Marques’Almeida Friday, 14 December 12
Marques/Almeida
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Background/ Overview Branding/ Sales Stockists Collections Collaborations Endorsement/ Marketing/ Summary Context Development
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East London label Marques Almeida was found by Portguese designers Marta Marques and Paulo Almeida. Following graduation In 2009, they were picked up by Lulu Kennedy’s fashion East and showed for 2 seasons before moving to Newgen and showing on schedule in the portico showrooms at Lfw. through the choice of models for shoots and catwalks, sometimes using family and friends in a way which mirrors their cited influences. mes using family and friends in a way which mirrors their cited influences.
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The brand is one of London's strongest emerging designer brands and its position at Lfw, makes it a competitor for larger and more established designer brands. The oversized, distressed denim T-shirt with heavily frayed edges is their trademark piece, whilst their use of innovative denim and the ideology of anti-fashion is their USP and niche, which identifies them from other brands, having been quoted by ELLE UK as the 'go to brand for distressed denim,' Marques Almeida have had strong press coverage ranging from Vogue, i-D, Dazed Digital, Dazed Hong Kong, Opening Ceremony and many online platforms. The catwalk collections are very consistent as the brand have recognisable signifiers, a heavy emphasis on frayed denim is mixed with lightweight fabrics such as tulle, knit and jersey. The collection is wearable and has much sales potential as recognised by Opening Ceremony, who supported the brand immediately after recognition at Fashion East. Pieces sold in store are often direct from the catwalk or slightly altered but still in keeping with the minimal design focus. Womenswear shows are every season and no diffusion lines or pre collections are currently available, though pieces can be ordered on websites such as Not Just a Label and pre-ordering is a possibility.
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Stockists Japan Desperado Tokyo China Joyce Hong Kong Water Stone Beijing Hangzou UK OC London Not Just a Label USA OC New York OC Los Angeles
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“Denim is this brand's DNA. While working on their final Saint Martins collection, Marques'Almeida set out to find the essential ingredients of, what they call, the "youth code": the essence of vitality, rebellion and tomorrow's generation. With piles of research they decided that it ultimately boils down to three elements: leather, white T-shirts, and denim. "And, denim can be worked in so many different ways, it's also unusual for a high-end brand, or even a graduate student to do a whole collection in denim," explains Marques. But they are very specific about their denim. "We actually found it a big struggle at first because the denim industry is a lot about jeanswear brands and they look for a kind of denim that has some stretch in it," she says. Almeida adds: ‘Because of this "youth code" we wanted the most basic denim possible." After the hunt for the perfect raw denim, Paulo and Marta perfected the dyes and washes as well as the oversized and baggy—but not swamping, mind—silhouettes, with each piece finished and frayed in the studio by hand. "We feel detached from that whole sense of ‘glamour is fashion.' It has never made
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sense for us to work with fantasy, we want things to be real," said Marta, dressed in a matching marl tracksuit jumper and pants. "Designers pay a lot of attention to if the model is super-tall, super-skinny and basically we just pay attention to whether she is cool because we don't mind if she is, like, 5'8 or 5'7." They use their friends who come by the studio and have the oversized denim dress, shrunken knits and leather pieces fitted. Chatting in their studio in London's Dalston neighborhood, Marques rolls a cigarette. "We want to work for a younger customer and cooler customer," Almeida drawls in his heavy accent. "Rather than going completely mainstream," adds Marques, "Maybe that is going to leave us at the bottom of that pile, but there are lots of different ways to do it in this industry." (Marques Almeida/ Lucy Morris for Interview magazine, 2012)
It is very important to consider the brands identity in terms of press placement. Considering Marques Almeida’s global appeal it can be deducted that whilst it is imperative to stay catering to the primary target market involved in 90’s youth culture, UK and USA, press in Eastern emerging markets is beneficial in terms of profits and widening audiences.
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Ss/ 13 .
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backstage at Marques Almeida by Sophia Aerts .
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Professional hair brand Fudge who have previously created hair for Philip Treacy, Meadham Kirchhoff, Marques'Almeida and Louise Armstrop. Tomo Jidai are credited with MA’s catwalk hair. John Colver is the stylist in currently charge with creating the catwalk looks, with a client list including Adidas, Levi's, Michael Van Der Ham and featured in magazines such as Arena Homme+, Dazed & Confused, he knows how to create looks that compliment the raw, cool aesthetic of the brand. Sophia Aerts frequently shoots the duo's look books, behind scene and catwalk footage and location shoots, she also shoots for online stockist Not Just a Label. When analysing the photographs the visual referencing in the artist's work fits in well with the style of the collections and the other collaborating artists such as John Colver. For ss13 MA collaborated with Macha jewellery for a line inspired by 90s documentary 'Wildwood.' Photographed by Sophia Aerts, the line is resemblant of past shoots and the collaboration fits well with the ethos of the brand. The collection received press coverage, however considering the large market the brand identifies with, further collaborations would benefit the brand.
Whilst celebrity endorsement is not something that Marques Almeida are known to impliment, a number of 'celebrities' in both commercial mainstream media and fashion related media have been spotted wearing pieces from their previous collections in the past seasons. This publicity has been recognised by the brand and promoted on both their facebook and twitter sites. This suggests that recognition from wearers with status is something that the brand accepts and uses to their advantage in terms of marketing. Photos of different 'celebrities' wearing their clothes are uploaded and also feature on other websites such as style.com, which increases brand awareness and can have an influence on the brands affinity and buying behavoir for the general public. Whilst many of the celebrities wearing the clothes do not directly identify with the brand’s ethos, this is not something which they have commented on as negative, nor are there any signs that they would like to change this. Whether the brand would like to remove the endorsements for celebrities which do not appeal to their target market is yet to be seen, however this would benefit them as the brand identity would look less confused.
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Marques Almeida have a successful online presence and use sites such as facebook, twitter and tumblr to promote their products, uploading features from press, backstage images, collections and lookbooks amongst others. This is a suitable promotion tool for them, seeing as their target market is young they are tapping in to an easy and effective way to communicate their products. In collaboration with Clash magazine they launched an online mixtape which could be added to Spotify playlists. The mixtape was featured on a few online platforms including Clash website and the duo had an interview to talk about their reasons for tracks. This helps to understand the personality behind the brand as music as an important influence, it also adds more context to the clothes. The mixtape consisted of Coconut Records, ‘Any Fun’, Amy Windehouse, ‘Monkey Man,’ Destiny’s Child, ‘Soldier’, Alanis Morissette, ‘You Oughta Know,’ Lil’ Vicious ‘Freaks,’ Missy Elliot, ‘Work It,’ Fiona Apple, ‘Criminal,’ The Fugees ‘Fu gee La,’ Pj Harvey ‘Dress,’ Massive Attack ‘Unfinished Sympathy,’ Dj Webstar ‘Chicken Noodle Soup.
Through researching the brand a few things can be denoted, such as their strong brand identity, which is the most important part of Marques Almeida. The core essence is 90’s grunge and antifashion, which without, the brand would loose it’s niche. Whilst the subject of antifashion means that the design aesthetic must strictly stay to the subject, it is clear to see through their catwalk collections, lookbooks and videos how the ethos can be manipulated through different inspirations, thus changing the end result whilst keeping to the nostalgic aesthetic and keeping the target market interested. Things which would possibly progress the brand are different ways of seeing the product, which keep in theme of the core identity, but stretch the concept further to make it more abstract.
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Influences/ Corrine Day / Nan Goldin / Larry Clark/ Tulsa / Juergen Teller / 60’s Influences/ 1 / Six Influences/ 2 / Wildwood/ New Jersey Influences/ Exploration of content
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90’s photography was a reaction to the heavily glamourised, edited images of the 80’s and inspired a generation of new photographers to document their own lives in the way they saw them. Rejecting fashion media and taking inspiration from earlier generations of photographers such as Nan Goldin, Larry Clark and David Bailey, these photographers and stylists presented themselves as anti-fashion. This research has been relevant to communicate an exploration of content for 90’s socio realism photography, whilst providing further context for Marques Almeida’s ethos. Thorough research of 90’s magazines, editorials, other publications, photographers and stylists has led to documentation of important stylistic signifiers for the 90’s ‘dirtyrealism’ generation of work, cited influences and other inspirational photographs, such as Goldin, Day, Clark, Bailey and the youth movement which occured during the 1960s, later referenced by Corrine Day in The Face, Comme des Garcons, Juergen Teller, Wolfgang Tillmans and Wildwood.
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Kate Moss is one of the most influencial faces from the 90’s, rising to fame after photographer Corrine Day spotted her in a select models book. “I was just having a laugh, Corinne just wanted to bring out everything I hated when I was 15. My bow legs, the mole on my breast, the way I laughed.” (Moss, 2012)
Britain says Fuck Fashion: and the world buys it.'
Nan Goldin is cited by many 90's photographers, Corrine Day in particular, as a very important influence on the style of narrative depicted in their photography, as her work is inspired by her surroundings and she used the snapshot aesthetic which proved popular in the later generation, and again in current day. Her work is based around themes such as love, gender, domesticity and sexuality and she reflects culture and obsession through her portrayal of drug addicts. Other subjects Goldin uses are her drag queens, lovers, family and friends which gives the photographs a sense of intimacy and socio realism. A particular piece of work which is classified in the art scene as influencial is The Ballad of Sexual Dependency. .
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Juergen Teller has played an important influence on fashion photography, largely known for his refusal to separate commercial work from his personal narratives. His photographs have been featured, amongst others in The Face, Vogue, Another, Purple and i-D, which tie in well with Marques Almeida’s research philosophy, as they draw much inspiration from past publications and images. Teller has photographed Chloe Sevigny, Winona Ryder, Sofia Coppola, Roni Horn and Charlotte Rampling and similarly, it is credible to tie a link between both brand and photographer in terms of aesthetic taste and philosophy. Teller has collaborated with Marc Jacobs, Helmut Lang, Celine and Cindy Sherman which are also identifiable as the same art oriented, target market for Marques Almeida.
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In the 1960’s the youth culture movement which rejected social values and the highly overdone photographs of the 50’s, presented the market with a new vision. Photographer David Bailey was at the forefront of this, and his work inspired generations after because of his refusal to conform to ideas and beliefs of what other people in the fashion industry believed was correct. Coming from a working class background, Bailey was not interested in fashion itself but the image and lifestyle which could be presented through it. His photos are associated with socio-realism and using real narratives which relate to a larger audience, which previously would have been outcast from fashion. His influence sparked the beginnings of subcultures as fashion in terms of marketing, and subsequently, generations such as the hippies, new romantics and grunge were featured in these publications. He is particularly relevant as he still works in the industry, and his influence has inspired many generations of photographers and magazines, his work depicting real people in real situations is similar to the aesthetic of Marques Almeida, regardless of the time period it was set in, it still portrays a vision of reality and rejects the previous values of fashion.
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‘It was the first time the working classes had a mass voice and lots of people were doing really interesting things. But I was never that interested in fashion. It was just the only way that a photographer in those days could earn a living creatively.’ (Bailey, 2012)
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Through exploration of content it is clear to see the impact that 90’s photography has had on the current market, furthermore it has been interesting to see how it has been perceived by the brand so far, and possibilities for the future. Whilst 90’s socio realism is a very important influence, there is also a link which has not yet been explored through their promotion but has been through their design aesthetic, such as the more conceptual visual approach to publications. Examples include Helmut Lang, Comme Des Garcons, Purple Magazine, which are areas that could be developed. In terms of exploration of content for a written piece, it is particularly interesting to look at the influences of 90’s anti-fashion and how this came to be a trend today. Through analysing theorist texts, obtaining quotes and relevant imagery from those involved, such as Corrine Day, Nan Goldin and by looking at publications which have featured the trend. Publications have proven to be very important to research, because not only do they have informative information on the subject and quotes from the designers, artists and photographers, but they are in the format of media, which is essential to changing the perception of an idea or philosophy.
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The impact of 90’s photography can be shown through the brand’s aesthetic, by conducting research it enables stylistic references to appear, which have influenced the brand. Furthermore, by looking extensively at the online material and coverage Marques Almeida have released, mood boards by the designers can be attained which provide a more personal insight into the ideology and ethos of the brand personality. This has enabled a clearer understanding of where the brand see themselves in the current market, and when added to the extensive interviews and what the designers have said, it can be understood what they would like to achieve from now and their future goals. The brand would like to stay true to their aesthetic and target market, and are very interested in keeping the models for their collections looking realistic and not the type of girl which would be booked necessarily to an agency. Although research has not yet shed light on the models used for catwalk collections, Marques Almeida are a current example of the impact socio realism had in the 90’s on current anti-fashion culture.
After school girl gang References - W’ Happen, Nan Goldin, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Telegraph, Dress and Popular Culture, Another Mag, Interview magazine, British Social Realism, Fashion Theory, Style.com, Opening Ceremony, Tulsa...
To summarise, research has been beneficial to understanding the predominant aesthetic used in 90’s antifashion and socio realism, which will be made apparent in exploration of content. However, the above influences show more relevance to 90’s culture than to the development of a video, therefore further research is needed to assist the context of the video, and push it further in the conceptual visual direction mentioned previously.
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Exploring conceptual narratives has become an important signifier in terms of the films aesthetic development. Watching My own private Idaho provided inspiration through it’s interesting portrayal of day to day activities. A particular scene insinuates the two characters, having sex but it is all in a still film image, contrasting with the standard portrayal of a popular subject. Because in house, Marques Almeida are not a brand which openly like to associate with commercial marketing tools, using a tool like this for the film would elevate them to a higher, and more conceptual style of creating a narrative. The idea of using still film goes further than a still photo because the viewer is able to gain an idea of the space the model is in, thereby adding more atmosphere and context. References such as Sam Taylor Wood, Bill Viola and John Loque are interesting to look at and very important in this category.
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Examples of video portraiture
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