VA L K Y RI E C R E AT I V E S T R AT E GY
VALKYRIE In norse mythology, a Valkyrie is “one of a host of female figures who choose those who may die in battle and those who may live.�
VALKYRIE
CONCEPT
2
RATIONALE
4
TARGET AUDIENCE
6
the average day of a valkyrie
8
MARKET ANALYSIS 10
CONTENTS
a timeline of the women’s streetwear movement geographical distribution the baesment: analysis hypebae: analysis
12 16 18 20
COMPETITORS 22 stussy biannual
22
patta women’s editorial
24
CONTENT 26
BUDGET AND LOGISTICS 28 expenditure
29
DISTRIBUTION 31 ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 32 RISK ASSESSMENT 33 TIMELINE 34
CONCEPT Valkyrie is a creative agency and style bible for the lost, confused, misrepresented Valkyries* of the world, attempting to unite strong minded street style females. In a series of printed publications, with a lack of style inspiration for females in street clothing, Valkyrie aims to inspire the girls of streetwear today through photography, styling and creative direction. *IN NORSE MYTHOLOGY, A VALKYRIE IS “ONE OF A HOST OF FEMALE FIGURES WHO CHOOSE THOSE WHO MAY DIE IN BATTLE AND THOSE WHO MAY LIVE.”
2
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
1. To remove the stigma attached when women wear street wear brands such as Palace, Supreme and Thrasher. The assumption is often made that they may be wearing their brother’s or boyfriend’s clothes.
2.
To inspire women to be more confident and expressive in street wear.
3.
To inspire street wear brands to regularly involve women in campaigns and look books, providing style inspiration to women as much as they do to men.
4.
To challenge the “menswear” label that street wear brands hold and challenge gender identities within this culture. Essentially allowing street wear to be viewed as unisex instead of menswear.
why now? When conducting a survey on street culture, 78% of females stated they did not feel comfortable expressing themselves because they felt intimated. With street wear being seen as a mainly male dominated culture, girls may often find it difficult, impossible or intimidating fit into this culture. When choosing to wear street wear brands, the assumption is often made that they may be wearing their brother’s or boyfriend’s clothes. Although the amount of young professionals attempting to close the street wear gender gap is increasing, there are very few street wear brands showcasing unisex/female look books. By not creating these, brands automatically exclude 50% of the population, hindering brand revenue, company growth and culture growth.
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RATIONALE
WHAT IS THE PURPOSE? In a recently conducted survey, over 90% stated they felt like female supportive platforms such as The Baesment are necessary in order for females to truly express themselves.
POLITICAL With feminism and the empowerment of women being a substantial topic in today’s society, Valkyrie aims for positivity, equality and acceptance in the streetwear culture, allowing females to easily express themselves and feel more comfortable in their environment.
ECONOMIC Making street wear more accessible for girls will essentially widen street wear brands target audience and will have a positive impact on brands sales without attracting the wrong crowd.
SOCIAL Street wear culture can be deemed as the closest thing to a form of subculture in today’s society, the essence of community that the culture holds will only be able to expand and evolve by emphasizing the involvement of women. Much like the non conformist feel that Dr. Martens holds and plays on with branding, street wear holds a feel of exclusivity. According to Mintel, “street fashion is becoming more important, with young people more likely to be influenced by what other people are wearing out and about rather than by popular culture such as magazines.” (Mintel, Youth Fashion 2014)
TECHNOLOGICAL Technology is constantly evolving at a high rate, meaning the usage, importance and dependence on social media is growing. Valkyrie’s target market is a strong, creative community who enjoy aspects of online community and real life.
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TARGET AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE GENDER: Female
AGE RANGE: 16-30
POLITICAL VIEW: Left wing, liberal
SOCIAL CLASS: Working class/Low-middle class
LIFE STAGE: Sixth Form College/University/ Young Professionals
LOCATION: London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Amsterdam, Berlin. Urban, enjoys the city lifestyle.
HER PERSONALITY She is independent, opinionated, a feminist, forward thinking, She is part of a new era; a Valkyrie. An animal advocate due to possessing strong morals. It is likely that she is interested in vegetarian/veganism. If she is not vegetarian, she is always on hunt for a better burger. She would rather eat street food than a Michellin star meal. She would rather buy a pair of Yeezy’s than a pair of Louboutins. She likes originality and being in the know. She is a leader or an early majority. She is sociable, an extrovert.
HER STYLE AND FAVOURITE BRANDS She is comfortable and interested in cultural influences, buying from brands such as Supreme, The North Face, Palace, Stussy, Patta, Thrasher, Carhartt, A Bathing Ape, Patagonia, Comme des Garcons, Neighborhood, WTAPS. Sportswear brands such as Adidas, Nike, Puma and Champion are also influential style brands. Mintel suggests that “over half of consumers buy sports clothing and footwear for leisurewear rather than for participating in a sport.”
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THE AVERAGE DAY OF A VALKYRIE Her alarm buzzes. It’s 10am, London GMT, and she’s already hit snooze twice. Pulling herself out of bed, coffee and tobacco are the first things on her mind. She heads to the kitchen to her espresso machine, hand rolls herself a cigarette and creates a breakfast of poached eggs and avocado on toast to start the day – with a blob of Heinz ketchup on the side to keep it real. The average Valkyrie reaps enjoyment out of a good breakfast. After breakfast, she decides it’s time to get ready and select an outfit. She is creative in all aspects including her style. More interested in clothing than makeup, she chooses from brands such as Supreme, Patta, Palace and Stussy and decides on a Patta t-shirt for an under layer, a simple Supreme box logo jumper and a pair of black wide leg trousers. The biggest decision is yet to be made - trainers. Planning to visit friends that day, she decides on limited edition collaboration. Asics x Ronnie Fieg Gel Lyte III Homage pack. Ready to start the day, she throws on a minimal, but expensive camel coat and her outfit is in some way colour coordinated - attention to detail - to dress for the weather. Last minute, she puts on a Palace five panel, keeping the ears warm, stylishly combining comfort and style. Her spare time daily activities include visiting independent skate and street stores, independent coffee shops and street food restaurants, skating, socialising, exploring London and photography: she is Instagram and social media savvy. Deciding to venture on a night out in London, the average Valkyrie enjoys independent bar drinking and the underground music scene. With an interest in UK bass, grime, garage, dubstep and hip-hop music, she attends clubs such as Fabric, XOYO, Oval Space, Studio 338 and Corsica. Her holiday choices are social events. International music festivals such as Outlook Festival based in Croatia, or city breaks in forward thinking and creative capitals such as Berlin, Amsterdam and Tokyo.
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MARKET ANALYSIS
“Street fashion is becoming more important, with young people more likely to be influenced by what other people are wearing out and about rather than by popular culture such as magazines.� (Mintel, Youth Fashion 2014)
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KEY FINDINGS When asking participants why they did not feel comfortable expressing themselves in street culture... *Results taken from a survey of The Baesment Members: Female aged 16-30
78%
52%
43%
of females stated they felt intimidated
of females stated they felt they were not being taken seriously
of females stated they felt sexualised
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A TIMELINE OF THE WOMEN’S STREETWEAR MOVEMENT The empowerment of women involved in street culture has rapidly risen since 2010 and is continuing to rise. With February 2016 welcoming the creation of website platform Hypebae, and Facebook’s The Basement’s sub forum, The Baesment, young professionals in the street wear industry are beginning to acknowledge the gender divide and provide solutions.
HIGHSNOBETTE Online and print street wear platform Highsnobiety attempted the creation of Highsnobette, a female driven platform in 2013. However, after further investigation, Highsnobette’s social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have not been updated since 2014 and the website highsnobette.com is now inactive.
2010 EVE WITHOUT ADAM: CREATIVE AGENCY AND ONLINE JOURNAL Founded by female collective, Michal Tesler and Mayra Fateh, Eve Without Adam aims to bridge the gender gap between brands and subcultures. Recently completing a collaboration with Carhartt, Eve Without Adam offers inspirational and forward thinking into creative direction for campaigns, photoshoots, styling, event production and promotion. With such successful clients like Adidas, Reebox, Nike, Vice and Highsnobiety, Eve Without Adam is influential to brands wanting to expand and open their minds to create new beginnings.
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NO BOYS ALLOWED SNEAKER STORE No Boys Allowed is a female sneaker store based in Amsterdam, specialising in providing limited edition sneakers in only women’s sizes. Due to the main street wear population being male, trainers can generally be quite difficult to get hold of. The store claims to have a welcoming and homely feel to it - something some street wear stores fail to hold. No Boys Allowed has grown as a store to exclusively release trainers from leading brands such as Nike, Asics and Puma.
2013 2011 THE UNISEX MODE The Unisex Mode, created by female collective Kitty Cowell and Juice Gee, is a streetwear fashion and lifestyle online blog. Regularly showcasing photoshoots of females in street menswear, The Unisex Mode aims to allow girls interested in street wear to showcase their style without the fear of being sexualised.
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PATTA: FIRST FEMALE EDITORIAL In 2013, Amsterdam based mens streetwear brand, Patta, began to recognise more and more females purchasing their clothing. The brand decided to cater for the female population and began releasing seasonal female exclusive editorial in their clothing.
MAHA MAHA is an Amsterdam based store aimed directly at women, as they describe women as “a demographic often left out of the equation in a world of sport-fashion which is generally geared towards men.” Ranging from selling global brands such as Vans and Stussy to independent brands such as Neige and Kiyoko. The store over all holds a minimal, clean and pleasing aesthetic.
2015 2013
FIRST CARHARTT WOMENS STORE The first ever Carhartt women’s store was opened in 2015. This opening shows a step towards equality and acceptance for women wanting to wear mens clothing. This bold movement highlights the positive direction these type of brands are heading in.
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THE BAESMENT In February 2016, The Baesment was created as a sub forum of The Basement. The forum’s aim is to offer a social media platform to allow girls to feel more comfortable and respected when wanting to discuss street wear. Being only exclusive to women, the creation of this platform allows women to share more relevant outfits to each other and give them more of an opportunity to feel part of a community. Recognition and praise towards The Baesment has been overwhelming by fellow women who wish to be part of this culture. Currently gathering under 1,000 members in just 3 weeks, The Baesment has the opportunity gather more and more likeminded females and strengthening the female street wear community.
2016
2016 HYPEBAE From the creators of HYPEBEAST, HYPEBAE is a fully female editorial driven website, allowing females to easily find relevant street wear information and imagery. Curating only female content, HYPEBAE is a step in the right direction.
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GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION KEY FINDINGS Globally, young professionals and entrepreneurs are attempting to tackle equality in the street industry with three different continents actively addressing the issue. • Amsterdam holds more female street wear stores than any other city and is the home to stores No Boys Allowed, Maha and On The Block aiming to make streetwear easily accessible for females. • Berlin is the home to the first ever women’s Carhartt store, as well as forward thinking, female supportive creative agency and online journal, Eve Without Adam. • Emphasis on streetwear community and blogs are more common in London. with blogs such as The Unisex Mode and female exclusive street wear community forum, The Baesment. • Hong Kong holds one of largest leading men’s street wear platform, Hypebeast and has recently created the female alternative version, Hypebae. • Other cities such as New York are focusing on rebranding clothing to design new street brands that the female street target audience would be interested in.
LONDON, UK The Unisex Mode The Baesment PAM PAM Women’s Sneaker Store
AMSTERDAM, NETHERLANDS Maha On the Block Webstore No Boys Allowed Sneaker store
HONG KONG Origin of Hypebae
NEW YORK, USA Tomboy BKLYN
BERLIN, GERMANY
Eve Without Adam First Women’s Carhartt Store
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M THE BAESMENT ANALYSIS
OF FEMALES STATED THEY
OF FEMALES STATED THAT
THINK PLATFORMS SUCH AS
THEY WERE NOT COMFORTABLE
THE BAESMENT ARE
POSTING IN THE BASEMENT
NECESSARY TO ALLOW GIRLS
BEFORE THE BAESMENT
TO TRULY EXPRESS THEMSELVES.
WAS CREATED.
During a focus group conducted on the opinion of The Baesment, the following comments, made from streetwear influenced females aged 16-30 were:
POSITIVE “It’s great to see how active all the girls are now in The Baesment, they’re way more comfortable sharing their outfits and opinions. It’s a great group to inspire and motivate each other.” “It’s nice to finally feel part of a community you thought was a little bit inaccessible.” “Girls supporting each other is really important: our generation of girls can be very nasty, jealous and unsupportive. A platform such as the Baesment encourages girls with a common interest to appreciate, help and support eachother.” “The girl-to-girl support is always encouraging and I think it gives everyone a lot more confidence. Everyone is benevolent and understanding. It is nice to have congenial company with girls that we don’t really know.”
NEUTRAL/NEGATIVE “I don’t think platforms such as The Baesment are necessary as such, though I do feel they help girls realise they can wear what they want. I feel it gives us all more confidence within our own particular style.” “I would rather it was unisex and everyone felt comfortable but it’s great to have a place girls feel open to be as interested as guys can be.”
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STRENGTHS • The Baesment holds a strong online social following, reaching 900 members in 3 weeks since it was established in February 2016. • Interactive social media platform. Girls are able to get involved without feeling judged based on gender. Connections can be made easily with like minded women. • The sense of community is strong. Having a social media group solely based on discussion, it is updated hourly with members starting discussions themselves. • Easy to join; no judgement is passed when joining. With seven administrators monitoring the group, any negativity or bullying will not be tolerated.
WEAKENESSES • Has potential to create segregation between genders. Girls will no longer contribute to the original Basement if this platform is around. • The name “Baesment” adds a cheap feel to the group. Does not seem as serious, can be interpreted as lazy. • A sub forum to The Basement, Baesment is not yet as respected as original street wear group • Currently solely online discussion, community could be strengthened through the creation of events. • May always feel like the shadow of The Basement.
OPPORTUNITIES • Easily accessible for people to get involved. Holds a global reach by being based on Facebook. • With links to The Basement, promotion will be easier for the Baesment essentially allowing the group to grow.
THREATS • Members that are already in other forums such as Supreme Talk UK/EU and The Basement, may not feel the need to move to join anymore groups.
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HYPEBAE ANALYSIS
“It just feels like gender segregation”
During a focus group conducted on the opinion of Hypebae, the following comments, made from streetwear influenced females aged 16-30 were:
POSITIVE “I don’t think it’s that deep. I don’t think there’s any deeper meaning to it, I genuinely believe that they noticed the recent increase of females wearing streetwear and wanted to create a platform to directly honour this. No reason to assume there are any negative intentions behind it. Hypebeast is such a “prolific” platform because it’s had the time and support to become such... No reason Hypebae can’t do the same! If anything, with the right backing/support/contribution, it has the potential to become even bigger than the original. I like it.”
NEUTRAL/NEGATIVE “I don’t like it, to me it just feels like more gender segregation, they should have just introduced more women models to the main ‘hypbebeast’ page, I don’t think this is helping anything, it’s still suggesting that there are women’s clothes and men’s clothes, instead of just clothes.” “I’m glad they’re recognising that women also like streetwear, but the site itself kind of doesn’t know what it wants to be and is currently just a little lazy (like the piece they did on skincare that was copied line by line from Refinery21). They just started so I’m hopeful that they will turn it into something really great, but it would be a shame if they got this platform and didn’t do anything interesting with it.” “Not really sure I’m feeling it... surely it makes sense to ‘empower women’ through Hypebeast which is such a prolific platform, rather than trying to separate us on a female specific website?” “I’m not digging the separation between males and females even though maybe that wasn’t their intention.”
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STRENGTHS • Fully female editorially driven, shining a positive light on women in the street wear industry. • Regularly updated website platform, maximising chances of exposure and generating internet traffic • Covers a wide range of information sectors, including fashion, lifestyle, health, beauty and entertainment.
WEAKENESSES • Has been described as a lazier version compared to Hypebeast, could have been executed better • Name seems unprofessional and a little over the top, potentially off putting as it doesn’t suggest to be taken seriously • Has potential to create a segregation between genders by creating two separate platforms. The company may have benefited by incorporating unisex news on the original platform, Hypebeast.
OPPORTUNITIES • Being already linked to Hypebeast allows Hypebae to maintain good networking connections • Being a sub website to Hypebeast, the website already holds a level of professionalism. • Hypebae is able exploit promotion, eventually increasing loyal following through cross exposure on Hypebeast.
THREATS • With Hypebae being based in Hong Kong, other competitors are based in more creative and like minded cities such as London and Tokyo, decreasing opportunities for that company.
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COMPETITORS: STÜSSY BI ANNUAL Volume 6. Saddle-bound, 96 pages, measuring 10-inches by 11.75-inches and printed in Canada.
THE BRAND Being one of only few street wear brands to designate a full womenswear clothing range and editorial previews, Stüssy is regarded as the most influential streetwear brand to exist. With an estimated brand value of $50 million, it has been a successful global brand for 36 years. Starting in the 1980’s, Stüssy has seen the beginning and end of several different subcultures, yet still remains strong in street culture.
f d c 1.1 million followers
190,000 followers *correct at the time of publishing
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719,402 followers
STRENGTHS • Stüssy is an internationally established brand, with a worth of $50 million, it is arguably regarded as the biggest influential brand in the street wear industry. Complex magazine rates it no. 1 in their list of 50 best streetwear brands. Other brands may look up to Stussy as a brand and follow in their footsteps. • Includes both women and men in the Stüssy bi-annual volumes instead of gender segregating an creating separate look books. This forms a sense of equality and community within the Stussy brand allowing it to be accessible to everyone. • Photography embodies cultural influences and locations, with a theme of ‘Around the World,’ the photography still manages to capture the Californian essence of the brand using sunshine, quality models and a relaxed approach to photo shoots. Includes a balanced mix of studio and location photography. • Bi-annual volume 6 includes interviews with influential people in the street industry as well as photography. By doing this, the bi-annual captures a characteristic and personal feel to it, allowing the look book to feel like more than materialism.
WEAKENESSES • Although the bi-annual includes both genders, there is still a separation between men’s and women’s clothing instead of suggesting gender neutral. • The price of the Stüssy bi-annual is £8. This can be seen as relatively expensive as some consumers may not view it as a collector’s item or a piece of artwork. Instead, they may believe that they should be able to view it for free. • With Stüssy not being as inaccessible as other brands such as Palace and Supreme, street wear consumers may not be as interested in purchasing or viewing the look book, they may believe that they can view it at any time, in any store.
OPPORTUNITIES • Stüssy as a brand already holds a strong social media following, giving them access to global exposure and promotion. • With the bi-annual being Stüssy official, the brand may exploit this and increase the price with the guarantee that others will purchase: Stüssy bi-annual vol.6 sold out online and in stores. • Bi-annual release, automatically giving it a rare and exclusive feel as opposed to monthly release.
THREATS • As the women’s street wear movement becomes more recognisable, more brands will begin to produce physical look books, potentially decreasing interest and sales.
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COMPETITORS: PATTA FEMALE EDITORIAL THE BRAND Launching in 2004, Amsterdam based brand Patta joined the street wear scene. Before Patta became a house hold name in the industry, creators, Edson Sabaio and Guillaume Schmidt began sourcing limited edition footwear to provide for the Dutch public. The brand has collaborated with global brands such as Stussy and Levi’s and is available to buy in 12 different countries through stockists. In 2013, Patta realised an increase in the female population purchasing their clothing and began to create women’s editorial to cater for the female gender.
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f d c 120,000 followers
21,900 followers
62,473 followers
*correct at the time of publishing
STRENGTHS • Patta dedicates a full women’s editorial to each new season release. By not creating a new range of clothing for women, Patta is actively accepting the gender-neutral movement in stree culture. • The photography is bold and professionally art directed by creatives Ace Dia and Violette Esmerelda. By choosing women to art direct, the brand portrays gender acceptance to both to the culture and the industry.
WEAKENESSES • No physical publication has been created for this editorial for consumers to purchase or view. Because of this, the editorial does not gain exposure and some consumers may not be aware that female editorial is created. • If Patta were to create one, consumers may question a price tag as they have been able to view the editorial previously for free.
OPPORTUNITIES • Although only one Patta store exists and is based in Amsterdam, Patta is stocked in 12 different countries allowing global expansion for the brand and exposing itself to more street influenced females. • Amsterdam based, a forward thinking city with other young professionals and creatives wanting to evolve street culture. This opens the brand up to like minded collaborations.
THREATS • As the women’s street wear movement becomes more recognisable, more brands will begin to produce physical look books, potentially decreasing interest.
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CONTENT SIZE: H220 x W160
PRICE: ÂŁ7 each
BINDING: Perfect bound
PAPER TYPE: Uncoated, Matte
PRINT RUN: 5,000 x3
SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram, Tumblr
A series (x3) of brand based style books will be created. Each book will have a designated model and will focus on mainly male dominated brands, which fail to provide women with visual style imagery. The aim is to portray how the brand works when styled on a female. Capturing these girls in a natural, comfortable and confident setting is essential to show the audience that they belong in what they wear. Palace, Supreme and Thrasher are the brands chosen due to the gender separation stigma they seem to hold.
SUPREME Supreme is an American, hip-hop influenced skate brand. For a skate brand, it is regarded as exclusive and high end. Supreme’s photoshoots mainly take place in studios, leaving a gap in the market to create a British spin on photoshoot locations.
PALACE Palace is a british skate brand, notoriously known for its cockiness, boldness and confidence. Previous photoshoots created by Palace can be described as comfortable, raw and untouched. Most photoshoot locations are taken place in a room, with projected lights used.
THRASHER Originating from America, Thrasher is predominantly a skate magazine, as well as producing its own clothing line. Most models used by Thrasher are male sponsored skaters, therefore do not technically produce look books for their clothing. By creating a look book for Thrasher, it expands their brand even further past gender neutral clothing.
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BUDGET AND LOGISTICS
CROWD FUNDING For the funding of Valkyrie, crowd funding will be a large contribution. Community is a significant part of street culture, with many females wanting to evolve the industry and increase acceptance. Crowd funding will be advertised through Facebook street community support groups such as The Basement (46,300+ members) and Baesment, (1,000+) Supreme Talk UK/EU (38,000+) and Palace Talk UK/EU (23,000+). Taking into account the amount of members of all groups, Valkyrie will set a raised target of £20,000 over a six-month period.
SPONSORSHIP Due to collaborating with three different brands, each booklet will be sponsored by each brand from Palace, Thrasher and Supreme. Each brand will sponsor £5,000 from their marketing budget, and in return increasing their brand sales longevity from the female population. Clothing will be provided by independent stockists of brands around the UK, with Native Skate Store in Newcastle upon Tyne supplying sample stock of Thrasher and The Hip Store in Leeds supplying sample stock for Palace clothing. Due to the exclusivity of Supreme, Supreme clothing enthusiasts will be contacted and paid to rent their selection of clothing.
COVER PRICE After production and sales of the full print run, £54,000 profit will be made.
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EXPENDITURE WEBSITE Squarespace and Domain (Annual)
£152.65
Bigcartel (Annual)
£76.32
STAFF Model 1 per day
£300
Model 2 per day
£300
Model 3 per day
£300
Freelance Photographer shoot x3
£750
Graphic Designer (one month)
£1,166
SOFTWARE AND EQUIPMENT Canon DSLR
£269.95
Macbook Pro 13 inch: Retina
£999
Film Camera
£1,429
Adobe CC (Annual)
£548.78
STYLING Thrasher Clothing
£750
Palace Clothing
£1,000
Supreme Clothing
£1,000
LOOKBOOK #1 5,000 copies
£17,000
#2 5,000 copies
£17,000
#3 5,000 copies
£17,000
PROMOTION Launch Party
£10,000
TOTAL
£70,041.70
BUDGET
£89,000
PROFIT
£18,958.30
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DISTRIBUTION All look books will be geographically distributed in cities with a large following of street culture. Size clothing is the largest high street male competitor for street wear worldwide. With 34 stores distributed globally, 50 copies of each booklet will be distributed to each store and 700 in total. Each individual look book will be stocked in different locations due to attracting slightly different consumers. 100 look books each will be distributed to stores that encourage gender-neutral clothing. • Maha Amsterdam • On The Block Shop • No Boys Allowed Sneaker Store
PALACE LOOK BOOK • Palace Store, London: 1,000 copies • The Hip Store, Leeds: 500 copies
THRASHER LOOK BOOK • Thrasher online: 1,000 copies • Native Skate, Newcastle: 150 copies • Welcome Skate, Leeds: 150 copies • Slam City, London: 200 copies
SUPREME LOOK BOOK • Supreme store: 1,500 copies due to exclusivity of the brand with lack of stock elsewhere. The remaining 2,500 copies of each look book can be accessed online through Valkyrie big cartel store.
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ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY With feminism being a controversial topic, it is important to Valkyrie to not disregard or offend the male population during the creation of our project. Valkyrie strongly fights for equality among the genders and promises not to place the male gender in a negative light when focusing on confidence and empowerment of women in street culture. Valkyrie also promises to not produce content that portrays women in a degrading or offensive manner. We, at Valkyrie, understand the importance of maintaining a sustainable environment. For every booklet sold, 50p of profits will be donated to Woodland Trust organisation to support sustainability and conservation of the planet.
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RISK ASSESSMENT RISK
CONSEQUENCES
POSSIBILITY OF RISK
PREVENTION
Model is unable to show up for a photo shoot on planned day.
The look book is unable to be created due to photography unable to be completed.
Low
Leave enough time beforehand to reschedule. Have a replacement model.
Printing of booklets will not be completed on time.
Deadlines will be missed and production is thrown off.
Low
Print in good time to avoid any mistakes or delays. Have a back up printer choice.
Selected clothing does not fit model on the day of shooting.
An unplanned outfit may have to be used, reducing quality of look books.
Low
Males may view Valkyrie as segregation and not equal.
Valkyrie does not complete intended objectives and can not be viewed as influential.
Medium
Host a fitting for all models to ensure clothing looks as intended. Have alternative outfits prepared.
Technical difficulties with purchasing look books when launched.
Distribution is delayed and customers will not receive good customer service. Brand reputation will be tarnished.
Low
Test run a purchase before booklets are launched to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Distribution is delayed to reach stockists.
Valkyrie will not be available to the public and brand reputation may be tarnished.
Low
Send out prints in good time so delays will not affect distribution.
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Do not speak about males in a negative manner and regularly promote equality.
TIMELINE OF EVENTS A timeline projecting the 24 weeks prior to the launch of Valkyrie
PROJECT PLANNING Focus on project planning and background research. Choose most appropriate brands to collaborate with. Begin collating primary research for market analysis.
STYLING Source all clothing to be used and secure suppliers. Model fittings take place to ensure all clothing is correct sizing and styling is perfect. Develop market analysis and find venues for events.
Focus on layout for all three look books. Reshoot any images if necessary. Create promotional leaflets to hand out in stores.
weeks 15/14
weeks 19/18 weeks 24-20
GRAPHIC DESIGN
weeks 13/12
weeks 17/16
DEVELOPMENT OF CONCEPT Developing concept, further research into brands chosen. Plan photoshoots and source models for each look book. Collect primary research findings and being converting into statistics.
weeks 11/10
PHOTOSHOOTS
FILM
Undertake photoshoots for look books with all three models. Begin to shoot promotional film during shoots for behind the scenes footage.
Begin editing film. Launch social media. Keep regularly updating and show sneak peaks of behind the scenes footage.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
PROMOTION Post film for promotional content. All lookbooks in print. Send out launch party invitations to special guests and bloggers.
Create giveaways on Facebook street wear community groups to gain exposure. Contact blogs for promotion opportunities. Confirm guests.
Major focus on promotion and marketing. Launch online competition to win a prize to collect at launch party. Contact stockists to confirm arrival. Test run big cartel and website. First event takes place.
week 3/2
week 7 weeks 9/8
MARKETING
Post Event Week of Event
weeks 6/5/4
WEBSITE
FIRST EVENT
PROMOTION
Set up squarespace website and big cartel now in order to avoid any problems closer to launch.
Event focus. Source all equipment. Distribute all look books to stockists.
Focus on developing branding of Valkyrie and gaining exposure. Plan collaborations with bloggers and have a strong presence on social media.
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IMAGE REFERENCES http://www.liful.co.kr http://patta.nl http://www.stussy.com
3
5, 14, 25, 35
7, 9, 17, 22, 30
http://www.highsnobiety.com
10, 21
http://evewithoutadam.com
12
http://noboysallowed.nl
13
http://www.theunisexmode.co.uk
13
http://carhartt.com
14
http://www.thewaywardway.com/store-amsterdam-maha
14
http://bae.hypebeast.com
15
http://lunitadelsur.tumblr.com
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http://www.elevenparis.com/en/
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http://atomsandemptyspaces.tumblr.com/post/136599797890
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ALEX GASKIN