Trend package - (Grade 1st) by Jennifer Leigh

REFLECTIVE

RESEARCH

JOURNAL

RAD HOURANI

Jennifer-Leigh Shipley 200970748 Trends and Forecasting DESN 2365

22| Week 8/9

Trend Package Concept The Future of Retailing 28| References 29| Image References

RAD HOURANI

BUSINESS PROFILE Rad Hourani demonstrated his creativity as a designer, photographer and artist through a nonconfirmative process. The Rad Hourani brand embodies “modernity as an odyssey free of nations, gender, age, race, limits and conditioning” (Anon, 2017). Rad Hourani evolved through a vision of neutrality, “Proposing neutrality as a new universal vision” (Anon, 2017). This neutral vision projects a contemporary, non-aligned and unimpeded pathway to living. Rad Hourani was born, 1982, to a “Jordanian-Canadian father and Syrian mother” (Anon, 2017). After graduating, Hourani began pursuing a career as an art director and later moved to Paris at 23 to progress in video and photography. Soon after he launched the first ever unisex collection which inspired him to propel the Rad Hourani brand in October 2007; at the outstanding age of 25 (Anon, 2017). Rad Hourani is renown for producing multidisciplinary exhibitions and video installations around the world. Hourani’s artistic genius and unisex ideology led him to become “the first ever designer to present a unisex haute couture collection in the history of fashion” (Anon, 2017). Rad Hourani (2017) suggests his practice is centred around: “A sense of curiosity and innocence driven by my ‘no-background’ background. No school. No teachers. No telly. No boundaries. No formatting. I like the idea of a world that we could live and shape by ourselves, only by observing, each our own. My visuals have erupted from this world of mine. They are genderless, ageless and limitless. They come from no nation, no race, no religion, yet they could be home anywhere, anytime. They exude the essence of timeless style for anti-conformist individuals”. This outlook depicts that having no external influences has projected Rad Hourani’s creativity; keeping his creative pursuits pure and original. He hasn’t been misleading and guided towards new perspectives and has held true to his beliefs.

Market Share Rad Hourani 0.5% of online market share for haute couture, luxury fashion brands. Rad Hourani is the only company that does Unisex Haute Couture that still makes a profit; therefore they have over 100% of the total profit in Unisex Haute Couture.

Competitors Competitors can include any luxury brands that have unisex collections, for example, J W Anderson, Givenchy, Gucci, Lemaire. Even brands on a different market level such as high street brand, Zara, offer gender neutral apparel that connotes high-quality design and an appealing price. Additionally, brands that specialise in purely unisex garments, for example, 69, Eckhaus Latta, Vaquera, Moses Gauntlett Cheng, Gypsy Sport and Vejas could be perceived as a competitive threat.

Company USP Rad Hourani is the leader in unisex haute couture and ready to wear. His brand breaks down gender boundaries and appeals to everyone seeking a neutral balance within their style and choice of garments. The brand has a creative advantage as Rad Hourani uses a fine art approach, for example, installations, media and photography projects to present his collections. To summaries Rad Hourani utilities a different take on fashion that incorporates fine art disciplines alongside gender neutral fashion designs.

PRODUCT AND PRICE RANGES Rad Hourani's products are split into four categories: Outerwear: Vest, jackets, blazers, coats and cardigans. Tops: T-shirt, tank top, turtlenecks, sweater, pullover and hoodies. Bottoms: Pants, shorts and skirts. Accessories: Bags, scarves and sunglasses. The lowest price range is, UNISEX TOP/DRESS RED JERSEY $295 The highest price range is UNISEX LONG TUXEDO VEST RED CREPE - EXCLUSIVE $3,995

SOCIAL MEDIA Facebook Twitter Instagram Pinterest Tumblr

RAD HOURANI

FASHION NEEDS The consumer desires a quality design with a neutral feel, which depicts gender fluidity through their apparel. They prefer branded clothing opting to wear designer brands such as Rad Hourani. They prefer quality over quantity, choosing to save for a while to buy designer clothes. However, they also buy from high-street brands, often Zara, who provide gender neutral collections.

Where and how do they shop? They prefer to shop mainly on online, buying from brands that specialise in unisex apparel. They often use eBay and Depop as a tool to find designer brands at bargain prices. However, they also search the high-street for gender fluid garments and opt to choose garments from Zara; who provide gender-neutral alternatives.

ELIFORP REMOTSUC

INTERESTS & OPINIONS They target consumer participates in socialising, reading, meditating, watching films, visiting art exhibitions and galleries, shopping, travelling, music events and working out. Cultural activities are rated high priority in their free time.They have the opinion that there is a need for equality between all races and sexes. They feel there is a need for a balanced, non-discriminatory acts amongst genders and races. The need to live with no limitations or boundaries and that we shouldn't be confined to masculine and feminine expectations.

DEMOGRAPHICS Gender: Female and Males Age: 18-34 (Millennials) Economic Status: Low to middle class (Trickle-up effect) Occupation: Students, Graduate scheme’s, Assistant roles, Bartender, Waitress/Waiter, Retail sector Income level: £19,000 - £22,000 Educational level: University degree Class: Working-class and middle-class students Location: The UK’s largest cities, London, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds Martial status: Single; no children Ethnic background: All ethnicities Lifestyle: Daily life consists of studying, working and socialising with friends. They have a liberal approach to living and favour keeping fit and healthy. PSYCHOGRAPHICS Personality: Humanistic persona Attitudes: Anti-policial, Liberal Values: Value their time and time with their friends and family Behaviour: Brand loyal especially to the brands that stand for the same beliefs as they do. Their concerned with projecting a non-aligned appearance and a non-discriminative free thinking vision of life Consumer habits: Shopping once a month online for branded minimalistic clothing and searching the high-street for value products weekly. This consumer is very fashion conscious and enjoys the process of purchasing garments frequently.

MAGAZINES & BLOGS Magazines: I-D, Hunger, Pigeons and Peacocks and Vogue Blogs: The Unisex Mode, Utter couture

EMOTIONAL MOTIVATIONS Emotional motivations derive from the desire to feel equal and to not be restricted by our gender. They buy into brands such as, Rad Hourani who represent equal opportunities for everyone that doesn't consider gender boundaries through the use of his clothing. The target consumer is motivated by a neutral lifestyle and a nihilistic attitude toward current intense political and outdated perspectives. Consumer insecurities fuel the action of consumption, by buying into the brand they feel that their more socially accepted and part of a group that helps them to self-identify.

Week 1 Module introduction and what is trend forecasting? In an era governed by social media and technology advances, we are all living in a hyper-connected society. Fashion forecasting has become essential for businesses, in particular for the creative industries; the Telegraph reported: “Trend-spotting is the new £36bn growth business” (Barnett, 2011). Worth Global Style Network, (WGSN) “created £40m of revenues in 2010, up by 5pc on the previous year” (Barnett, 2011). The Future Lab, a global trend forecasting agency state the importance of fashion forecasting, “Anticipating the shifts and changing dynamics of your market is crucial to your short-, medium- and long-term survival” (Laboratory, 2017). Fashion forecasting “is the prediction of mood, behaviour and buying habits of the consumer. It is no longer a question of identifying your customers by age, geography or income, but looking into how and why they buy, based on their mood, beliefs and the occasion” (Dhanapal and Anita, 2017).

The Gender Neutral Lifestyle Partially masculine partially feminine the genderless lifestyle has emerged from non-conformists that have a fluid approach to gender and sexuality. A-gender, gender binary, genderless, unisex are all terms to define a true liberation to be who you want to be, with no gender boundaries. The gender-neutral trend is radically changing every aspect of our lives, from unisex toilets to the way we shop and silhouettes we wear on our bodies. Gender neutrality is here to stay. The new lifestyle board depicts the gender neutral aesthetics, infiltrating the fashion industry, interior design, typography, marketing communications and fine art. It's obvious this change is prevalent amongst the creative industries; however we are starting to see this lifestyle trend penetrating political policies. “HE’ & ‘SHE’ BECOME GENDER-NEUTRAL ‘ZE’ AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY”; gender-neutral pronouns are encouraged throughout academic environments to prevent discrimination amongst the transgender community (Anon, 2016). Development of the Customer Profile The target customer for Rad Hourani is a person who prioritises cultural activities and freedom of expression, not confined to masculine or feminine expectations. They feel the need for a balanced, nondiscriminatory life; free from limitations and boundaries. Concerning demographics, the target market is millennials, male, female and gender binary consumers aged between 18-34. Their occupational status connotes part-time students or young professionals participating in graduate schemes or assistant positions. The target consumer lives and works in an urban environment, usually big cities such as London, Glasgow and Manchester who originate from all ethnic backgrounds. Psychographic traits involve an anti-political, liberal and humanistic persona who value their free time. They feel the need to stay loyal to brands that synchronise with their core beliefs and are concerned with projecting a non-aligned appearance and non-discriminative and liberal vision of life. Regarding consumer habits, they opt to shop online once a month, for branded minimalistic clothing, combined with searching the high street for cheaper alternatives. In general, this consumer is fashion conscious and enjoys buying well-designed garments frequently. Chosen retailer: Rad Hourani Rad Hourani evolved through a vision of neutrality, “Proposing neutrality as a new universal vision” (Anon, 2017). This neutral image projects a contemporary, non-aligned and unimpeded pathway to living which has created a new global lifestyle trend. Rad Hourani is considered a leader in unisex haute couture and ready to wear. His brand aims to break down gender boundaries and appeal to a society seeking a neutral balance in correlation to their individual style and mentality to life. The Rad Hourani brand symbolises genderless, race-less, nationless, limitless and ageless connotations (Hourani, 2017).

EVIDENCE OF A NEED RAD HOURANI

“Reliable figures show that at least 0.4% of the UK population defines as nonbinary when given a 3-way choice in terms of female, male or another description. That’s about 1 in every 250 people” (Quarries, 2014). These statistics connote a potential market for non-binary fashion, these figures are rising in the millennial generation; which seek to actively consume much more to meet their fashion conscious needs.

NON-BINARY NEED

People who consider themselves no-binary aren’t comfortable wearing ‘gendered’ clothing which connotes a current need in the marketplace. “As more and more people opt to make their diverse sexual and gender identities public, and as choice-craving individuals seek clothing that perfectly reflects their personal style, retail and fashion insiders expect sales of androgynous duds to climb in the years ahead” (Bosanac, 2016). Statistics show that there is a niche for unisex clothing, which has been recently exhibited in Zara who produced a unisex line and Gapkids followed the trend by introducing gender-neutral children’s wear (Bosanac, 2016). “In particular, millennials—gay, straight and trans—see no stigma and plenty of style in gender-neutral apparel. Witness the mainstream popularity of such androgyny-focused fashion blogs as Qwear, Switch Teams and Man Repeller” (Bosanac, 2016). We are seeing this gender-neutral trend appear in Haute fashion houses, with brands such as Gucci, J.W.Anderson and Hood by Air incorporating unisex lines into their collections (Bosanac, 2016). The luxury market is making unisex acceptable, which soon impacts the other market levels as it filters down to the high-street. Unisex attire provides the freedom which people to express genuinely who they are.

'DAY IN THE LIFE'

Week 2 Rad Hourani USP Rad Hourani brings a different perspective to fashion, incorporating fine art practices, graphic design, video and photographic installations; alongside his gender neutral collections. His distinctive fine art approach to fashion design gives Rad Hourani a creative advantage when distinguishing his brand from its competitorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Rad Houraniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s apparel is non-discriminative, appealing to everyone. Rad Hourani has increased his market share by rising above his competitors through his creative and innovative approach to design. Hourani is the only company that specialises in Unisex Haute Couture that is still gaining a significant profit, with a 100% return. Rad Hourani equates to 0.5% of online market share for haute couture.

Competitors Houraniâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main competitors are J. W. Anderson, Gucci, Lemaire and Givenchy. Brands from the high street market level could be considered a potential threat for offering neutral apparel of high quality at an affordable price; these characteristics are evident in brands such as Zara and Uniqlo; whom also offer collaborative collections with high-end designers. Through my research, I found many fashion brands that specialise purely in unisex garments, for example, 69, Exkhaus Latta, Vaquera, Moses Gauntletlett Cheng, Gypsy Sport and Vejas. Brands offering specialised unisex clothing could be perceived as a potential threat to Rad Hourani.

Week 3 Customer Profile and Brand Workshop I’ve been content with my progress so far regarding research and analysis for my chosen retailer. Although my health has significantly impacted my performance and attendance to group sessions, However, I’ve been maintaining a sufficient level of work at home. An overview of colour Colour is a form of expression to communicate our identity and out inner emotions. Carl Jung stated that, “Colour is the mother tongue of the subconscious” (Forno, 2016). Colour is hard to predict as our emotions are fluid and our subconscious is almost impossible to identify. Colour is subjective, and the fashion industry understands colour in a unique way, in accordance to changing seasons (Forno, 2016). Colours change every season, predominately driven by trends. Colour “drives a narrative that sets a consistent tone for designers to play off during the long journey from concept to reality” (Forno, 2016). This reality is in the form of the branding process for many fashion labels. With changing attitudes towards colour. Designers tend to set colour trends yet not react to them (Forno, 2016). WGSN predicted the Pantone colour of the year, PANTONE 15-3919 TCX and PANTONE 13-1520 TCX. These shades of blue and pink are a “movement towards a more genderless society” seen as “Gender, as it’s full of potential” (WGSN, 2017). Fundamentally, it's a depiction that blue isn't just for boys and pink isn't just for girls; these colours are playing on gender stereotypes and the trend towards a gender neutral society. “Soft Pop macro trend for 2016, which we published 18 months ago, and was based on “an all-inclusive world view no longer constrained by gender, sexuality or ethnicity.”(WGSN, 2017). Other companies specialising in producing seasonal trend books dedicated to colour are Viewpoint and Textile view. These issues include “visual imagery, material direction, and trend forecasts displayed in Pantone colours, along with colour news and colour psychology research” (Pantone, 2017).

Week 4 Fashion industry timeline, Mood and Colour Rad Hourani currently uses a combination of fabrics and yarns, for both his haute couture and unisex ready to wear collections. These fabrics and yarns are, cotton, spandex, wool, polyester, rayon, leather, nylon, viscose and viscose bamboo (Hourani, 2017). Fabric selection Pantone swatches are evident amongst the mood and colour board; as I believe there much successful in connoting an overall feel for the trend and collection. Concerning fabric selection, I opted to keep it simple. Tailoring fabric in the above Pantone colours would be the most suitable. The choice for simple fabrics runs parallel with the gender-neutral trend, keeping to the core notions that everybody can wear the collection, despite gender differences. Each colour can be synchronised together beautifully, for example, you could place a black beauty blazer with snow white trousers and a blue atoll shirt against a navy peony A-line skirt. Through extensive research, especially looking through previous collections by Rad Hourani, I decided my colour range for the collection. I ordered the following colours from Paris, Pantone colours: PANTONE Cockatoo 14-5420 TPX Black Beauty 19-3911 TCX Snow White 11-0602 Blue Atoll 16-4535 Plum Purple 19-3218 TPX Navy Peony 19-4029 TCX Then I created mood boards for each Pantone colour with visuals incorporating fine art pieces, photography, nature and interior design.

ACTIONS & BEHAVIOURS

In his own vision, he is sketching a new freer way to live” (Hourani, 2017).

PERSONALITY Neutral

se .)71 fo irad 02 yti eerF nuo ,inar mr uo .m b , o fno sila noig H( n cn ud iler oit o n s ividn ,eg idno et cd i fo a ,r a e c ov ecn dne na da g e “ ina sse e ,tim ru h il o H t sa da R

Logical

Innovative

Timeless

VALUES

Visionary

ESSENCE

The brand embodies neutrality that “boasts different perspectives approached through the media of painting, sculpture, photography costume, sound and video; that exposes the foundations of our social, religious, economic, sexual and geopolitical systems, proposing neutrality as a new universal vision” (Hourani, 2017).

Edgy

Liberal

Futuristic Non-conformist Independant

The brand manifests many forms such as photography, video, fashion design and artwork in a gallery setting. The brand has ignited a gender-neutral trend and other designers have designed collections around these principles in order to compete with a now, large market.

RAD HOURANI

I chose six pantone colour's for Rad Hourani's new collection.

Week 5 Fabric and Yarns The week composed of a preparation and the development of A3 pages for the current mood, colour, yarns and fabric; to be scaled down into the A4 trend package. This week was particularly difficult as I had to undergo a medical termination which affected my ability to pursue the presentation; although fully prepared. Despite this set back I’m happy that I’m up to date with my work and that I’ve kept to my academic schedule.

Week 6: Presentation of colour/mood/fabrics/yarns I was unfortunate that I couldn't receive any feedback on my presentation performance due to an admission to hospital. However, the fundamental question to address this week was, what direction will your brand take regarding adopting new key shapes? To address this question I resisted my research into the product range and type for Rad Hourani. I conclude that a range of new genderless silhouettes would be beneficial for Rad Hourani’s up and coming collection. A combination of shapes inspired by men's and womenswear would create a refreshing appearance for the brand. The trend package concentrates its focus on minimalism, especially innovative and edgy silhouettes. The choice of fabric is simple, bold and rather brave. The Pantone selection involves colour's that appeal to both men, women and gender binary consumers.

Week 7/8 Key Silhouettes This week is dedicated to finalising Hourani’s key silhouettes. I created hybrid shapes that would be suitable for men, women and unisex consumers. It’s vital that these silhouettes meet the needs of the Gender Neutral Lifestyle and the core concept, “Neutrality as a new universal vision” a “freer way to live” (Hourani, 2017).

Week 8/9 Reviewing the marking criteria, I spotted some gaps within my work, missing mega, macro and micro trends relating to the trend concept; which I didn’t clearly state in my previous journal entries. Additionally, through scrutinising my work I found that I need to expand on my critical thinking, analysis and interpretation; in furtherance of reaching the higher marks for this module.

Megatrend |Gender Shift

Traditional gender roles have disintegrated, due to women striving for high-powered careers and men desiring to spend more time with their family (Zukunfts, 2017). This mega trend has been shaping a contemporary society, with no gender boundaries and new forms of self-expression. Macro trends |Neutral Culture

“Historically, race and gender have been the most divisive markers of identity. And while they are a foundation of mainstream culture, we are beginning to see early adopters and innovators challenge these rigid classifications and replace them with visions of identity that are more personal and nuanced” (Walker, 2015). |Soft pop

WGSN's last report depicted a ‘soft pop’ macro trend, “Driven by a more comprehensive approach to identity and the modern re-branding of feminism, making for an all-inclusive world view no longer constrained by gender, sexuality or ethnicity”(Ellis, 2015). Mirco trends |Neutral Beauty

Microtrends are defined as “Specific shifts in consumer behaviour that are changing the business environment in the short-term” (LSN: Global, 2017). A current Mirco trend emerging is neutral beauty products, where the “beauty industry is reflecting a shift in mindset with products that present a neutral aesthetic” (Hancock and Smith, 2016).

FRESH IDEAS

Week 10

SWOT Analysis: Gender Neutrality Strengths: Gender neutrality will continue to grow due to growing due to designers generating more revenue as they can sell to both sexes using one collection. Weaknesses: Not everyone in society has a liberal mindset which slows down the process of the gender-neutral trend; not everyone is willing to adopt to this gender binary lifestyle. Opportunities: Recently there has been an accelerating interest in unisex apparel with vast opportunity for brands to engage with this movement in furtherance of increasing revenue and creating innovative retail spaces. Threats: If societal changes occur and perspectives change towards gender neutrality, opting for my traditional theories towards gender ideals; then the unisex market will drop.

Week 11

Trend package concept The underlying concept for the gender-neutral trend package is about uniting people, with no gender boundaries or distinctions; everyone should be able to express their identity and values freely. Fundamentally, the gender neutral culture is about society uniting together, despite gender, social backgrounds and status. The trend takes the pressure of being asexual and liberates people who aren’t apart of the ‘normal' gender stereotype. It allows men to explore their feminine side and women to explore their masculinity; the gender-neutral trend will help define a more liberal and open-minded society. Gender binary is essential for the success of Rad Hourani, as he built his brand on genderless silhouettes. In summary, there is an increasing market for transgender and gender binary consumers. It's essential to keep up to date with this target market; finding new silhouettes that work for women, men and gender binary consumers. The Future of Retailing

Gender Neutral

A-gender retailing (without gender) “is based on the idea of stripping away the artifice of commerce and marketing: they are designed in the shape of houses, to suggest a domestic space as opposed to the impersonality of a retail space and rendered in steel mesh to add transparency. All of the garments are presented in pared-down, uniform packaging to free them from the preconceptions that would ordinarily colour such purchases” (Toogood, 2016).

REFERENCES Books Raymond, M. 2010. The Trend Forecaster's Handbook. London: Laurence King Publishing. p.4. Online Sources Anon. 2016. POLITICAL CORRECTNESS: ‘HE’ & ‘SHE’ BECOME GENDER-NEUTRAL ‘ZE’ AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY! [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: http://www.britainfirst.org/political-correctness-he-she-become-gender-neutral-ze-at-oxford-university/ Barnett, E. 2011. Trend-spotting is the new £36bn growth business. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/8482964/Trend-spotting-is-the-new-36bn-growthbusiness.html Dhanapal, P. and Anita, S. 2017. Fashion forecasting. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/83/fashion-forecasting?page=1 Ellis, C. 2015. Spring Summer 2016- Macro trend, SOFT POP. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://whosthatgirlblogs.wordpress.com/2015/05/12/spring-summer-2016-macro-trend-soft-pop/ Forno, S. 2016. Why Fashion Designers are Obsessed with Color. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/fashion-designers-color Hancock, L. and Smith, J. 2016. Neutral Beauty - LSN: Global. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.lsnglobal.com/micro-trends/article/19835/neutral-beauty Hourani, R. 2017. Rad Hourani Unisex Est. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.radhourani.com/pages/about Pantone. 2017. VIEWPOINT Colour Issue 01 - The Colour Futures Book. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.pantone.com/viewpoint-colour-magazine-issue-01 Selfridges and Company. 2017. A-gender Concept. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: http://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/content/agender-concept-store/?cm_sp=Campaign-_-AgenderLandingPage-_-TheConceptSpace The Future Laboratory. 2017. Trend Futures. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: http://thefuturelaboratory.com/us/consultancy/trend-futures/ TooGood. 2017. Collections. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: http://t-o-o-g-o-o-d.com/ Walker, D. 2015. Neutral Culture : Diversity : LSN Global. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.lsnglobal.com/macro-trends/article/18091/neutral-culture WGSN. 2017. Pantone Colour of the Year 2016 announced, confirms WGSN forecast. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.wgsn.com/blogs/pantones-colour-of-the-year-rose-quartz-serenity-confirms-wgsn-forecast/# Zukunfts, I. 2017. Megatrend - Gender shift. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.zukunftsinstitut.de/dossier/megatrend-gender-shift/

IMAGE REFERENCES

Figure 1-8: Hourani, R. 2017. Rad Hourani Unisex Est. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.radhourani.com/pages/about Figure 9: Anon. 2014. [Online]. JUUN.J - SPRING SUMMER 2014 CAMPAIGN / YOU SAID STREET TAILORING. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: http://www.arcstreet.com/article-juun-j-spring-summer-2014-campaign-you-said-street-tailoring-122320997.html Figure 10: Anon. 2015. The Rise of Gender Neutral Fashion. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: http://bloghound.co.uk/article/2734 Figure 11-12: Hourani, R. 2017. Rad Hourani Unisex collections. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.radhourani.com/pages/collections Figure 13: Walker, D. 2015. Neutral Culture: Diversity: LSN Global. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.lsnglobal.com/macro-trends/article/18091/neutral-culture Figure 14: Ellis, C. 2015. Spring Summer 2016- Macro trend, SOFT POP. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://whosthatgirlblogs.wordpress.com/2015/05/12/spring-summer-2016-macro-trend-soft-pop/ Figure 15: Hancock, L. and Smith, J. 2016. Neutral Beauty - LSN: Global. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://www.lsnglobal.com/micro-trends/article/19835/neutral-beauty Figure 16-17: Shipley, J. 2017. Gender fluid mood. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://uk.pinterest.com/darkpetal/gender-fluid-mood/ Figure 18: Anon. 2017. Sexuality. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/177258935308553704/ Figure 19: Anon. 2017. Agender. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/45458277467652440/ Figure 20: Anon. 2017. Tokyo: 221restir store opening. [Online]. [Accessed 1 May 2017]. Available from: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/295478425528938693/

Word Count: 2250

RAD HOURANI &

GENDER NEUTRALITY 200970748 Jennifer-Leigh Shipley

DNERT SSELREDNEG The Gender Neutral Lifestyle

|RAD HOURANI

Partially masculine partially feminine the genderless lifestyle has emerged from nonconformists that have a fluid approach to gender and sexuality. A-gender, gender binary, genderless, unisex are all terms to define a true liberation to be who you want to be, with no gender boundaries. The gender-neutral trend is radically changing every aspect of our lives, from unisex toilets to way we shop and silhouettes we wear on our bodies. Gender neutrality is here to stay. The new lifestyle board depicts the gender neutral aesthetics, infiltrating the fashion industry, interior design, typography, marketing communications and fine art. It's obvious this change is prevalent amongst the creative industries; however we are starting to see this lifestyle trend penetrate political policies. “HE’ & ‘SHE’ BECOME GENDER-NEUTRAL ‘ZE’ AT OXFORD UNIVERSITY”, gender neutral pronouns are encouraged throughout academic environments to prevent discrimination amongst the transgender community, (Anon, 2016).

Trend concept The underlying concept for the gender-neutral trend is about uniting people, with no gender boundaries or distinctions; everyone should all be able to express their identity and values freely. Fundamentally, the gender neutral culture is about society uniting together, despite gender, social backgrounds and status. The trend takes the pressure of being asexual and liberates people who arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t apart of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;normal' gender stereotype. It allows men to explore their feminine side and women to explore their masculinity; the gender-neutral trend will help define a more liberal and open-minded society. Gender binary is essential for the success of Rad Hourani, as he built his brand on genderless silhouettes. In summary, there is an ever increasing market for transgender and gender binary consumers.

Rad Hourani: Couture Spring Summer 2015 Paris

YARNS AND FABRICS The trend package concentrates its focus on minimalism, especially innovative and edgy silhouettes. The choice of fabric is simple, bold and rather brave. The Pantone selection involves colour's that appeal to both men, women and gender binary consumers:

PANTONE Cockatoo 14-5420 TPX Black Beauty 19-3911 TCX Snow White 11-0602 Blue Atoll 16-4535 Plum Purple 19-3218 TPX Navy Peony 19-4029 TCX

FABRIC SELECTION

The physical Pantone swatches are evident amongst the mood and colour board; as I believe there much successful in connoting an overall feel for the trend and collection. Concerning fabric selection, I opted to keep it simple, thick tailoring material in the above Pantone colours would be suitable. The choice for simple fabrics runs parallel with the gender-neutral trend, in furtherance of keeping to the core notions that everybody can wear the collection despite gender differences. Each colour can be synchronised together beautifully, for example, you could place a black beauty blazer with snow white trousers and a blue atoll shirt against a navy peony A-line skirt.

|RAD HOURANI

KEY SILHOUETTES

GENDER NEAUTRAL RETAILING Current A-gender retailing (without gender) “is based on the idea of stripping away the artifice of commerce and marketing: they are designed in the shape of houses, to suggest a domestic space as opposed to the impersonality of a retail space, and rendered in steel mesh to add transparency. All of the garments are presented in pared-down, uniform packaging to free them from the preconceptions that would ordinarily colour such purchases” (Toogood, 2016). RAD HOURANI Rad Hourani became the first ever designer to present a UNISEX Haute Couture collection in the history of fashion (Hourani, 2017). He blurs the lines of gender distinctions, producing collections that embody freedom in a range of contemporary silhouettes (Hourani, 2017). The majority of Hourani’s collection is sold via his ecommerce web page, however, regarding retailing, he could consider a pop-up space to embrace a new unisex shopping experience.

HE SHE ME

LAYOUT E-commerce layout that reflects the Agender concept. A visually appealing, attractive and minimal layout will help customers navigate their way through the site, the end of the journey being their final purchases.