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Karla Stevens
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Proffessional
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Karla Stevens
Personal
Proffessional
I Am Luxury Look Magazine Diversity Now Hip x LCA Fashion Live
Practice
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Louis Vuitton I Am Luxury
An industry set brief to communicate the concept; I Am Luxury. Research into street trends and luxury culture focusing particularly on how Louis Vuitton pieces express personal style. The brand is often associated with having a high end, luxury and unobtainable look, which can make it hard for some group to connect to. This is the effect of luxury brands as they aim to be exclusive. Looking at luxury in relation to Louis Vuitton collaborations such as the Kanye West one, brings into question an element of excess in our current culture. There is a kind of irony in the way certain groups of people wear luxury clothes or accessories which I wanted to explore furthur.
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LV X KS Having researched Louis Vuitton in relation to street trends and person style, it was then decided to focus on details. Shooting with Louis Vuitton Acessories meant that close ups and crops were very effective. The overall styling is best described as street lux testing the boundaries of luxury/ excess by mixing high end accessories with high street garments. Visual research is based on editorial close up fashion photography with an emphasis on makeup and styling details. Working to create crop-style images and accessory shots to create an aesthetic often associated with style bloggers and personal styling stories.
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Karla Stevens
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Chosen Submitted Image Chose image which best embodies the concept of luxury, excess, lust and personal styling details whilst en-keeping with the researched aesthetics. The composition works best with a lot of white space for exhibition and printed on a textured stock to cause stylized colour drop out. The image could benefit from being part of a series of 3 however no other images met the criteria. This could have strengthened the submission and leaves area for improvement and development to take into consideration in other projects.
Finished images have been edited to echo the colour ways and simplicity of research. The makeup is provocative, hinting at lustful behavior in reference to lusting after possessions and consumer behavior. Model; Beth Jones Photography; Anna Jakobson Styling & Creative Direction; Karla Stevens Make up; Kate Spekly, Mac Harvey Nichols Accessories all by Louis Vuitton AW 15
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Look Magazine Internship September- October 2013 An opportunity to assist the fashion team at Look magazine that lead to assisting stylists on both location and studio shoots. The role included; researching current trends to feature in shoots the sourcing relevant garments and accessories in time for shoots. This often meant having to arrange showroom and store visits for stylist to pull products then organising delivery to the Look offices. All samples and call- ins had to be docketed and fashion cupboards remain well organised and efficient. Whilst assisting stylists on a photoshoot it was important to keep garments in immaculate condition and ready to be shot. Also any accessories had to be sorted and matched to each look.
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Karla Stevens
Other day to day tasks included; managing email accounts and phone calls with PR companies, brand representatives and flagship stores. Which could at times be regarding urgent matters with high pressure situations. Assisting the web team on tasks included; price sourcing and writing credits, finding products online and creating short links for tap-to-buy feature on Looks digital issues.
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Model;Marijn at Milk Models Styling; Lucy Reber for Look Photographer; Jonathan Kemp Hair; Craig Marsden, Kiehls Makeup; Aft Radojici, Lancome Fashion; River Island, Asos, Next, Topshop, Miss Selfridge, M&S, Dorothy Perkins, Primark Fashion Intern; Karla Stevens
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Look Magazine Internship Skills and Interests that were developed center highly around trend and research. Its highly important for Look magazine, representing high street fashion, to create on-trend looks that can compete with the designer pieces used in other competitor magazines. Also it was very important to be highly selective with garments and accessories, having an eye for something which maybe looked more expensive or better fit than another similar piece, in the same way a high street customer in a store would probably compare. Another aspect was communicating with people via email and phone that you hadn’t met, which made negotiating a lot harder but definitely developed important communication skills.
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Karla Stevens
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Model; Hannah Janes Next Models Styling; Lucy Reber Look Magazine Photographer; Jackson Wallace Hair; Yoshitaka Miyazaki using BB Makeup; Freya Danson Hatcher Fashion; Next, ASOS, Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Freedom Jewellery, M & S, Primark Fashion Intern; Karla Stevens
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Diversity Now
Diversity now is a project by All Walks and i-D magazine set up to challenge beauty and body ideals in fashion media. The brief was to create a piece of fashion communication, which promotes diversity. Diverse women inspired this concept with emphasis on opinions and messages that different women represent. The notion is that diverse beauty and body ideals empower women to express themselves and inspire change. These images depict women of different age, race, faith, wealth, background and social status whom all have interesting viewpoints. The famous among them (Etta James, Erykah Badu, Princess Dianna and Janelle Monae) have been portrayed in media all representing different beauty and body ideals, yet it is their messages, opinions and actions which will remain significant.
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The presence of these women in culture has inspired social change and empowerment for women. The woman on the far left is Elsie May Moore; she was a Mother to nine, Grandmother to 24 and Married for over Sixty years. As a woman she was bold in her actions and viewpoints always remaining true to what she saw to be right or wrong. She inspired four generations of a family with her inner beauty.
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Research and Inspiration images included on mood-board Erykah Badu and Janelle Monae- Q.U.E.E.N lyrics and music video Etta James as inspirational artist and fashion/beauty figure Givenchy campaign featuring Erykah Badu used for illustration Erykah Badu lyrics to On and On included in illustration also Princess Dianna as public figure who inspired changes in opinion Elsie May Moore inspirational family member and Grandmother Croatian religious woman in position of leadership and power
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Illustration of Erykah Badu for Givenchy AW13 Campaign, submitted to All Walks Diversity Now Competition with i-D magazine selected as a finalist illustration
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Hip Store X Leeds College of Art
A live brief in collaboration with Hip Store an independent menswear shop selling brands such as APC, Barbour, Patta etc. The project was set to create a communication package for their new store in Leeds Trinity shopping center. The group came up with a concept of natural elements looking at periodic tables and scientific diagram imagery as visual inspiration. This informed the logo design taking the Hip Diamond and turning the A for Leeds College of Art and combining them into a graphic shape as the logo.
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I was responsible for logo and graphic design, photography and zine design. Focusing on elements bonding and drawing on conceptual similarities in fashion, research was carried out into brands coming together from around the globe to make up the Hip Store product range. It was noted that many of these were Scandinavian and British. There is a Scandinavian proverb ‘There is no such thing as bad weather only bad clothes’ which fit well with the concept and served to develop the research and provide context for a location shoot. This took place at Ingleton falls, a waterfall site, in the middle of November.
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Branding, Photography & Zine Design
Ingleton Falls location photoshoot Model; Akin Bolaji Osun Styling; Britt Lloyd, Gabby Little, Karla Stevens, Portia Smith Photography; Karla Stevens Film; Britt Lloyd Assistant; Gabby Little Fashion; Diesel Jeans, Adidas Originals, Dr. Marten Boots, APC, Cahart, Norse Project, Our Legacy
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Fashion Live
Leeds College of Art end of year Graduate Fashion Show, for the class of 2011. The brief was to come up with a concept for the show and to implement all of this for the event. The proposal was a concept playing on the idea of live, looking at fashion as more than just a catwalk, considering it as an interactive experience. From this a set of visual ideas were explored, with neon and light becoming a strong influence. The overall aesthetic had to be clean and accommodating as many students work would be clashing and anything but a subtle theme could clash with work.
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Location: Canal Mills The location was set after visiting different venues including Canal Mills a local venue with a reputation for hosting exciting music, art and fashion events. It was a really good fit because both are independent companies and could work well together to achieve everything outlined in the concept. The location even provided more inspiration into visual aesthetics, including light, colour and materials.
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Karla Stevens
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Having confirmed the location and date for the event the next task was to develop an identity for the whole thing. The branding was inspired by neon and light; using the live logo like a neon sign and the line like a strip of light. This concept also informed the choice of stock, working on an acetate which places with light and transparency, having a layer underneath with a collage of students work from all three years. These visuals will also be blown up to display on the night and throughout graduate events such as Leeds College of Art Show and Graduate Fashion Week.
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Fashion Live Invitations
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Karla Stevens
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www.cargocollective.com/karlastevens