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CREATIVE Brand Me.
Brand Me Concept Direction And Development By Hannah McGuckin 1807322
In this report I will explore how the brand me module has helped me have a better understanding of myself as a marketing and communication student. My summer research and secondary research has enabled me to understand what has influenced me throughout my life of being born into a middle class family as well as what I am now influenced by and who my muses are. I will explore how the areas that I have researched has supported me to figure out what area of the market I fit into and how it has helped develop and shape my brand. I will reflect on how culture is a key concept for my brand and how this translates into the luxury fashion market
Introduction
Summer research part i
To begin this module, I answered questions that helped me understand the common denominators throughout my research and to focus on what the most important influences were for me personally. I discovered that my childhood had influenced the person that I am today greatly. I have a very close, loving and loyal family that I am very grateful for. I am very lucky that I was born into a cultured and happy family and have had the travel and lifestyle opportunities that I have had. I explored that although I am very grateful for the lifestyle that my parents have given me they have always showed me that you have to work hard in order to get what you want out of life. This is where I discovered that culture was a main influence throughout my sketchbook. Acceptance, determination, morals and positivity are all elements and values that I explored throughout my first research sketchbook. I found that I am a very accepting person and will treat everyone equally regardless of their background. My experience of attending both a private primary school and public secondary school impacted on this as well as the opportunities I’ve had of travelling and experiencing other cultures. Determination was a word that my family and friends described to be a personality trait of mine. I have always been a hard worker and I will try my best in everything I do. To be moral is another personality trait of mine which links back to my childhood and how it shaped me to be the moral person that I am today as I had a strong family support group. Lastly, positive was another word that my friends and family described me as, I am an optimistic person and I always try to keep a positive attitude. These elements are the elements that I wanted to portray throughout my research sketchbook and in my opinion all stem back to my childhood and how my family has helped shape and influence the person that I am today. My aim is to now bring those elements into my personal brand.
Self Reflection
Initially I found it difficult to pin-point and reflect on some of the questions that we were given throughout this task. Once I had created mood boards and discussed some of the questions with my friends and family it became apparent as to what my strengths and weaknesses are, who I take inspiration from, what brands I like and what I stand for. I concluded that my strengths are that I am a creative thinker, I enjoy creating concepts based on designs and brands and how I can develop them further using my skills in Photoshop, Illustrator, Premier-Pro and In-design. In addition to this I have identified throughout my summer research that I have strong styling skills. I am able style a concept through clothing to create certain looks and to appeal to a range of consumers. I am aware that most of the brands that appeal to me were luxury brands. I love tailored clothing and seem to opt for an androgynous look personally. Although I am drawn to luxury brands, streetwear is still an influence on my personal-style, and I enjoy the juxtaposed look of combing the two together.
My INspo
Tim Walker
Rei Kawakubo
Yohji Yamamoto
Art School London
Tim walker stood out to me as he always pushes the boundaries within his photography and breaks the conventions of luxury fashion photography. Tim Walker photographed the Louis Vuitton Fall 2020 menswear collection. He continued to use his playful and youthful approach to photography which subverts from what we would typically expect to see from Louis Vuitton. My perception of this collection and the way it has been photographed is that it is breaking down traditions within the luxury market. I think the clouds connote a sense of peace and freedom. It could also reflect on the current issues we have in society due to Covid-19 and how the whole world is unsure of what could happen in the future, everything is ‘up in the air’. This is another example of how a luxury brand has pushed the boundaries and had a new modern approach to the brands concept behind their collection.
Eden Loweth who is founder of Art School London also stood out to me. He has a genderless approach to his brand and combines a lot of queer fashion into his work as a way that people can express and embrace themselves. This brand stood out to me as it demonstrates a new modern approach to clothing and how fashion is becoming much more genderless and inclusive. This helped me to understand that I am drawn to androgynous style and the idea of pushing the boundaries within the luxury fashion market.
As part of our secondary research task we were given a brief to research certain designers and brands. These were from a mixture of market levels and certainly aimed towards different consumers. I found the anti-fashion movement particularly inspiring and how a handful of designers completely reshaped fashion and re-defined beauty. This movement started from Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto during the 80s. They completely subverted from the current trends from that era and created conceptual designs that were designed around the women’s body instead of for the woman’s body, by creating exaggerated silhouettes. Rei Kawakubo wanted to design clothes that changed the traditions of fashion. Her claim was that modern women did not have to be submissive to men. The colour black was very significant for both designers and is a colour that is seen across the fashion industry today. This was the introduction to women power dressing and wearing suits to feel empowered and equal to men. I was drawn to the anti-fashion movement and the impact designers had on fashion and how Rei Kawakubo and Yoji Yamamoto designed conceptual garments and garments that had a meaning behind them. This allowed me to really focus on what conceptual designers I am drawn to and what elements inspired the designers. I now have an understanding that luxury fashion that has been inspired and influenced by culture is something I find very interesting and how designers can combine elements of culture to fit within their brand, from working class culture to street culture.
SUmmer research part ii
Personal influences In order to understand and develop my brand I researched what influences me and my vision. I researched into brands that I would like to work for and brands that are influenced by culture as this is something I wanted to continue to bring forward within my brand. I noticed the common denominators were tailoring, menswear and how luxury brands can be influenced by streetwear through brand collaborations.
A COLD WALL** “British working-class uniform combined with elements of Savile Row tailoring”
INFLUENCES-
Conceptual Designer Clashing of class systems Public housing COMMUNITY
Public housing
Wokring class
"A COLD WALL is not just a streetwear project, is also cultural commentary...by build* ing an instal lation in Rotter* dam I m bringing them black working class Brit* ain� Samuel Ross
Collaborations
A COLD WALL** A Cold Wall is a brand that I would like to work for. This is a luxury menswear brands that aim to combine working class with Saville row tailoring. This brand was founded by Samuel Ross who comes from a working class background and is influenced by the community around him, public housing and the concept of clashing class systems. Throughout their collections A Cold Wall reference how they can take basic wardrobe items and elevate them to become much more sophisticated yet practical and long lasting. Working class culture is clearly referenced throughout the brands designs from the colours and materials that they use, and how they present their collections on the runway. A Cold Wall’s Spring 2020 collection was presented in an ex industrial location, surrounded by cement and electrical wiring. This collection has reference to Brexit and Samuel Ross’ response of “if things are falling apart, then it’s time to rebuild them with our hands” (Mower, 2019). This is evident of how this brand is inspired by culture and how combing working class culture with luxury fashion creates a conceptual brand. A Cold Wall have also collaborated with Nike who is known to be a streetwear/lifestyle brand. This is another example of how culture has influenced this brand and how street culture can be combined with luxury fashion.
Acw x Nike
Craig Green
Conceptual Designer Uniform Structure Community
Craig Green Craig Green is another influence of mine. His designs are inspired by uniform as he has a utilitarian approach to his designs. His influences are community and structure. Craig Green is another luxury menswear designer which is a clear indicator that luxury menswear is the area of the industry that interests me the most. Craig Green’s AW 2020 collection caught my attention due to the concept behind it. The collection was about the emotional baggage that men carry with themselves throughout their life and the challenges that they face and what they hold onto. To demonstrate this his clothing was multi-functional, this collection included clothing that would then turn into a sleeping back. His designs almost always have reference to protective wear including bomb-proof vests, armour and field hats which is another element of how his brand is inspired and influenced by culture.
Structure
Religion
Community
Louis Vuitton
I researched into Louis Vuitton and Dior and how each brand has collaborated with lifestyle brands such as Nike, Supreme as well as street artists such as Kaws and Takashi Murakami. I found this interesting as they are both examples of how luxury fashion houses can include cultural references into their brand that will appeal to Generation Z consumers who care more about what brand they are buying into compared to what products they buy (DeAcetis, 2019). This is the process of the luxury market pushing the boundaries of their conventional means of practise and focusing on ways that their collections can have more of a conceptual meaning through collaborations and their reference to culture.
Air Jordan
Self Reflection After reflecting on the brands that I had researched into, A Cold Wall and Craig Green were the main two brands that stood out to me the most. I noticed that both brands have this sense of cultural commentary throughout their brand that I wanted to research into further as it linked back to my brand me of how my culture and childhood has influenced me the most. Once I developed my research further I noticed that there were common denominators within each brand which were community, protection and the sense of social consciousness and a conscious design approach. I researched further into what other brands have these messages and how they portrayed them within the luxury market as my aim was to see if I can discover a gap in the market to develop a 360 campaign idea.
The NEw Luxury I thought it was important to research into the future consumers buying habits and what has been predicted for the future in terms of how and where they purchase from. Throughout my research I found a number of articles that focused on the idea of ‘The New Luxury’ and what the future may hold for the luxury fashion market. According to Matter of Form “67% of Gen Z and 60% of millennial luxury purchases have bought a designer collaboration piece or special edition, and they are particularly popular among Chinese consumers (62% have bought into the trend)” (form, 2019). It has become apparent that there has been a shift in luxury fashion consumers, more younger consumers who are part of Generation Z are buying from luxury fashion brands. They are also more conscious of the brands that they buy into rather than just what they buy (DeAcetis, 2019).
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CREATIVE
Amongst my research into these designer brands and how they have successfully combined luxury fashion with culture I also looked at OffWhite and Public School and their branding. These brands have all inspired my aesthetic. Their branding is very simple, and they use very limited colour palettes of grey, blacks and whites and the occasional tonal colour. I will consider these elements when creating my logo as I want it to convey with the luxury menswear brands. In order to embrace my digital presence, I will create a website that will help communicate my branding and a space where I can share my previous and future work. The brands that I have researched clearly combine traditional luxury fashion with cultural references which is the aim I wish to take forward with my own branding. My brand is going to follow traditional luxury fashion conventions with a modern twist of immersing culture through my 3 main concepts.
Self Reflection Following my research, I knew that luxury fashion influenced by culture was what I want my future concept to be. I am aware that trend forecasters have considered the future of the luxury market and what we will expect to see from luxury brands in the future. My main influencers are A Cold Wall and Craig Green, I want to portray the common denominators that I found amongst each brand into my brand and develop them further in a way that I think there is a gap in the market.
Values I want my brand to portray the key elements that I have found from my brand research and the values that I personally have that all relate back to my childhood and culture. My brand is going to be a positive and moral brand that promotes acceptance for all cultures, backgrounds and people in general as acceptance is my message that I discovered throughout my brand me research. My brand will include traditional luxury conventions with a modern twist of immersing culture into luxury brands. This will promote the importance that culture has on society as a whole and will create meaning behind the brand which will coincide with the needs of the future consumers who are members of generation Z (DeAcetis, 2019).
My MEssage The message behind my brand will be looking at the future of the luxury fashion market and how brands can push the boundaries of luxury conventions creating a contemporary appeal towards luxury brands that include cultural references. Focusing heavily on my brand concepts, the message behind my brand will be positive and accepting.
My BRand Concepts My concept will be building a brand that is influenced by culture and how that can be incorporated into the luxury market. A modern twist on luxury menswear that has a strong emphasis on tailoring, luxury streetwear and the future consumer. Culture is a way of life and something that society is influenced on as a whole, therefore my brand will emphasise the message of acceptance and will create a sense of meaning behind my brand. This will appeal towards consumers that are members of generation z who want to have a relationship with the brands that they buy from as my brand will create a personal approach. In my opinion my brand will be relatable and will make people appreciate their own cultural background and how it has influenced them as a person. I would like to explore how elements of different social classes can influence different areas of fashion and the traditions that have adopted over time. I aim to demonstrate how culture is one of the biggest influences towards society. My brand will have a luxury aesthetic that will have a minimal approach which will reflect within my branding. The branding uses different shades of grey, black and white with a hint of muted colours to create a luxury yet contemporary presence. As I aim to make my brand a very accepting brand I want to show that it can be adapted into different environments based on the cultural references.
Community
social consciousness
Market Level The market level that my brand will be based at is the luxury market. I noticed that elements of the brands that influence me sit at the luxury streetwear market which demonstrates that the difference between the traditional luxury market and the luxury streetwear market is becoming a blur and in the future we could expect to see luxury clothing that is “inspired from the ground up� (DeAcetis, 2019).
Generation z I explored how the shift of luxury consumers may influence the way luxury brands market and release their products. The consumer that I am directing my brand towards are generation Z. Generation Z have been born into a world that is dominated by technology (Seymour, 2019) and have become a very influential generation. With the use of social media and other digital platforms generation Z have the ability to purchase an item with-in second (McKinsey, 2020). Generation Z have become more aware of what brands they are buying into and the relationship they have within the brands. They want to be able to express themselves through their clothing. According to an article based on ‘The New Luxury’ “Consumers expect quality, purpose-driven products, and a degree of cultural credibility from their purchases. It’s why smart luxury brands like Louis Vuitton are tapping guys like Virgil Abloh, and why certain Nike sneakers can be as highly regarded on the aftermarket as a rare, editioned Rolex” (DeAcetis, 2019).
In terms of streetwear brands’, the ‘Drops Model’ is a successful strategy that brands like Supreme use when launching new products (Peterson, 2018). This is a keyway that the ‘drop model’ creates a direct-to-consumer relationship and how it encourages consumers to want to stay informed of when new collections will be released in order to make sure that they are the first in line to get their desired products. Brands that adopt the ‘drop’ strategy will have limited stock which increases the consumers need of wanting to get the product as it creates a sense of achievement and will therefore create brand loyalty. However, it is not just luxury streetwear brands that have adopted this approach, Kim Jones decided to use this approach for the Spring19 Dior x Kaws collection. He created pop-up drops around the world in different Dior stores where consumers queued in hope of purchasing an item from the collection. This is evident of how luxury brands can adopt this approach in order to create a ‘hype’ around their collection that appeals to consumers who are members of generation Z, Burberry is another luxury brand that has successful executed this strategy.
Conclusion To conclude, I will move my brand forward by developing my 360 campaign which will be my final major project. I want to continue the emphasis on culture throughout my brand and how linking back to my brand me research, how culture is also my main influence. I want to demonstrate how there is a gap in the market based that is based on my 3 brand concepts of protection, community and social consciousness. I want to demonstrate how luxury brands can push the boundaries of the luxury market conventions by focusing on these concepts throughout my 360 campaign. I will continue to think about the future of the luxury market and what the luxury consumer’s needs are. I will aim to gather primary and secondary research on what elements of culture that generation z is most drawn to. I am going to research further into how other brands within the luxury market portray a sense of cultural commentary throughout their brands and how the concepts of protection and clashing class cultures has been executed.
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