RESEARCH JOURNAL GABRIELLE RILEY 1
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CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT
Initial ideas Brand Research Product Range Target Market and Consumer Empowerment Freedom Gender Bendering Campaigns Photographer Research Stylist Research Fashion Media Research Menswear AW18 Trend Research Inspiration of Concept My Concept Model Selection
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THE PRODUCTION PROCESS Production Day Checklist Location Props and Equipment Photography Techniques Hair Styling Fashion Styling Scene Selection
POST PRODUCTION Image Manipulation Image Selection Final Selection Conclusion
CONTENTS PAGE 3
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INITIAL IDEAS From the project brief being announced I knew I wanted to do Yves Saint Laurent. This brand has a powerful message which is represented through their photography and styling in every editorial and campaign which I always find memorable and inspiring. The brands history of empowerment and rebellion has always captured my attention. Fashion history is a topic which I love to explore and have always found as a main interest and the stem to my love of fashion. I hope in this module I can capture empowerment of YSL through fashion styling and photography in the style of Saint Laurent. Throughout this journal I will research further into the Yves Saint Laurent brand, fashion photography, fashion styling and themes such as empowerment to create a concept for my project which not only captures the brand identity of Yves Saint Laurent but also the current Zeitgeist. 4
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BRAND RESEARCH HISTORY OF YSL
Yves Saint Laurent born in 1936, Algeria first worked in fashion for Dior, becoming creative director at Christian Dior’s Death in 1957 (Craven,2008). His first collection for Dior won his a ‘Neiman Marcus Oscar’ as it was a resounding success (Craven,2008). Laurent, after completing National Service opened his own fashion house with Pierre Berge, his partner and lover, in 1962 (Craven,2008). 1966 however, was the year of the le smoking suit, which is still an iconic piece for fashion today, empowering women by introducing tailoring to females as well as using military uniforms and bringing street style to high fashion (Craven, 2014). YSL went on to producing garments that changed the industry until 2002 where he retired and then died in Paris in 2008 at the age of 71 (Craven, 2008). The fashion house is still as iconic, however,a n umber of iconic creative directors have gone on to carry the Yves Saint Laurent legacy. Tom Ford first replaced Laurent, shortly after Stefano Pilati took the reigns, followed 7
after Hedi Slimane and today the creative director is Anthony Vaccarello (Craven, 2008). Saint Laurent however, inspires each creative director’s work incorporating revolution and empowerment in each collection. Yves Saint Laurent did not only empowered women he was also the start of initiating change in the fashion industry regarding racial diversity. This is not only through his ethnically diverse designs such as the iconic Mondrian Dress but through the models he chose to wear his garments, as the first designer to use black models on the runway at fashion week (The Cut, 2018).
“ YVES SAINT LAURENT IS INTO A NEW ERA, RECAPTURING THE IMPULSE OF YOUTH, FREEDOM AND MODERNITY” KERING 2014 8
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YSL PRODUCT RANGE
WOMENSWEAR AW18 10
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MENSWEAR AW18 13
YSL AW18 READY TO WEAR
Yves Saint Laurent have a wide product range consisting of women’s and men’s ready to wear, shoes, handbags, small leather goods, jewellery, scarves, ties and eye-wear. I hope to incorporate a wide product range of both men’s and women-swear into my project. At this point I am not sure whether I will use female, male models or both genders for my concept, so I have looked into the styling of both their product ranges. Their colour palette for AW18 is monochromatic with a sophisticated styling. The most prominent colour from my observation of the collection is black with a straight silhouette featuring for the majority of the garments. The collection also features a wide range of blazers, this particular item seems to be a Yves Saint Laurent staple, I will make sure I use a blazer in my own styling, as well try to stick to the monochromatic colour scheme for my own project. This collection which I looked into was the ready to wear AW18 collection. When Hedi Slimane took over YSL in 2012 he decided to drop the ‘Yves’ and re-brand the collection as “Saint Laurent Paris” this caused an uproar (The Cut, 2018). However, Anthony Vacarello,
current creative director, since 2016 has now re stored the initial branding by adding the ‘Y’ back to ‘YSL’ debuting this re-brand through the YSL heels which have become a popular fashion piece (The Cut, 2018). He also made sure the collection was inspired by the iconic ‘Le Smoking Suit’ bringing back the blazer jacket, which is why they feature widely in the AW18 ready to wear range, carrying on the vision from Yves Saint Laurent himself (The Cut, 2018). From observing both the women-swear and menswear collections, I noticed that the genders are not overly prominent and slightly blurred, taking an androgynous design approach. I found this interesting and not a factor I had realised before by looking at past campaigns.
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“SAINT LAURENT PARIS AIM TO CREATE AND MARKET HIGHLY DESIRABLE PRODUCTS THROUGH INNOVATION AND UNPARALLED QUALITY AND DESIGN.” KERING 2013 15
TARGET MARKET AND CONSUMER The target market and the actual consumer can be essentially two separate demographics. Yves Saint Laurent target their ready to wear products at the luxury market of men and women. They target the modern consumer who has a sense of freedom, ambition, assertive, follow their instincts and captivate others with their elegance, attracting men who prefer a ‘non-conformist look’ (Kotler,2009,P361). The brand focuses on the fashion conscious, independent and strong minded consumer who are highly educated, therefore gain a high income (Saint Laurent, 2018). The YSL consumer must have an eye for luxury garments and disposable income, enjoying premium brands (Saint Laurent, 2018). The age demographic of the YSL consumer ranges from 20 to 40, however their are is a loyal consumer group that are wealthy and career orientated of the ages 50 plus (Saint Laurent, 2018). Through new digital marketing strategies implemented by the brand, they hope to gain further brand awareness to younger consumer groups (Saint Laurent, 2018). When creating my campaign I will make sure I am conscious of the Yves Saint Laurent premium consumer demographic, as my campaign must appeal to this specific target market in order to be a realistic YSL campaign. 16
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EMPOWERMENT
After my second week on the module and I presented my project proposal, I explained my initial plan to combine YSL and the theme of empowerment in a new fresh, innovative way. I received feedback to explore the theme of empowerment further. A definition of empowerment from the Marriam-Webster dictionary is the act or action of empowering someone or something: the granting of power, right or authority to perform various acts or duties. I believe that ‘granting of power to perform various acts’ describes the brand ethos of Saint Laurent himself through giving women the power and freedom to reinvent and express gender conformity through fashion, as well as empowering men and women of ethnic backgrounds by introducing the fashion industry to racial diversity. Currently, empowerment seems to be a current Zeitgeist as the macro trend of female empowerment linking to the fourth wave of feminism impacts many factors of our society. A macro trend which has never really died and is as prominent as when Saint Laurent first supported the movement in the 1960’s.
empowerment. To comprehend the concept of empowerment , I must understand the concept of power. Empowerment is only required if power can change and that the idea can expand (Page, 1999). Weber (1946) believes this is often linked with the ability to make others do what we want (Page, 1999). This can be used in a positive or negative way. Yves Saint Laurent used his power as a fashion designer and the fame that came with this title to empower people and make a positive change to gender and ethnic equality. Lappe and DuBois (1994) refer to this as ‘relational power’ , however this could also be referred to as social power, class power and using the popular power of the fashion industry (Page, 1999). Empowerment can be used in many ways shared by many disciplines, regarding the example of Saint Laurent he used his power to help a social movement which is still apparent today.
I read the “Empowerment, What is it?” Journal to further my understanding on the concept of 18
“ IF CHANEL GAVE WOMEN THEIR FREEDOM, IT WAS SAINT LAURENT WHO EMPOWERED THEM” - PIERRE BERGE 19
FREEDOM
Similarly with empowerment comes another concept of freedom. Yves Saint Laurent used his power of being a man and his freedom of speech to grant women to be able to wear clothing which may go against the gender norms and be deemed ‘menswear’ with the “Le Smoking Suit” which gradually led women to believe it was socially acceptable for them to wear trousers or a tailored co-ord. The empowerment of YSL towards women was liberating, granting women freedom. To define freedom as ‘to do as one pleases - to think , believe, speak, worship, move, gather, act as you choose - but only until your choices start to infringe on another persons freedom” (Treder, 2009). From researching into this definition I found their are four essential human freedoms; freedom of speech and expression, freedom from want, freedom to worship God and freedom from fear (Treder, 2009). Saint Laurent used him freedom of speech and creative expression to help grant women the freedom of want, to wear what they please. These concepts of empowerment and freedom have inspired my project proposal and theme, I will incorporate these concepts into the narrative of my campaign. 20
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Genderless fashion is a micro trend taking over the fashion industry. Initially empowered by luxury fashion houses such as Alessandro Michele for Gucci it has started trickling down to the high street. The latest collection is Collusion for Asos, a uni sex fashion collection by the online retailer. As Yves Saint Laurent is a high fashion brand which is known for not sticking to the norms and gender constraints which society places upon us, I thought an androgynous collection empowered by the gender fluidity movement would be a good theme for a collection for Yves Saint Laurent. Gender lines are blurring more and more, however for women they have for some time.
Blurred gender for men however is a rather new concept. The majority of YSL campaigns are female orientated, therefore I’ve decided to create a male focused campaign. Gucci is not the only luxury brand which is at the front of this movement, Burberry has had dual gender presentations since 2005, Christopher Bailey officially launched this concept on the runway in “The September Collection” 2016 which served 250 gender fluid looks (shown in the image above) (Ang, 2017). Bailey stated in Vogue that “Genders are not as defined anymore”,(Ang, 2017) this concept has grown further in the last two years with Givenchy, Prada and Gucci following (Ang, 2017). 22
GENDER BENDERING FASHION
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CAMPAIGNS - LOCATION I have observed the Yves Saint Laurent locations on their Instagram. Their is a mix of locations they have used. Their most recent campaign is an outdoor location situated outside the Eiffel Tower in Paris. They also use the studio for a range of their campaigns. However props are involved mostly, especially furniture such as sofas or arm chairs. In door locations are also often used many are in Statley homes with grand staircases which are retro or grunge themed. Graffiti settings are also incorporated into some shoots which juxtaposes against the luxury, premium brand identity and garments of Yves Saint Laurent. The majority of the campaigns are in black and white, although some have colour. The ones that do have colour usually take a monochromatic colour palette, so the tones are minimal. A range of their campaigns have risky, sexualised , youthful themes, again juxtaposes against the sophisticated styling of the garments. However links to the controversial attitude the brand conveys. The differences between the campaigns will be due to the photographers used, the creative vision, concept and director of the shoot. I will try and use a location in a similar style to current and past Yves Saint Laurent campaigns. 24
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“ FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY IS ABOUT TRANSLATING A BRAND INTO A CONCEPT” - VINCENT PETERS (TUNGATE,2012 ) 27
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PHOTOGRAPHY - DAVID SIMS
David Sims a fashion photographer known for modernism, plain backdrops, graphic work and later capturing movement is not shy to being featured in Vogue and a name known amongst the most iconic in the industry (BOF, 2018). In fact, American Vogue stated that Sim’s work was ‘setting a new standard’ for fashion photography (BOF, 2018). A reason why YSL must use him for their campaigns regularly. Sims has not only featured in American Vogue but contributed to the most influential publications world wide including French Vogue, W Magazine, The Face, ID Magazine, Uomo Vogue, Arena Homme Plus, Dazed and Confused and Harpers Bazaar, where he had an exclusive retainer from 2000 to 2001 (BOF, 2018). Not only has David Sims shot the Saint Laurent Campaign with supermodel Kate Moss but also shot for Givenchy, Valentino, Prada, Alexander Wang and many more (BOF, 2018). In 1985 Sims started his editorial career shoot29
ing for ID magazine assisting Robert Ermann and Norman Watson (BOF, 2018). His first commercial break was the Calvin Klein 1993 campaign starring Kate Moss (BOF, 2018). Sims worked with Kate Moss on multiple occasions, his second globally recognised campaign for Yohi Yamamoto in 1995 lead him to becoming Photographer of the year in 1996 beating David LaChapelle (BOF, 2018).He has also taken the most recent YSL celebrity endorsement shoot with Travis Scott. I came across David Sims when researching into YSL, however I fell for his black and white imagery and how well the simplicity of his images work. His minimalistic style of photography works well when shooting for Saint Laurent as their style of campaigns is also very similar - I can see why they combined. I will use inspiration from David Sims and his minimalistic style when styling my photoshoot.
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PHOTOGRAPHY - INEZ AND VINDOOH
A Dutch duo who combine dynamic poses and unsettling effects to create artistic photography (BOF, 2018). I first came across Inez and Vindooh’s work on the YSL Instagram page as they are the main featured photographer on most of their campaigns as well as their personal work for Anthony Vaccarello. Just as I love the powerful images which YSL use, I love the style of photography Inez and Vindooh use - each image tells a completely different story with an equally empowering message. Inez and Vindooh met while studying fashion in Amsterdam, I love how they work as a pair as usually photographers work independently, yet they work so well together. They are now renowned in the industry for their offbeat, artistic images, in fact they were one of the earliest adopters of using digital photography in their work which put them ahead of others in the industry (BOF, 2018).
Together the pair have featured in the most iconic publications in the fashion industry including American, Italian, Japanese, Chinese and French Vogue. As well as W, Vanity Fair, Harpers Bazaar, Purple Fashoon, V Man, Interview, Pop, ID , The Gentlewoman and many more (BOF, 2018). As well as working for Yves Saint Laurent they have collaborated with Balmain, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Givenchy and Dior as well as many other iconic names (BOF, 2018). I hope to be influenced by the work of Inez and Vindooh as they are photographers which I have followed for yours, when thinking of the theme ‘empowerment’ they free style of revolutionary photography comes to mind 32
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PHOTOGRAPHY - CAMERON McCOOL
I came across Cameron McCool while researching photographers of the moment. His style differs from David Sims and Inez and Vindooh as he takes a candid, reportage approach to his photography (Barker, 2018). I chose to use Cameron McCools work to help inspire this project as I feel a candid approach would link in with the theme of empowerment and freedom by creating the theme through subtle ‘every day’ style shots, again creating a personal and intimate effect. McCool has often been known to travel along with bands, musicians and artists so he can get to know them and capture their personalities in a candid way while on tour (Barker, 2018).
His creativity combined with his photography stemmed from his mother being an artist and his grandmother being a photographer (Discogs, 2018). Before realising his passion for photography he focused his creative side on art. He is now an established fashion photographer shooting for Balenciga, Saint Laurent, Calvin Klein, Purple Magazine, behind the blinds, GQ incorporating his grunge , candid style photography in an innovative way for each individual brand or magazine he works with. A technique I will keep in mind when styling my own project.
As a self taught photographer Cameron McCool found his love for photography when his grandmother gave him a camera and he never looked back (Barker, 2018). 36
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STYLING - ALASTAIR MCKIMM
By researching into Yves Saint Laurent campaigns I came across Alastair Mckimm a stylist who features on a vast majority of campaigns from 2011 to present, as well as styling for Anthony Vaccarello himself. Known for his extravagant editorial styling he has worked with the most iconic publications in the fashion industry such as Harpers Bazaar, ID Magazine, Vogue and Dazed and Confused (Sasha, 2013). He’s also known for shaping campaigns such as Helmut Lang, DKNY, Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss (Sasha, 2013). The Belfast born stylist established himself as a freelance stylist after being appointed an assisting position for ID. Now working in New York he is also a fashion director for Last Magazine (Sasha, 2013).
Therefore, I see how he styles many of their campaigns. In my work I hope to incorporate Mckimms bold yet modern styling in my work so that my photography and styling have an Yves Saint Laurent aesthetic to it.
I was intrigued by Mckimms work as he takes a modern and bold aesthetic to styling fashion, two words which I would describe Yves Saint Laurent brand (art and commerce, no date). 40
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STYLING -FABIEN BARON
I was reading a report on which are the most influential stylists that you should follow on Instagram a few months back, and Fabien Baron was one of them on the list that stood out to me the most. Fashion styling has always been a passion of mine so I like to keep current with the most influential of the moment. I began to research into Baron from then on and he has become a certain ‘fashion icon’ to me.
uating he moved to New York and landed a job at GQ. After landing more jobs such as advertising at the New York Woman and becoming more and more known in the industry for his creative work he got the position of art director for Vogue Italia (BOF, 2018). He has since gone on to reinvent Harpers Bazaar, Vogue Paris and Warholian Interview Magazine (BOF, 2018). He now has his own advertising agency named Baron & Baron (BOF, 2018). His inspiFabien Baron has had a 30 year career as an rational career and creative work is so impresart director and stylist for a number of major sive and will hopefully influence my own project. fashion magazines such as Balenciaga, Burberry and Calvin Klein (BOF, 2018). He created a typography on his work which was instantly recognisable; bold, and elegant, his signature text on his work (BOF, 2018). He learnt typography work from his father who was art director of a variety of French newspapers (BOF, 2018). He then studied at Ecole Des Arts Appliques in Paris at the age of 20 (BOF, 2018). After grad44
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STYLING EDWARD ENNINFUL
Edward Enninful has always been an inspiration of mine. Apart from the being the current and first black, male editor of Vogue, which I love what he has done with the issue by creating the pages more diverse, he has worked so hard to get to the position he is now in by taking up a number of roles. Originally from Ghana and moving to London as a child, he got scouted to be a fashion model which is where his interest in the industry started. By the age of 19 he was fashion director at iD (Bond, 2017) which Nick Knight introduced him too (Newbold, 2018). However, Edward Enninfuls main job title is a fashion stylist, he still remains styling for shoots, especially in Vogue, while he is Editor and Chief for British Vogue as he states “I like to define my world by styling ... the world we live in is not black and white� (Newbold, 2018). Known for creating diversity in his styling work, I chose Edward Enninful to inspire my own work, especially with the brand Yves Saint Laurent in mind who is about empowering and freedom, I believe diversity fits into this theme, whether that be gender, race, age, appearance, any factor.
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FASHION MEDIA RESEARCH VOGUE
To me Vogue is not just a magazine, it is literally my fashion bible. As a vogue subscriber for many years now, I love receiving my vogue magazine through the post every month, stacking them up in a chronological order after I’ve read every page and examined every add and current trend. I love that vogue doesn’t just talk about the current fashion trends, it goes way deeper than that, it includes societal issues, macro trends and politics. Vogue is one of the most influential fashion publications which is produced in 18 countries and was founded 120 years ago, marking it an iconic magazine in fashion history (Fashion, 2015). To be featured in Vogue is an honour and an achievement as their status is so high in the fashion world and Yves Saint Laurent are one of the luxury brands who appear on the pages most issues.
Therefore, my campaign for Yves Saint Laurent should be inspired by the campaigns which regularly make up the pages in Vogue. As a prestigious name that was created in 1892 for the Elite society (Fashion, 2015), Vogue is seen as a luxury publication, however recently, high street brans have started to feature such as Topshop and River Island.
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DAZED and CONFUSED MAGAZINE
I don’t personally read Dazed and Confused religiously like I do Vogue. However, it is a magazine that has always i intrigued me with it’s alternative aesthetics. Launched by Rankin, a photographer I look up to in the fashion photography world, and Jefferson Hack in 1991, the alternative style and culture of the magazine became a popular publication with fashion enthusiasts and youth (Dazed and Confused, 2008). The cultural provocation became a movement, which eventually turned into a publication powerhouse named Dazed Media (Dazed and Confused, 2008).
I believe these deviating values fit into my theme of empowerment and freedom linking to gender especially with a brand such as Yves Saint Laurent which has never been conservative. I could therefore, see my campaign which is deviating from gender norms being published in magazine which is purposely publishing radical ideologies, especially from a n influential brand such as Yves Saint Laurent being published in one of the most influential popular culture fashion magazines - Dazed and Confused.
I love the ideologies which Dazed and Confused represent - to not fit into the norm, to define the times, to be you, and to be alternative (Dazed and Confused, 2008).
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HARPERS BAZAAR
Like Vogue, Harpers Bazzaar is an iconic fashion publication which has been running for 152 years (Mooallem, 2016). The magazine was founded in 1867 by Harper and Brothers, which was dedicated to looking at the lives of women through fashion (Mooallem, 2016). Again, this magazine started off in New York, one of the most renowned fashion capitals. In their first issue Harpers Bazaar described itself as “a repository of fashion, pleasure and instruction” with the same ideologies instilled in each issue today (Mooallem, 2016). Not only creating a fashion magazine for women but a lifestyle issue combining fashion, beauty, design, travel and style. This publication is a “well renowned arbiter of fashion and good taste” which famously featured Man Ray and Richard Avedon regularly (Hearst, 2018). Today it is home to photographers Peter Lindbergh and Solve Sundsbo (Hearst, 2018). This
fashion magazine is a must for style enthusiasts not only featuring couture but casual styling too. This publication is now available in 43 countries around the word (Hearst, 2018).
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OUTCOME
From researching these three iconic fashion publications, I have decided to aim to produce my campaign for British Vogue 2019 issue. They already feature Yves Saint Laurent advertisements and campaigns, however, with Edward Enninful now as Editor and Chief each issue brings more and more diversity to the publication. With my campaign being focused on gender diversity , I believe it would fit well with his, and the publications ideologies. As well as this, the publication is iconic, therefore if they push diverse campaigns it will normalise diversity among a stereotypical conservative, elite audience who the magazine is historically aimed at. 64
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ME NS WE AR AW 18 67
INSPIRATION FOR THE PROJECT
For this project I am inspired through gender fluidity and androgynous styling. When researching I came across Burberry, Givenchy, Prada and Gucci who had already created these looks on the runway. Gucci’s styling stood out to me the most. This inspired my styling and makeup for the collection to a point as it had to remain with Yves Saint Laurent styling rather than Gucci’s. This also influenced my model choice as the models have defined features and are slim built. For makeup, I will go for a clean natural face, not much makeup is needed, some features may need highlighting subtly. Similarly with hair, I like the untouched, messy styling which Gucci has used for their models. I will try to create the same look with my model, or try to get a model with longer hair. For styling I looked at the WGSN trend forecast for menswear AW18/19 . The main report
I focused on was Commercial Colour Update for Men and Young Men by Volker Ketteniss. The colour styling is going for a “refreshed palette this season” combing catwalk and global street style trends including seasonal tones. This is shown on the moodboard as Creme, Vanilla, Soft pine and deep saphire are mixed (Ketteniss, 2017). A sophisticated, understated combination of modern retro tailoring and sports, streetwear are applied to AW18 creating a smart silhouette (Ketteniss, 2017). This is a similar styling I will take, however combing this with an androgynous twist that would suit a collaboration for Yves Saint Laurent. Inspired from the Gucci collection, I like the feminine accessories which the male model use to further promote the androgynous styling. I will try to use feminine accessories myself such as a beret, glasses or a bag.
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MY CONCEPT
After researching different elements of photography and styling as well as publications and the current macro trend gender fluidity. I have decided to create a editorial menswear campaign for Yves Saint Laurent taking on an androgynous styling with clothes which are similar to the Yves Saint Laurent product range I looked at. This campaign would be featured in Vogue publications after researching how Edward Enniful is trying to create a more diverse magazine. I plan to create the campaign in black and white as most of YSL campaigns also feature black and white. I will bare all my research in mind when it comes to the production side of this project to create the most realistic campaign through photography and styling as possible. 72
‘THE MAN AROUND THE HOUSE’ MEETS YVES SAINT LAURENT WITH ANDROGYNOUS STYLING FOR BRITISH VOGUE 73
MODEL SELECTION
As I am from the North East I have worked assisting on shoots and completed a styling internship, using models from Tyne Tees. I decided to look on their website at the models portfolios to see if anyone I had used on previous shoots would be suitable for my androgynous theme. I decided to choose Nicolas Killeen. I believed his portfolio fit the criteria I was after and looked similar to the models Gucci had previously used when styling their “Gender Blurred� Runway theme, which I had used as inspiration for my own theme, however incorporating the YSL styling. I got in contact with Nicolas and arranged a weekend we were both free for the shoot. He was happy to model for me and liked the theme, I sent him my inspiration, concept and some items which I thought I could use for styling. I asked him if he could also bring any trousers which were not
tight fitted and sent him the YSL product range. By using products which we both had that were of a similar styling of YSL it would save me money on time as well as production and styling costs. From both of our wardrobes we had pieces which could be styled as YSL products. We discussed this on Facetime by showing each other our wardrobes and putting outfits together. I also asked him if he could bring any hair products he had so we could style his hair.
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THE
PRODUCTION
PROCESS 76
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PRODUCTION DAY CHECK LIST After my tutorial with Kevin, he suggested that I use stereotypically female items around the house for when I created my shoot to further the theme of gender fluidity. I like this idea and will take his advice on board. The props I will use are possibly, a cloth to look as if my model is cleaning, the iron, being in the kitchen , tea pot as if making a cup of tea as well as a smoking scene as I wanted to keep the brand identity through my shoot of YSL and they incorporate smoking scenes often. Production day is finally here and I want my shoot to run smoothly and go as planned. I have made a checklist to make sure I Have everything I need for the day and stay organised. DO NOT FORGET: - Model (important!) - Camera (also important) Garments; - White shirt - Black flared sleeve net blouse - Black trousers - Black blazer - Purple blazer - Beret Props; - Cloth, - Cigarettes - Lighter - Teapot - Iron - Ironing board - Mugs - Hair Gel 78
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LOCATION
FLASH
NO FLASH
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FLASH
NO FLASH
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FLASH
NO FLASH
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LOCATION For location I used my house in Leeds, I thought the structure and retro vibe of the house would suit well with my theme,I also would need a house for my “androgynous man about the house” theme for Yves Saint Laurent. I used three main spaces in my house. The stair case with the bookshelf as I thought this would be a good spot for a ‘cleaning’ scene. It also has great natural lighting. I also used my bedroom as I love the vintage style windows which are in my room as well as the swing chair. With this window I thought I could play around with the lighting to see if I could create a silhouette effect. My last location was the kitchen, the kitchen is in the basement and only has one frosted window, so has very limited natural lighting. I had to bring more lights downstairs to get the lighting I wanted, which contrasted to the other two locations. I tested what each location looked like with and without the flash. I alternated between these two depending on the image, location and lighting. 83
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PROPS AND EQUIPMENT
I used a range of props to create the “man around the house� theme for Yves Saint Laurent. I used house hold props to create this theme such as; iron, ironing board, mug, teapot, cloth and cigarettes. I used these for the model to interact to create different looks and different themes. Other equipment that I used was the garments to create different styling looks, my camera and furniture around my house such as my swing chair for the model to use.
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PHOTOGRAPHY TECHNIQUES
I took all my images in colour and plan to edit them into black and white. I used natural lighting as well as artificial to get the effects I needed for my image. I also used flash and turned the flash off depending on the lighting. For my images by the window the weather was good and natural lighting was perfect for the silhouette images I wanted to create. I experimented with different settings on my camera such as portrait mode when taking a close up but decided to stick to the normal mode and make any changes through photoshop after production.
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FASHION AND HAIR STYLING
I asked Nicolas if he could bring his own hair products , again this would save on cost of production. He said he would also prefer to style his hair himself. I showed him the moodboards of what I was after regarding hair styling and he gelled his hair back. However, I did have a beret on for the first two looks so we styled his hair after the first two looks were shot. As we were shooting in my house it was easy to style hair easily and get ready between the shots for the individual looks. I purposely didn’t go for a makeup look as I wanted a clean face. I did consider using makeup to highlight certain features but I tested it first on camera and made the decision that makeup wasn’t needed.
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FASHION STYLING
LOOK 1 My first look consists of wide leg black jeans, flared sleeve net blouse from Zara Women, and a black beret from Urban Outfitters, I added the beret inspired from the ‘Gucci gender bendering catwalk’ collection to further the androgynous styling.
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LOOK 2 For with
my second look I added a black blazer, I a blazer as it is a staple to a Yves Saint
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wanted Laurent
a look campaign.
LOOK 3 The third look was a white shirt from H&M with paired with a black blazer and black trouser. I wanted a black and white look so it would stand out when I edited the images black and white. The shirt is also from the female collection, creating the gender fluid look.
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LOOK 4 I used a second blazer in purple for my second look from Nasty gal, I chose to put nothing underneath this blazer. As I had already planned to edit the images all black and white I didn’t mind that the blazer was in purple, however I know that this colour isn’t a usual colour YSL use.
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SCENE SELECTION - THE MAN AROUND THE HOUSE 94
SMOKING BREAK
Take a smoking break from the house work... I used the flash off to create a silhouette effect using the natural lighting from behind and the flash on for a clear shot so the styling was clear. This shot was taken from straight on while he was smoking.
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COFFEE REST
Coffee rest watching some TV... I used an above angle to get an above shot of styling, as well as a straight on angle for a more posed look. I also edited out the branding on his socks for the final image.
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IN THE KITCHEN
Pot of tea for one? A low angle was used to get a full outfit shot and to make the model look taller, as well as this I wanted to make sure there was enough background in the image to make it clear he was in the kitchen. I also used a straight ahead shot which focused on the shirt and the models pose and action.
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HOUSEWORK DAYS
The ironing must be done. A close up was taken so outfit details were noticeable. However I also used a long shot so the action of ironing was clear.
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SPRING CLEAN
An ‘winter clean’’. I used a mixture of long and close up shots for this scene. I wanted to capture him cleaning in a candid as well as posed way.
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POST PRODUCTION - EDITING AND THE SELECTING PROCESS 100
IMAGE
MANIPULATION
Regarding photo editing not too much needed to be done. I made all my images black and white as I wanted them all to look like the Yves Saint Laurent campaigns which are mainly black and white. The images were cropped and changed to grayscale. I used the same black and white tone on each image which was a darker tone so the darker hues were bold in the image contrasting against the white. Majority of my styling was also in black and white so the colours looked good exaggerated. Some images needed cropping or rotating more than others. 101
IMAGE SELECTION
I took 180 images and began to narrow them down. I picked ones I believed were the strongest, started editing them adding them to a folder named “Possible 12�. In the seminar Kevin and Michael told me to add more candid images to my selection, so I went back through the file and started to choose more candid images. I kept looking through my selection then finally made my decision after they were edited. 102
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THE FINAL SELECTION THE MAN AROUND THE HOUSE FOR YSL 104
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THE FINAL
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I knew that choosing this module it would be a task for me. Although I love fashion styling, as I have interned in it and assisted local photographers and stylists, I knew designing a whole fashion photography and styling concept would be hard. In industry their are a variety of people who make up the production team from stylists, creative director, photographer to studio assistants and photography is not my strongest point. However I hope to of delivered a shoot which portrays the brand image and my concept to the best of my ability.
needs to gain awareness in every way possible so that gender fluid community feel more accept among society. The fashion industry is one of the most influential industries which can help build this awareness, therefore I hope in the future more and more brands use gender fluidity as the motivation behind their campaigns. I also hope that the ‘man around the house theme’ was captured through my images and props used. I was nervous that my concept wouldn’t be captured how I had envisioned it as I am weaker at photography compared to styling. However I am happy with the majority of my I am happy that I chose the brand Yves Saint images turned out, although I do believe some Laurent as it has always been a personal fa- are stronger than others, overall I am pleased vourite of mine, and I believe that the brand with the outcome. This module has helped me fit well with my gender fluid theme and the gain a further insight into the work which goes androgynous styling which came with that. into campaigns and pushed me into being more creative with the camera, as well as learning I enjoyed researching into the ‘gender ben- photoshop tools I can take with me into industry. dering runway’ as gender fluidity is a current movement which interests me. This movement 119
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