ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS
‘CHALLENGING TRADITION’ NEGOTIATED PROJECT
MA FASHION MANAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATION
Negotiated Project Design Report Challenging Tradition | Joshua Ellis
THE BRIEF Joshua Ellis is one of the world’s foremost producers of luxury cashmere, woollen cloth and accessories, 2017 celebrates their 250th anniversary. Their highly expert and conversant craftspeople are privileged to be able to draw upon the practice of Joshua Ellis’ predecessors as they anticipate an exciting future. As they recollect their decades of progression and transformation, the client would like the designer to consider the topic of ‘Challenging Tradition’. As an MA Fashion Management and Communication student this brief stood out to me as a great opportunity to engage in a communication lead design project, particularly because the client is a textile magnate amongst couture houses worldwide and would give me the chance to experience a live brief within the fashion industry. ‘Challenging Tradition’, is an interesting concept for this brief as Joshua Ellis is founded on traditional processes of textile production, having been established in 1767. There are currently many discussions around how traditional craftsmanship can survive in the modern world [appendix 1,2,3,4]. Globally, the exquisiteness and cultural wisdoms of age-old craftsmanship are on the verge of extinction. Fast-fashion and the proliferation of mechanised, computerised and globalised manufacture are in large to blame for the destruction of craft-based businesses (Business of Fashion, 2015). Joshua Ellis are attempting to bridge this issue in the industry by operating both traditional and modern technology, an example being the cone spinners, the original model takes a day to operate, whilst the new model take an hour, or the process of section warping on a drum vs warping on the newer machine, which works from end to end. There are still some processes that are completely traditionally lead, such as the wooden milling box which is controlled by weight and squeezes the cloth to make the fibres burst to bring out softness and the Teasels, which the cloth is pulled across whilst wet to make the fabric more lustrous (Reeves, 2017). Whilst Joshua Ellis are embracing modern technology in their processes alongside their traditional craftsmanship, they lack modernity in their literature and publicity [figure xx] and struggle to reach out to new, younger designers and to attract affluent millennial consumers.
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The Client Who are Joshua Ellis | Social Values Joshua Ellis are business to business (B2B), high quality cloth and accessory suppliers, selling to the international market. Their journey began in 1767, in the mill towns of Yorkshire during the peak of Britain’s textile industry boom (Joshua Ellis, 2017). The Ellis family were instrumental in founding the original company, the business however, was not named Joshua Ellis until the late 1830’s (J. Ellis, n.d.). Artisan skills have been passed down through generation to generation to keep them flourishing through to the future. Using their finessed expertise to create a cloth that meets the specifications of the couture house customers (including heritage brand Burberry and international brand Ralph Lauren) allows Joshua Ellis fabrics to be regularly featured on the major fashion week runways (Milan, Paris and New York). Joshua Ellis claims that it is innovation which enables them to offer a truly bespoke service to leading fashion houses, as each has its own interpretation of what they expect of and how the define luxury (Joshua Ellis, 2017). Twice a year, Joshua Ellis, supported by UKFT (The UK Fashion and Textile Association), exhibit at Premiere Vision in Paris and Ideabiella in Milan – both incredibly reputable and prestige trade shows. The company is also part of the renowned British luxury textile group, SIL Holdings LTD, who describe Joshua Ellis as ‘effortlessly elegant, deliciously soft and luxuriously understated’ continuing that ‘nothing charms the sense quite like cashmere’ (SIL Holdings LTD, 2017). Joshua Ellis places a strong focus on traceability and provenance (the whole manufacturing process is undertaken in Yorkshire), as well as improving standards of sustainability within the textile industry. Jennifer K. Sharpe (n.d) founder of clothingtraceability.com states that the fashion industry is one of the most environmentally damaging industries on earth. A transparent supply chain is becoming paramount to consumer trust and with millennial’s interest in sustainability growing (Saussier, 2017), the need for welfare standards of workers and animals involved in the supply chain and production of materials is paramount to tapping into this vital consumer market. Recent reports by Nielsen (2014) and Deloitte (2016) show that millennials believe businesses are becoming more ethical and society focused, but they remain wary of underlying company motives. Joshua Ellis already practices a low carbon footprint through the production of their yarn. The fibre is bought raw; blended in Radford; spun locally in Denby Dale and woven at the factory in Batley (Reeves, 2017). Preserving luxury and focusing on sustainability is paramount to the successful future of the industry. Kirsty Reeves, design and sale director at Joshua Ellis, explains ‘if we don’t protect the fibre supplies now, there won’t be any in the future’ (Huckbody, 2016). Reeves has personally been to Mongolia, where the cashmere fibres are sourced from the Mongolian Cashmere Goats to see the issues facing the cashmere industry to develop a plan to future proof this textile. This kind of transparency and pledge to drive sustainability within its company is very promising for attracting this new key social-conscious clientele.
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Millennials are an influential and rapidly growing consumer market. Established industries must adapt their business models now if they want to bring millennials on board. As for companies, they must deliver good social and environmental performance and engage in sustainable practices or their future growth could be at risk. (Julie Saussier, 2017)
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When researching Joshua Ellis’ brand, it became apparent very quickly that their online profile is very outdated. Millennials (and Generation Z) are incredibly tech savvy and have a massive social-media presence. Farla Efros (Mak, 2016), president of the retail strategic firm HRC Advisory, communicates that ‘on average, millennials possess three or more devices. They survive on social media as their only medium of communication versus the older crowd that watches TV or reads the newspaper’. They make up the top percentages of the top three most used social media platforms, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook [appendix 5, 6, 7, 8]. Millennial+ started the social networking movement from their college dorm rooms and they define personalities such as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, as the person who defines their generation (Nielsen, 2014). Millennials are very open, sharing personal thoughts, pictures and videos regularly online. They desire an authentic experience when interacting with brands online just as much as they expect an authentic experience in the goods they buy (Nielsen, 2014). Brands must provide these consumers with an honest, direct, individual, tailored experience through relatable characters and strong visual elements that are tied to their expressive and creative nature (ibid). Fashion is a very visual industry, so the emergence of photo and video-led platforms, such as Instagram, are a good fit to grow a brand and tap into a younger audience. Digital marketing research shows that there has been a 400 percent increase from last year in fashion companies using Instagram posts to promote their brand and their products (Rein, 2016). This is where the concept for my project has stemmed. I am interested in producing media to be shared on social-platforms to raise brand awareness. These images and videos could be used on social media platforms such as Instagram, which Joshua Ellis has started to put more time into [figure xx], Twitter and Facebook. But they can also be used to take to trade shows to entice people into the booths. Film is a smart and concise way to share (and allow the user to experience) the brand story. It is a misperception that film only works for business to consumer (B2C) and not B2B. Video can be a very highly effective and profitable marketing tool as it allows the brand to be humanised and becomes relatable or inspirational (Puente, Devereaux and Boothe, 2017). If it is active, attractive and driving conversation around the company’s key messages, it can expand their network amongst potential customers and industry influencers. The target audience of both B2C and B2B consumers are of the same generation and they exist on social media and therefore this kind of marketing strategy will be successful in engaging both markets.
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D e s i g n P r oc e s s | I n i t i a l C o n c e p t Initially the concept for the project was to produce a fashion film celebrating the heritage and tradition craftsmanship in the production of cloth within the Joshua Ellis workshop, whilst paring it with the production of a contemporary garment using contemporary techniques that are executed with Joshua Ellis fabric. The idea was to provide a gateway to communicate Joshua Ellis’ brand values and ideas to clients and other interested parties in an engaging and immediate way. It would be a short film of thirty seconds to two minutes that could be used on social media, on the website, as an email signature or at promotion trade events.
Fashion films have the potential to deliver the poetry and energy of a full-blown runway show, with motion and music, in a way that’s cost effective and easily distributed. (Vikram Alexei Kansara, 2009)
Film is a very contemporary way to communicate in a new way with the intended audience, specifically as this is something Joshua Ellis has considered, but has not carried out. According to California-based technology giant Cisco, by 2019 online video will account for 80 percent of all consumer internet traffic (Business of Fashion, 2016). Viral advertising through film provides excitement, engagement and immediate communication for the brand. Nick Knight OBE, British fashion photographer and founder and director of SHOWstudio.com (and online fashion film outlet) advised ‘We are entering a world of interactive, self-created, digital-imaging which is accessible, downloadable and constantly changing’ (Kansara, 2009). I hadn’t created a film before at the point of the idea conception but I felt positive that I could present a useable idea that Joshua Ellis could run with on their own. Fashion film is something I have always been very interested in experimenting with and this provided me with a great opportunity. Upon researching other fashion films, I was reassured by an article for Business of Fashion by Imran Amed with Diane Pernet. Diane Pernet (Amed, 2008) who is credited as the first fashion blogger, noted journalist and curator of a well-respected fashion film festival says of experimenting with film ‘around eight or nine years ago most of the fashion films that existed were runway shows. Within the past few year, along with blogs, YouTube etc. everyone seems to be going out and experimenting with a camera. The results are fascinating’. This gave hope that I could produce something worthwhile as an amateur. I wanted to produce something that could be used as part of a viral online advertising campaign. Unlike photoshoots, which can take weeks or months to assemble teams, produce immaculate editorials, buy media placements in magazines and outdoor billboards (Mai, 2012) a social-media campaign is virtually cost free, giving Joshua Ellis a cost-effective marketing solution that is effective and mobile. Aesthetically speaking, the rise of film photography is in line with an overall shift in the fashion industry. Over the past several seasons, the sleek minimalism of the 2000s has given way to a more eclectic, DIY and retro-inspired approach popularised by brands like Gucci and Vetements. The human element of shooting with film, what Oliver Zahm (Purple magazines editor in chief) calls “seeing through the eyes of a human, not a machine”, as well as the return to craft, has also struck a chord with consumers who crave authenticity in an increasingly manufactured and virtual media landscape (Phelan, 2016). When presenting these ideas to the client [appendix 9] the feedback was very positive. Liz Harper said she though the idea of film was a great idea and was interested in the contemporary notion of DIY film making. page eight
You can view the video footage for my initial concept on my blog at http://alyshaemmadavis6.wixsite.com/aedavis/negotiated-project page nine
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Design Concept | Development of Concept The idea of producing a fashion film was to provide a gateway to communicate Joshua Ellis’ brand values and ideas to millennial B2B and B2C consumers. When I was planning the storyboard for my film it dawned on me that although the imagery in the film would be very pretty and a great homage to the heritage and future of Joshua Ellis, this might be too stuffy an idea for this market, and so I moved on to research what it was millennials wanted to see in fashion film advertising. Millennials relationship with Luxury is about falling in love. They need to dream and desire, they want something to aspire too (Rein, 2016). A millennials consumer relationship with the brand may start with a small purchase but as their loyalty deepens, taste develops and income becomes more disposable they are likely to make more costly purchases. If we consider Burberry for example, a first luxury purchase may be the signature scent, a scarf in college and a trenchcoat with their first big bonus at work. The goal is to get ordinary people to crave extraordinary things, so that as they mature, the extraordinary purchases become their everyday (ibid). It is important to engage them whilst they are still growing and developing their aesthetics. Power millennials, such as Cara Delevingne, Gigi Hadid and Kendal & Kylie Jenner have great influence over the millennial market and are drawing them to luxury brands. They are influenced by celebrity endorsements and respond more favourably to advertising that features celebrities (Nielsen, 2014). This is particularly successful when paired with platforms such as Instagram. Instagram has claimed that one in three of its 500 million global users has bought an item of clothing they discovered whilst using the social media app. Instagram users interested in fashion check their newsfeeds on average fifteen times a day. Fashion fans have 230% more followers than the average Instagram user and post three time as much. They are the most engaged segment of users (Gee, 2016). It’s also pertinent to say that Instagram reaches over 200,000 advertisers and some influencers reach over a million, so with the right type of business on the right platform, social media is an increasingly influential way to interact directly on a personal level with a target audience. A designer doesn’t need to have generated a large following to gain exposer when using Instagram, just one image can be re-grammed rapidly driving users to the original source. I decided to develop a social-media package of a short film, viral imagery and photography. It is to be demonstrative example of what could be performed with access to models and materials. It is to capture an idea that is alluring to the millennial market. It will centre around a single model, demonstrating the materials in an attractive way to demonstrate luxury and lifestyle. It will have authentic and original content.
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Final Design Outcomes
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You can view the video footage for my final concept on my blog at http://alyshaemmadavis6.wixsite.com/aedavis/negotiated-project page fifteen
Reflection If I had the opportunity to do this project again, I would have liked to have executed the film on location at the Joshua Ellis factory and partly in a professional studio. Whilst the makeshift home studio worked for an example of what can be achieve, it would have been nice to bring in the factory setting for the photoshoot to further push the traditional and modern together. The music was also difficult to match the transitions between clips to and I would really have liked to spend more time working on better matching the clips to the audio track. I think with more time this would have been achievable. The length of some of the clips are also in my opinion a little bit too long, and I would consider trimming them down. I would also have liked to develop a marketing app. This would be completely Joshua Ellis branded, and have a channel for film, runway, exclusive content, interviews and behind the scenes work. Burberry have done this, as have a few other couture brands and it has been very successful (Rein, 2016). This would be the perfect opportunity to debut my original craftsmanship film. I have really enjoyed experimenting with film and photography. It is something that I would like to develop my skills in to possibly use in my future endeavours. I feel that whilst my film is quite amateur, it reflects the idea that I had well. It is suitable for internet marketing, specifically social-media. Social media advertising is the cost-effective future for fashion brands and these kind of short film bursts are idea for posting on platforms such as Instagram. They are eye-catching and draw the consumer into a lifestyle narrative whilst they recognise themselves in the age and character of the model. For Joshua Ellis, moving into social-media and film as a means of marketing is challenging their traditional methods of show and tell marketing at trade-shows. This allows them to send their profile across in moment and allows consumers to connect with Joshua Ellis on an initial basis, gain information quickly and build a relationship before they can even shake hands. It is not to take away from the personal one-on-one physical meeting, but to assist and add a modern depth to their marketing plan. Joshua Ellis need not to be afraid of playing in the digital space to appeal to independent thinkers in new and interesting ways. They will attract the arbiters of cool and make unexpected connections. If they wish to future proof themselves luxury brands need to rise to the challenges of the Millennials, and embrace them.
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Images Figure One | Cloth manufacture at Joshua Ellis ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Two | Joshua Ellis Cloth ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Three | The old model cone machine at the Joshua Ellis factory ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Four | The new model cone machine at the Joshua Ellis factory ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Five | The wooden milling box at the Joshua Ellis factory ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Six | Cashmere Fibres ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Seven | Mongolian Cashmere Goat Available from; http://www.mongolia-travel-guide.com/cashmere-goats.html Figure Eight | Joshua Ellis website Available from joshuaellis.com Figure Nine | Joshua Ellis Instagram Available at https://www.instagram.com/joshuaelliscashmere/ Figure Ten | Joshua Ellis Twitter Available at https://twitter.com/joshuaelliscash?lang=en Figure Eleven | Cloth being manufactured at the Joshua Ellis Factory ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Twelve | Cara Delevigne by Terry Richardson Available at http://ftape.com/media/cara-delevingne-by-terry-richardson/ Figure Thirteen | Gigi Hadid Available at Instagram.com/gigihadid Figure Fourteen | Challenging Tradition film still featuring Elle Uyal ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Fifteen | Challenging Tradition film still featuring Elle Uyal ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Sixteen | Challenging Tradition film still featuring Elle Uyal ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Seventeen | Challenging Tradition film still featuring Elle Uyal ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Eighteen | Challenging Tradition film still featuring Elle Uyal ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Nineteen | Joshua Ellis Swatch Book ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS Figure Twenty | Joshua Ellis cloth being manufactured at the factory ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS
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References
Amed, I. (2008). BoF Recommends | A Shaded View on Fashion Film. The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from https:// www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/bof-recommends-a-shaded-view-on-fashion-film Business of Fashion. (2015). How can traditional craftsmanship survive in the modern world?. The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/voices/discussions/how-can-traditional-craftsmanship-survive-inthe-modern-world Business of Fashion. (2016). Top 10 Fashion Films of the Season. The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from https://www. businessoffashion.com/articles/fashion-films/top-10-fashion-films-of-the-season-supreme-gucci-calvinklein Deloitte (2016). Www2.deloitte.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/gx-millenial-survey-2016-exec-summary.pdf Gee, R. (2017). A third of Instagram users have bought an item of clothing they saw on the social network- Marketing Week. Marketing Week. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from https://www.marketingweek.com/2016/09/06/why-brands-with-a-fashion-focus-are-mostlikely-to-boost-sales-on-instagram/ Harper, L. (2017). Joshua Ellis Project Briefing. SIA at Sheffield Hallam. Huckbody, J. (2016). JOSHUA ELLIS - Nomad Atelier. Nomad Atelier. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from http://www.nomadatelier. co.uk/2016/02/26/joshua-ellis/ Joshua Ellis | Handcrafted in Yorkshire - revered the world over. (2017). Joshuaellis.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from http://joshuaellis.com/ KANSARA, V. (2009). Future of Fashion Magazines | Part Three - The move to fashion film. The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/fashion-tech/future-of-fashion-magazines-part-three-the-move-tofashion-film Mai, Q. (2012). Op-Ed | Are We Failing to Fulfill the Potential of Fashion Film?. The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/opinion/op-ed-are-we-failing-to-fulfill-the-promise-of-fashion-film Mak, P. (2016). How Millennial Shopping Patterns Are Changing Fashion. The Huffington Post. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from http:// www.huffingtonpost.ca/2016/01/14/millennial-shopping-habits_n_8980380.html Nielsen (2014). Nielsen.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from http://www.nielsen.com/content/dam/corporate/us/en/reports-downloads/2014%20Reports/nielsen-millennial-report-feb-2014.pdf Phelan, H. (2016). Fashion Photographers Return to Film. The Business of Fashion. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/intelligence/fashion-film-photographers-hawkesworth-weir-dodgson-ghertner Puente, L., Devereaux, C., & Boothe, C. (2017). What Digital Strategies Work Best for B2B? 4 Success Stories. BrandExtract. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from http://www.brandextract.com/Insights/Articles/What-Digital-Strategies-Work-Best-for-B2B/ Reeves, K (2017). Joshua Ellis Factory Tour. Joshua Ellis Factory Rein, G. (2016). Think Tank: Why Millennials Are the Future of Luxury. WWD. Retrieved 24 May 2017, from http://wwd.com/fashion-news/designer-luxury/millennials-luxury-spending-10417737/ Saussier, Julie (2017). Millennials Drive Sustainability, Credit Suisse. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from https://www.credit-suisse.com/ microsites/next/en/entrepreneurism/articles/millennials-drive-sustainability.html Sharpe, J. Clothing Traceability Âť Mission + Philosophy. Clothingtraceability.com. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from http://www.clothingtraceability.com/mission/ SIL Holding LTDs. (2017). Woollen fabrics. Retrieved 23 May 2017, from http://silholdings.co.uk/our-businesses/woollen-division/
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Appendix Appendix 1 https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/voices/discussions/how-can-traditional-craftsmanship-survive-in-the-modern-world Appendix 2 https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/voices/discussions/how-can-traditional-craftsmanship-survive-in-the-modern-world/op-ed-from-luxury-to-craft-climbing-the-discernment-curve Appendix 3 https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/voices/discussions/how-can-traditional-craftsmanship-survive-in-the-modern-world/chanel-saviour-savoir-faire Appendix 4 https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/voices/discussions/how-can-traditional-craftsmanship-survive-in-the-modern-world/how-3-d-printing-is-saving-the-italian-artisan Appendix 5 Daily users of social media https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/#all Appendix 6 Instagram age demographics - see over https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/#instagram Appendix 7 Twitter age demographics - see over https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/#twitter Appendix 8 Facebook age demographics - see over https://sproutsocial.com/insights/new-social-media-demographics/#facebook Appendix 9 https://issuu.com/alyshadavis/docs/joshue_ellis_presentation
Track on film “Laser Groove� Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
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ALYSHA EMMA DAVIS a9031448@my.shu.ac.uk You can view more of my project on my blog at http://alyshaemmadavis6.wixsite.com/aedavis/negotiated-project