise than what the brand was known for, even if it meant making it forgotten at the base: black and asymmetrical.
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LOOKBOOK Finally, Comme des Garรงons own also a minimalist aproach in their visual communication. Staying with black and white colors, the lookbook can be considered as a fake minimalist lookbook.The book is binded within a simple design, it plays with 4 differents size fonts within the letters pressed into the paper. A certain code is proposed to show each reference for garments in the lookbook, Comme des Garรงons plays with the template and the visual aspect and make it look as technical and factory product.
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Y G R E N E Y M M O R F S COME M O D E E R F THE MESSAGE
ple can express their personality on a daily basis as they wish. The brand focuses mainly on the fact that it is independent but also quite unique in the world of fashion and its identity should remain intact.With the new collection “ill-shaped” Comme des Garçons it will show the values embodied since always by the brand through all iconic revisited clothes but also by their past collaborations.
Comme des Garçons is characterized by being a brand that thinks outside the box of fashion, whether by these creations of these collections but also by its way of communicating.The clothing brand is not only there to create beauty but also a status, by wearing the Comme des Garçons brand peo-
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TARGET MARKET & OBJECTIVES Overall, the brand reaches those with a sense of art but also of urban culture. Indeed, with these different collaborations with major streetwear brands, the brand reaches a fairly large audience ranging from 15 to 50 years old. With a foothold in streetwear but also in luxury, the brand is known to a wide audience and some of these products remain affordable for the majority of its target customers. The brand now has more than 200 stores around the world and is established on all continents. However, the brand remains attached to its history, so Europe and Japan remain the first markets to which the brand is attached. The objectives with this new collection are to raise awareness towards customers about the history of the brand while keeping their uniquene and indepedant side.
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WHAT NOT TO DO Comme des Garรงons must remain a unique but also contemporary brand, however the collection must adapt to the new era and not simply copy these iconic pieces. Standing out from the big luxury fashion brands remains the priority for this collection, the essence of Rei kawakubo must be found on this collection. They must keep their uniqueness by not falling into the mainstreams design of its luxury brand concurency it must mainly avoid classical shapes.
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WHERE TO LOOK FO To present the collection, inspiration must be find with the past collection of the brand but also from the collaboration with other brand. Also, the brand must be inspired as it has always done with modern art and poetry such as its communication for the new collection.
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OR INSPIRATION Additionnaly, Kenzo can be take as an inspirational sources with their restructured design but also with their Japanese influence in their garmenwvts. Finally, the brand can also find its inspiration trough the asymmetrical style while keeping the iconic colors of the brand which are white, red and black.
G N I K N I H T AND DOING
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THE EDITO
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RIAL BRIEF
Based on the new collection “ill-shaped”, the editorial is a key element in transcribing the visual communication. To do this, the visual work of the editorial must correspond to the requirements of Comme des Garçons. The editorial “Play with lines” will be based on an inspiration of the iconic pieces of the Comme des Garçons brand but most and above all on the anti-fashion style of the 80s, the artistic direction must be transcribed as being again avant-garde by offering the iconic colors of Comme des Garçons: red,black and white. Also by playing on asymmetrical and chiaroscuro in the visual, it must bring a certain poetry and meanings. The direction of the editorial must transcribe a poetry and uniqueness, it must show an exclusive side in the photos but above all play with visual codes with several illustrations and very dark backgrounds while playing on reference to the story of Comme des Garçons.
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THE STYLIST The stylist chosen for the editorial part will be Katie Shillingford, a British stylist and fashion director. She made her styling debut with Gareth Pugh and worked as a fashion director with Dazed, Confused Magazine and Another Magazine. She has worked with leading fashion photographers such as Nick Knight, Paolo Roversi. Katie Shillingford has already collaborated with Comme des
Garรงons, her experience will help instill creativity to best bring out clothes in a way that makes them the most fashionable and attractive in the eyes of readers. She has also worked and collaborated as a stylist with opera and ballets which will help show the poetic side on the visual. Finally, the clothes chosen will be high quality clothes with great finishes, unstructured shapes and without necessarily useful use for pratical activity, the clothes must above all offer an alternative vision in fashion.
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MODEL CASTING 4 models will be chosen for the editorial “Play with lines” :
Roos Abels
So Ra Choi
Grace Hartzel
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Natalie Westling
MAKEUP & HAIR Englishwoman Lucia Pieroni and her team will be make-up and hairstylist for this editorial. She has worked with big names in the fashion industry such as the Givenchy brand and Vogue magazine. The makeup will be based on artistic and geometric shapes and the haircuts will be based on very futuristic hairstyles inspired by hairstyles that humans may have in the future.
PREPARATION The shooting will take place on January 6th, 2020 at 1 p.m. The editorial photos will be shot in a large photography studio in Paris. The different facilities and garments will be available 2 weeks in advance. All the models and the make-up team will be 5 hours before the start of the shoot to allow the photographer and stylist to lead the artistic direction.
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ART DIRECTION A spread of 7 outfits and a black background will be shot. and It is the photographer Paolo Roversi who will shoot for the editorial. He has been closely linked with Comme des Garรงons and Rei kawakubo for more than 30 years, the two have a complicity in their work, he will show the beauty and the mystery of Comme des Garรงons which has accompanied the brand for years. He is the most suitable to best adapt all the essence of the brand: poetry and a unique philosophy through these photographs.
S S E L D N E THE POWER K C A L B F O The photographs will be characterized by capturing the emotion emanating from the models as well. The models will be directing in such a way that they are as emotional as possible and correspond to the meanings of poetry wanted for the editorial.
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POST-SHOOTING The photographer will have to retouch the photographs by adding different type of effect on the raw pictures, first he will have to cut the picture in half to make an asymetrical aspect, also he has to add some gaussian blur effect and noise on the photographs. Finally, he must play with the different light and white balance of the picture to make the photographs a chiaroscuro effect.
LAYOUT INSPIRATION
EDITORIAL PREVIEW 26
PLAY WIth LINES
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Photographer : Paolo Roversi Stylist : Katie Shillingford Model : So Ra Choi Make up and hair : Lucia Pieroni
Photographer : Paolo Roversi Stylist : Katie Shillingford Model : Roos Abels Make up and hair : Lucia Pieroni
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Photographer : Paolo Roversi Stylist : Katie Shillingford Model : So Ra Choi Make up and hair : Lucia Pieroni
Photographer : Paolo Roversi Stylist : Katie Shillingford Model : Roos Abels Make up and hair : Lucia Pieroni
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Photographer : Paolo Roversi Stylist : Katie Shillingford Model : Grace Hartzel Make up and hair : Lucia Pieroni
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Photographer : Paolo Roversi Stylist : Katie Shillingford Model : Natalie Westling Make up and hair : Lucia Pieroni
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Photographer : Paolo Roversi Stylist : Katie Shillingford Model : Grace Hartzel Make up and hair : Lucia Pieroni
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LOOKBOOK
The lookbook of the new collection is following the past visual design of Comme des Garçons given that the new collection is inspired by the history of the brand following the idea of the theme asymetrical black,white and red clothes, as a professional entity the lookbook of the season summer spring 2021 will present the collection “ill-shaped”. In order to follow the communication background of Comme des Garçons, the lookbook will have the approach of a fake minimalist lookbook.The cover play with the different font size furthermore the red corner of the cover picture will be pressed “inside” the paper of the page. Finally the book show the picture accompany of code specially create for this collection to reference the outfits.
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COMME DES GARCONS REI KAWAKUBO * LOOKBOOK : S/S21-SW
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S/S-SW AS-15
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S/S-SW AS-16
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S/S-SW AS-17
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S/S-SW AS-18
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S/S-SW AS-19
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S/S-SW AS-20 41
MINISITE
The purpose of the minisite is to propose an ephemeral website that will be available 1 year. The idea behind this pop up website is to create an interest for the new collection inspired by all the past history of Comme des Garçons.To do so, a restropective exhibition call “Back to the source” will take place during the year following 2021 the different city will be : Paris, London,Shangai, Tokyo and New York. The visitors will be allowed to discover the description of the place of where the exhibition will take place for instance in Paris the Louvre musuem but also different photographs of the pieces presented inside accompagned also with a description of the key moments of Comme des Garçons history. Website link : www.cdgraymondalexandre.wordpress.com
HOMEPAGE
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EXHIBITION In the exhibition section, the five different citys were the retrospective will take place during the year link to an article about the description of the exhibition place chosen for the city. Different information such as the description of the place, sanitary mesure imposed for the evenement are available and finally a buying section is put in place in order to purchase the ticket.
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GALLERY In the gallery section, a glymps of what the vistors of the exhibition will have access is available: dIfferent photographs retracing the historical moments of the brand such as the iconic advertising, their past collaboration with other luxury and streetwear brand and the most important the picture of the garments exposed during the exhibition.
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HERITAGE To conlude, a short history within the key moments and the actual purpose of the brand is also explain in the section “HERITAGE” in order to attract the people who doesn’t know at all the history of the brand, it will give first taste and a detailed description of what the brand is doing nowadays.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY ARTICLES
7 Key Themes in Rei Kawakubo’s Career. (2017). The New York Times. [online] 28 Apr. Available at: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/28/t-magazine/fashion/rei-kawakubocomme-des-garcons-themes.html. Arena Martínez. (2019). Anti-fashion and the avant garde: Is Rei Kawakubo fashion’s greatest artist? - Arena Martínez - Online boutique. [online] Available at: https://www. arenamartinez.com/en/blog/anti-fashion-and-the-avant-garde-is-rei-kawakubo-fashions-greatest-artist. elle.fr. (n.d.). Comme des garçons : l’histoire mode de la marque, ses derniers défilés - Elle. [online] Available at: https://www.elle.fr/Mode/Les-defiles-de-mode/Comme-Des-Garcons [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. HIGHXTAR. (2020). Decoding Rei Kawakubo’s anti-fashion. [online] Available at: https://highxtar.com/decoding-rei-kawakubos-anti-fashion/?lang=en [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Martyna_Gliniecka/publication/311707865_Japaneseness_in_Comme_des_Garcons_Fashion_Advertising/links/58563aa808ae77ec3707bea4/Japaneseness-in-Comme-des-Garcons-Fashion-Advertising.pdf. (n.d.). . https://www.vogue.fr/vogue-hommes/mode/diaporama/comme-des-garcons-ar-
chives-pubs-campagnes/26278. (n.d.). . shop.doverstreetmarket.com. (n.d.). Comme Des Garçons. [online] Available at: https://shop.doverstreetmarket.com/comme-des-garcons [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. Spin (2020). Junya Watanabe Comme des Garçons Man S/S21. [online] Spin. Available at: https://spin.co.uk/work/comme-des-gar%C3%A7ons-junya-watanabe-mans-s21 [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. TRENDLAND | Online Trend News. (2018). I-D Tribute Cover to Comme des Garçons by Mario Sorrenti. [online] Available at: https://trendland.com/i-d-tribute-cover-tocomme-des-garcons-by-mario-sorrenti/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. www.comme-des-garcons.com. (n.d.). COMME des GARÇONS. [online] Available at: https://www.comme-des-garcons.com/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020].
IMAGE
AnOther (2016). The Full Story: Comme des Garçons by Nick Knight. [online] AnOther. Available at: https://www.anothermag.com/fashion-beauty/9044/the-full-story-comme-des-garons-by-nick-knight [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. A visual history of Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garçons – in pictures. (2017). The Guardian. [online] 31 May. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/gallery/2017/may/31/a-visual-history-of-rei-kawakubo-for-comme-des-garcons-in-pictures#img-5 [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. Archive Fashion for the World | ARCHIVE.pdf. (n.d.). Archive Fashion Scans: Comme des Garcons | ARCHIVE.pdf. [online] Available at: https://www.archivepdf.net/comme-des-garcons [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. Behance (n.d.). COMME DES GARÇONS: the brand’s philosophy. [online] Behance. Available at: https://www.behance.net/gallery/61490297/COMME-DES-GARCONS-the-brands-philosophy [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. BN Style. (2017). Meet the African Cast of Pirelli’s 2018 “Alice in Wonderland” Themed Calendar. [online] Available at: https://www.bellanaijastyle.com/pirelli-2018-calendar-black-cast-alice-wonderland/.
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Complex. (n.d.). The 25 Most Awesome COMME des GARÇONS Ads. [online] Available at: https://www.complex.com/style/2013/01/the-25-most-awesome-commedes-garons-ads/. Donlon Books. (n.d.). Six Complete Set of 8 by Comme des Garcons. [online] Available at: https://donlonbooks.com/products/six-complete-set-of-8-by-commes-desgarcons [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. FashionModelDirectory.com, T.F.- (n.d.). Editorials of Comme Des Garcons - Fashion Brand | Brands | The FMD. [online] The FMD - FashionModelDirectory.com. Available at: https://www.fashionmodeldirectory.com/brands/comme-des-garcons/editorials/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. joiamagazine.com. (n.d.). Así era SIX, la revista de Comme des Garçons | JOIA Magazine. [online] Available at: https://joiamagazine.com/asi-era-six-la-revista-de-commedes-garcons/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. Kloster, C. (2020a). Yohji Yamamoto Muses Throughout History. [online] CR Fashion Book. Available at: https://www.crfashionbook.com/fashion/g34163179/yohji-yamamoto-muses-throughout-history/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. Kloster, C. (2020b). Yohji Yamamoto Muses Throughout History. [online] CR Fashion Book. Available at: https://www.crfashionbook.com/fashion/g34163179/yohji-yamamoto-muses-throughout-history/. Nast, C. (n.d.). The 2017 Met Gala Theme Will Be Comme des Garçons’s Rei Kawakubo. [online] Vogue. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/met-gala2017-theme-rei-kawakubo-comme-des-garcons. Pinterest. (n.d.). Bruce Weber for Comme des Garçons, 1980 | Fashion, Turning japanese, Comme des garcons. [online] Available at: https://br.pinterest.com/ pin/341710690469982214/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020a]. Pinterest. (n.d.). Comme des Garcons Fall 1982 | Rei kawakubo, Fashion, Fashion history. [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.es/pin/452259987556134608/. Pinterest. (n.d.). Comme des Garcons S/S 1982 | Rei kawakubo, Editorial fashion, 80s fashion trends. [online] Available at: https://www.pinterest.es/ pin/344595808986037201/ [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020c]. Sayej, N. (2017). unseen photographs of rihanna, by paolo roversi. [online] i-D. Available at: https://i-d.vice.com/en_uk/article/434vbn/unseen-photographs-of-rihanna-by-paolo-roversi. Schorr, C. (2019). Exclusiva: la primera entrevista a Nathan Westling. [online] i-D. Available at: https://i-d.vice.com/es/article/pajp7z/nathan-westling-entrevista [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. Vogue. (2013). Comme des Garçons. [online] Available at: https://www.vogue.es/ moda/modapedia/marcas/comme-des-garcons/255 [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. Vogue Paris. (n.d.). Chanel Croisière 2020 - Défilés. [online] Available at: https://www. vogue.fr/defiles/croisiere-2020/chanel [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. Wikipedia. (2020). Paolo Roversi (photographe). [online] Available at: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paolo_Roversi_(photographe) [Accessed 16 Dec. 2020]. www.commedesgarconslovers.com. (n.d.). COMME des GARÇONS. [online] Available at: https://www.commedesgarconslovers.com/catalogue/. www.juxtapoz.com. (n.d.). Juxtapoz Magazine - Katsuhiro Otomo/Nobrow for Comme des Garcons. [online] Available at: https://www.juxtapoz.com/news/katsuhiro-otomo-nobrow-for-comme-des-garcons/.
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