Eleanor O’Brien J85108 Fashion Marketing and Communication L5 AD5604 1600 word equiv reflective Report
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CONTENTS
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2 Overview 4 Robbie Spencer 6 Wonderland 8 Sculptural Fashion 14 Styling 18 Developments 20 Future of Wonderland 22 Conclusion 26 References
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OVERVIEW For my mirror mirror project, I have created an
editorial response using the narrative of Wonderland magazine and using the signature of Robbie Spencer, experimenting and exploring all aspects of his storytelling whilst making a prediction of fashion communication in terms of the media. Responding to the question… What is the future of the magazine?
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“Fashion influences everything, it’s so much more than people think it is, it’s so culturally driven but people don’t realise it. They think it’s just dress up.” - Robbie Spencer
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ROBBIE SPENCERstory telling
Robbie Spencer is a contemporary and visionary stylist. He was formerly
the creative director of Dazed Magazine, where he was able to bring in a new generation of image makers defining the Zeitgeist, with his innovative styling. He has also styled for many designers and brands including Simone Rocha, who is known for her storytelling and consists of vintage and traditionalism aesthetic. From this Robbie incorporates his street style to bring a contemporary aspect to her collections. Robbie has also styled for Craig Green, A-COLD-WALL, Monclear and many more. Robbie Spencer’s editorial imagery looks unconventional and can find beauty in the unexpected, (Biography, 2021) this is conveyed through the surrealism element of his work, that I find is often like the photographer Tim Walker, who produces surreal Alice in Wonderland imagery. He initially envisioned a career in the art industry, envisioning himself as a curator or a stylist and went onto to do a degree in fashion promotion. “I approach styling from an idea of executing an image or executing a space, as opposed to purely from a clothing standpoint”Robbie Spencer. (Anaya, 2013) This quote stood out to me as it conveyed the signature of Robbie’s styling, revealing that fashion isn’t the only important aspect about an image, it’s the location, the lighting, it’s like creating art. Robbie uses a variety of different layers, contrasting different fabrics that are placed in unconventional ways, creating a sculptural aesthetic as he disfigures the silhouettes of his models with a variety of materials and creates a static appearance.
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” S TE
IL S D E T R O T S I D “
T E U HO
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VIVID
WONDERLAND W o n d e r l a n d ’ s C o m m u n i c a t i o n Despite
Wonderland’s audience being the millennials, targeting generation Z and Alpha will be key to their future success. Inspiring both affluent men and women through all popular culture: fashion, music, art, and film, whilst showcasing the positive and playful elements of the fashion industry with their striking imagery capturing the zeitgeist for current and future generations (About, n.d). The name ‘Wonderland’ reflects the magazine, being a place people aspire to be, they want their readers to see the glamorous lifestyles of celebrities and admire the editorials and feel inspired rather than dictated. The idea behind Wonderland was to move away from the stereotypical ‘male’ or ‘female’ targeted publications. Huw Gwyther (creator of Wonderland) stated their aims for Wonderland was to create an “important modern brand that will quickly become synonymous with good taste, style, and originality, overflowing with the kind of information one might expect from a discerning friend” – Huw Gwyther (Dragon’s Den, 2020). The magazine is a high quality, contemporary and luxury magazine. Their price point is £9.95. whereas their competitors, being the likes of Vogue, have a lower price point. They feature advertising from luxury and couture brands such as Chanel, Gucci, Prada and Cartier, which are just a few examples. One aspect that stood out to me was their eye-catching imagery, consistently using vivid lighting across their editorials. These images consist of dark backgrounds with a soft light that adds a pop of colour and makes the image striking. The imagery inside the magazine stands out from other magazines on the market, with the fonts and colours being eyecatching. Rather than using stereotypical magazine fonts, Wonderland explores innovative and unique fonts that add a playful element to the magazine, which could be key to targeting the new generation Alpha being an open minded and tech savvy generation. (Wearesaintlaurent, 2016).
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SCULPTURAL FASHION Reflecting
on my research, I particularly found it interesting how Robbie Spencer uses different materials and textures to layer on his models, sculpturing the silhouette in a way that distorts it and appears disconcerting. A pivotal point in my research was discovering Robbie Spencer’s shoot for Dazed with Anthony Maule titled ‘Inflate’. Anthony Maule is a photographer Robbie has worked with on several occasions, however this one was described by Maule as one of the strangest fashion shoots he has created things for. The shoot consisted of models padded in layers and layers of materials such as rope and was described by Maule as being like a ‘human buckeroo’. The shoot was inspired by Comme Des Garcons who are the renown for sculpting models in layers of fabric creating visionary fashion looks. Maule and Spencer teamed up at a later point after their Inflate shoot creating a second obscure shoot consisting of a metallic aesthetic that created a statue appearance. (Card, 2010).
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Following
from this I began to research sculpture artists. I came across another pivotal point in my research, becoming an important part in my editorial was the artist Jen Harmon Allen. She created a series of dresses from different eras, which she delicately dipped into a big bucket of Plaster and draped it over a dress form to harden, forming a sculptural exhibition.( Allen, 2011) I reinterpreted Allen’s work, using a selection of clothing I found in charity shops which I felt represented Robbie Spencer’s styling, inspired by his collaborations with Simone Rocha, incorporating lace and ruffles which are materials Rocha uses often in her designs. I put my own personal persona on the styling in a way that I felt would look impactful and timeless as well as visually stimulating. My editorial is a mixture of artistic and fashion orientated, having a background in art I specifically enjoyed creating this sculptural styling fashion piece.
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STYLING To create my styling work, I dipped each item of clothing into Plaster of Paris, ensuring I worked fast with the help of Erin Gribbon, to make sure I could get my desired distorted shapes with the fabric and delicately placing them onto a mannequin before it dried. I used dress pins to hold it into place, creating distinctive shapes in a sculptural way. I found some materials were more stubborn and resistant to the plaster. To solve this problem, we began to drip the Plaster of Paris over the clothing, this gave it an Ancient Greek sculpture effect and reinterpreted the look of French Couturier Madame Gres who is known for using delicate pleats, turning ordinary fabric into Greek sculptures. She excelled at manipulating fabric and creating a sculptural fashion design, similar to the styling Robbie Spencer enchanted with Simone Rocha (Elena, 2017). The reasoning I used Plaster of Paris was to reinterpret the sculptural fashion Robbie Spencer often creates.
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Developments Taking Wonderlands striking imagery brought together my editorial. Given that their intention is to inspire their readers I wanted my imagery to look powerful and ethereal. My intention was to create an editorial that empowered the audience. Flicking through Wonderlands magazines, their vivid and playful editorials resonated with me the most. I found they brought their images to life and gave a mystical aesthetic to their magazine which stood out to me and what I wanted to reinterpret in my editorial. To create this effect, I experimented with an LED light, exploring different lighting against my styling piece. I found the Plaster of Paris had not adhered in places and wasn’t radiating the light how I envisioned. To solve this I spray painted the clothing that was dipped in plaster white. This reflected the light in a softer essence and gave it a more luxurious appearance, correlating with the narrative of Wonderland. To bring my experiments together I decided to use a model to make my final image more lifelike and bring in movement. I further edited my editorial image, distorting it in Robbie Spencer spirit. I wanted to portray distorted sculptural fashion and how fashion has changed and becoming free spirited. The background was important to me to be a simplistic white, to reflect the light and have the shadows create movement and feel dimensional. Therefore i simply used a white wall as i felt this would reflect the light more powerfully.
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Future of Wonderland In terms of the future of Wonderland, they currently target 20–40-year-olds which is the majority of the millennials. By 2030 Generation Z and Generation Alpha will be a vital target audience and key to their success, whilst Wonderland have made steps to become more tech savvy. Generation Z find relatable editorials more insightful and interesting as well, purchasing digital publications as expected from Alpha. Alpha is the first generation to be submerged into a world surrounded by technology, having information so easily accessible at their fingertips (Jones, 2022). The question is will Alpha or Generation Z still be purchasing physical magazine publications or will they look for digital content. In response to this I have created a video with an animation effect to support my final image and communicate with Generation Z and generation Alpha, bringing in a digital aspect and making it interactive and inspiring.
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Conclusion Reflecting on my editorial, I found working with the Plaster of Paris a success to achieve a striking final image, that looks powerful and inspiring, targeting both Men and Women. Using the rope and developing my work onto a model gave life to my image and gave it a unique perspective on sculptural fashion. Whilst I styled other shoots throughout my development using different fabrics, I felt they were often too simplistic or didn’t push the sculptural fashion aspect that is shown throughout my research and development. After speaking with my industry mentors Tony Green and Christopher Shannon, they helped me push my ideas further and guided me down the sculptural route. I began to take images of statues and figures after speaking with Christopher Shannon. This gave me insight to how elegant and detailed sculptured figures are. Tony Green guided me to incorporating the use of rope in my editorial, taken from Robbie Spencer’s styling in his ‘Inflate’ shoot. I found this worked well and gave it a vintage aesthetic often expressed within Robbie Spencer’s styling. To develop my project further I would bring in an aspect of the metaverse. With avatars arising in the fashion industry, I would consider bringing in this aspect to further target generation Alpha. I would also create accessories with the plaster thinking about making a mask, to further push the sculptural route in my work and make it more playful, which is something Wonderland excel at achieving. From my Mirror Mirror project I have learnt how to take risks and step outside my comfort zone. I felt working with the Plaster of Paris was difficult and after it didn’t take as well as I hoped, finding solutions to develop it, such as spray painting, was a success and I have learnt to try and explore different ideas and continue to move these ideas forward, to create my desired aesthetic.
Conclusion
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References About. (n, d). Wonderland. Retrieved from https://www.wonderlandmagazine.com/about/ Allen, J. (2011, June 30). Barn swallow dress. Plasterwoman. Retrieved from http://www.plasterwoman.com/2011_06_26_archive.html Anaya, S. (2013, June 17). The creative class. Business of fashion. Retrieved from https://www.businessoffashion.com/articles/workplace-talent/the-creative-class-robbie-spencer-fashion-director/ Biography. (2021). Business of fashion. Retrieved from https://www.businessoffashion.com/amp/community/people/robbie-spencer Card, G. (2010, Sep, 17). Inflate. Gary Card. Retrieved from. http://garycardiology.blogspot.com/2010/09/inflate-dazed-shoot-with-anthony-maule_17.html Dragon’s Den. (2020, Sep 2). The biggest investment of dragon’s den. YouTube. Retrieved from. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gi_p37mFFQ Elena. (2017, Oct 23). Sculptural fashion. Elena workshop. Retrieved from http://elenaworkshop.blogspot.com/2017/10/sculptural-fashion.html Jones, R. (2022, Jan 21). Generation Z & Generation Alpha. Brainzmagazine. Retrieved from https://www.brainzmagazine.com/post/generation-z-generation-alpha-boosting-our-future-generations (assessed 24th March). Wearesaintlaurent. (2016, April 26). Wonderland magazine analysis. Fashion publication. Retrieved from. https://fashionpublication.wordpress.com/2016/04/26/wonderland-magazine-analysis/
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