V&A website
http://www.vogue.co.uk/fashion/spring-summer-2013/readyto-wear/alexander-mcqueen
http://www.vam.ac.uk/?gclid=CPiR57qwksgCFQkUwwodpGgN OA
http://www.privatewhitevc.com/
1990’s
High Street Trends:
The main trend for SS15 on going into AW15 is definitely 70s. Here’s some high street staple pieces with 70s vibes. These link to the 70s era as they wore a lot of suede garments, vinyl boots, knee high boots, flares and high necks.
Product on high street
Era
Links/relationship between product and era
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90s era £
Product on high street
Era
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£
Links/relationship between product and era
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£
£
£
£ £
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1028449/Exposed-Primarkssweatshops-pay-children-just-60p-day.html
• • • • • Fashion • Animal skins and bark cloth • Vibrant colours • Hand sewn • Draped fabrics into dresses • Bold prints and patterns
Art woodcarvings, brass and leather art works Sculpture Paintings Pottery masks are made with elaborate designs and are an important part of some cultures in Africa
African Culture
Music • Usually use African drums • Dance, music, and storytelling are among the art forms that have flourished for many centuries in Africa.
African Cultural influences in fashion
http://www.studlife.com/scene/2010/04/02/hot-seamsafricas-influence-on-the-global-fashion-industry/
Oasis £16
Warehouse- £60
H&M £24.99
Topshop £16
Topshop
African Fashion Week
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/05/world/africa-fashionweek-london-catwalk/
The runways featured designs from countries such as Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Kenya and Morocco
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2014/08/17/2003597577
http://afkinsider.com/103576/qa-honey-malaolus-ethnic-couture-designs-taking-luxury-african-fashion-new-level/
Art & Architecture The most well-known example of Indian architecture is the Taj Mahal. It combines elements from Islamic, Persian, Ottoman Turkish and Indian architectural styles. India also has many ancient temples. India is well known for its film industry, which is often referred to as Bollywood. Today, the films are known for their elaborate singing and dancing.
Clothing Indian clothing is closely identified with the colourful silk saris worn by many of the country’s women. The traditional clothing for men is the dhoti, an unstitched piece of cloth that is tied around the waist and legs.
Religion
Indian Culture
India is identified as the birthplace of Hinduisim and Buddhism, the third and fourth largest religions.
Food Indian cuisine is also influenced by many other countries. It is known for its large assortment of dishes and its liberal use of herbs and spices. Cooking styles vary from region to region
How Culture influences high street fashion
Bollywood is a big influence on fashion and many young actors wear Indian for their red-carpet appearances.
Cannes red carpet
Bollywood red carpet
https://www.fashionunited.co.uk/fashion-news/fashion/indian-fashion-week-no-longer-about-western-influence2013031917188
Does Culture of Any Region Affect Its Fashion Trends
http://www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article/40/3973/does-culture1.asp
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2070790/Chanel-Metiers-dArt-Karl-Lagerfelds-opulent-Indian-inspired-fashionrunway.html
http://www.intothefashion.com/2010/01/cultural-influenceson-trend.html
https://cultureofdesign.wordpress.com/2012/03/20/fast-fashion-zaraand-ethics-by-andrea-dahlen/
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http://source.ethicalfashionforum.com/article/survival-of-thesustainable-why-fashion-brands-must-adapt-or-die
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http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/12/london-fashion-weekethic_n_3914479.html
http://uiowa.uloop.com/news/view.php/112012/how-celebrities-inspire-fashion-of-the-youth
http://www.musictimes.com/articles/8678/20140812/kanye-west-kim-kardashian-dontinfluence-fashion-industry-says-americas-next-top-model-judge-kelly-cutrone.htm
http://www.examiner.com/review/300-years-of-queer-history-offashion-from-the-closet-to-the-catwalk
http://www.academia.edu/1172572/Fashion_Industry_and_Media_Today_The_Negative_Impa ct_on_Society
India: Natural silk/cotton. Techniques such as batik, tie-dye, hand dye, hand beading and embroidery.
Italy: Good supplier for knitwear. My range is for AW15 so includes a lot of high neck jumpers and knitted dresses. China: Supplys garments for hand beading, Silk Garments, more technological advanced to support design
£
Looking at my branding project, I think it linked well to my target customer as I wanted to make the mature brand Whistles appear to a younger generation- ideally 20-30 year olds. If I was to change anything, I would have maybe focused on a niche in the market for Whistles, which is that they do not do any maternity wear. I could have created a range of maternity wear to appeal to a larger target market. I would probably use a famous celebrity to advertise the range, preferably one that is pregnant. I think my range plan worked well as I wanted to create pieces that represented Suki Waterhouse’s signature style whilst simultaneously showing Whistle’s type of clothing- being smart, clean cut and classy. I would perhaps added a few more accessories to make it obvious that it was AW15 such as scarves and gloves. I thought carefully about what composition the garments were, by looking on Whistles at what their current clothes are made out of, a lot of them being wool, cashmere and leather. My pricing matches my customer market, as I made the garments slightly more affordable than an average Whistles range. I chose Whistles as my retailer as I love the clothes and wanted to make a range which would appeal to a younger target market, like myself, but still have the good quality of the garments. Researching about the brand helped me to develop the idea of what range would appeal to a wider audience, as its important to still represent the brand values and ethics when creating the mission statement. If I had more time, I would develop more garments and accessories for my range. I would also carry out a comp shop of competitors, as its important to be aware who your competitors are and what they are offering to customer at the moment, if they are in sale or anything that could potentially threaten my brand.
Peer Assessment-The relationship between the artefact and the collection This concept mood board was created effectively, with the artefact being the cube. The colour palette was thought about carefully, as the picture of the cube matches the colour palette, showing the link between the two. The images used for the sports collection also links to the cube by using strong bold colours, and mesh materials which usually relates to sportswear. The strong theme of sportswear inspired by the cube Is shown through the use of the colour palette and the catwalk images. The fabrics that are on the models on the catwalk are light weight, with transparent mesh material, which is good for sportswear. I can visualise the collection being shown in high end designers such as Tommy Hilfiger and Marc Jacobs. I would add to the collection plimsolls, racer backs, gym shorts, striped garments, and gym bags. It’s obvious that the season that’s being represented is spring/summer, as its sportswear which is lightweight and through the use of the bright colour palette. To represent the season and the trend better, I would add shorts and trainers as well as tank tops.
The research element to this contextual studies unit was okay, not extremely challenging though. Some bits of research were really interesting- finding out about how 19th century fashion was still present on the runway today, and high end designers are still hugely influenced by it. Obviously, the 70s is very on trend now, I loved researching about that era as well as the 60s. I really enjoyed researching successful and unsuccessful brand advertisements. It was really shocking to see how bad some high end fashion brands advertised, as well as some controversial ones as well. I also liked researching about the 10 products on the high street, linking it to an era and say how it links. I found a lot of trends from the 90s like mom jeans, 70s like flares and the 60s vinyl knee high boots that are very fashionable still today and almost all high street retailers sell them. I definitely think I could have improved on the research part. I should’ve found different ways of researching, primary and secondary instead of using the internet all the time. For example, when I was researching trends from past eras on the high street, it would have been better to go into town and take pictures of window displays and garments on the high street so I could see what was in the shops right now. I also could have improved on the layout of my presentation, it looked quite bland and a felt like it needed a pop of colour or some kind of patterned background to make it a bit more eye catching. I think I could have improved more on these things to make the overall look of my presentation better. My strengths in this unit was probably creating mood boards on photoshop. I really enjoyed choosing the brands that represented sophisticated heritage, and how they show it in their ranges. I used pinterest to correlate relevant images that reminded me of sophisticated heritage and what it represents so I could create a concept board. I also like doing mood boards on the catwalk trends that have been shaped by the history of fashion. I’d say one of my weak points were the branding task, I feel like I could have gone into more depth about how I would advertise it, source it and make sure I carried out a comp shop.
My presentation could have been developed a bit more professional. I would have made it a bit brighter and creative, maybe alongside with some illustrations of my range plan for my mini branding task to show how the garments would fall on a customer. The presentation could have been a bit more interesting if I used research from magazines instead of always using the internet, and scan them on to my power point. I think my mood boards were done to the best of my ability. My concept boards included relevant images from pinterest and WGSN, as well as my catwalk mood boards. When I did a mood board for the artefact, I used the palm tree as my starting point, I made sure I included a name for my range, colour palette, concept images and CADS that I would use for my range to make it look professional. I would develop my mini branding task more by going into more depth, in regards to how I would source my range . In the cultures task I would have done primary research about how fashion from different cultures is present on the high street, and got research from magazines if I could find any articles that related.
I really enjoyed the artefact task, picking the palm tree object and creating the concept board was fun. I like doing moodboards as it’s a chance to be digitally creative. I also enjoyed looking at advertisements. Finding successful and unsuccessful ones were interesting, as the unsuccessful ones surprisingly tended to be from high end fashion brands. The mini branding task was enjoyable, I loved creating a range plan on Photoshop. I also liked researching trends on WGSN as it inspired me for my range.
From this assignment I learnt a lot about the history of fashion that I never knew. It’s interesting to see how fashions from different eras are still present in today’s high street and catwalks. I also learnt what factors you have to consider when creating a brand, i.e. a unique selling point, mission statement, logo, target audience, sourcing, budgets etc.