Stella McCartney BY
Man Ray
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Analysis/Strategy 4
Editorial Lookbook Website Webgraphy
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Stella by
Ray
Analysis / Strategy
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History and current situation of the brand
tella McCartney, daughter of world-famous sin-
ger Paul McCartney Linda Eastman, was born in 1971. Her passion for fashion was apparent at a young age, the 15-year old Stella interned with Christian Lacroix. At the age of 24 she graduated from the highly recognized Central Saint Martins School of Design. For the university’s collections, which already showcasing looks that the brand still has nowadays: sexy femininity and natural confidence. Two years later, having already launched two collections, she was hired by Chloe in Paris to be the Creative Director of the brand, a job she happily took on for 3 years together with Phoebe Philo. She reinvented the brand with a more romantic vision of streetwise, introducing vintage lingerie, tailoring and low riding trousers.
In 2001, McCartney decided she wanted to get back in motion on the designing process but as herself as chief designer and began the launching of her own label brand: Stella McCartney. The launching was done as part of a partnership venture with Kering (French multinational that develops luxury, sport and lifestyle brands such as Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent…), and the designer previewed the
first collection in Paris, October that same year which was sought after by so many avid followers of the brand . In 2003, the brand joined the perfume-launching staple of any world-recognized brand and launched STELLA, and has since created a second perfume called L.I.L.Y and a third one called STELLA Summer. Similar to what she does with ready-to-wear, all perfumes have contradictory elements between them. They boast of a fused femininity in contrast with sharpness.
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n 2004, the designer also took on a partnership with Adidas to create a line (which was initially strongly criticized but since has become successful) with designs for sports performances such as running, gym, yoga, tennis, swimming and many more. In 2008, the designer debuted a lingerie line in order to also supply garments in that particular area for her customers. McCartney claimed that she had always been obsessed with French slips and lace inlays, and that for her, lingerie was the starting point for what a women wore everyday. The collection didn’t stir far away from the recurring vintage pinkish colour palette the designer favours, and exquisite attention was payed to detail and fit making it a naturally sexy and confident collection. In 2012 though, she decided to add a Stella lingerie line, which would offer a more everyday, comfortable and more affordable lingerie sample. The collection was crafted with seemingly luxurious fabrics (such as silk, chiffon and organic cotton), which made for beautiful bodysuits, chemises, camisole tops and more c. The individual pieces were designed to mix and match the items and play around with the different tones of pink, cream, blue and pearl grey used. In Winter 2010, Stella McCartney showcased lar designs today: the Falabella handbag. The been seen on street-stlye blogs and magazines it consists of a loose fabric held together by
one of her most popubest-selling accessory has since it’s first launch, and braided chain-like handles.
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hat very same year, the brand released the first Stella McCartney Kids collection, which had garments for kids from baby-age up until 14 years old. The designer declared that as a brand, she had lots of parents on her team, and she wanted to “… create something desirable, fun, wearable kids collection that was affordable…” The collection is intendedly designed for both style and function, and the playfulness of the concept is represented through the title of the designs, named after kid’s names (such as the Ingrid dress of the Sam wool pea coat).
The designer’s collections are now present in over 70 countries in which she distributes both through specialty shops and department stores. The brand is also shipped online to 100 different countries. The amount of own-based stores the brand has is also quite big. Stella McCartney has 33 freestanding shops in major cities, such as New York, LA, Paris, London, Barcelona, Milan, Tokyo, Beijing... Stella McCartney as a brand nowadays offers women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, lingerie, eyewear, fragrances and kids’ wear. However, the brand isn’t only based on it’s designs, fabrics and stitches. Stella McCartney represents much more, because it is a brand (and a designer) that has been very strongly linked to certain values and beliefs that we will go into later on.
Influences
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cCartney has always claimed to have herself in mind when it comes to designing a collection, basing her likes and dislikes on what she would want to wear. However, there has obviously been a series of previous people and experiences that have shaped Stella’s taste today. The attitude that her parents had towards fashion made a huge impact on the designer, who praises their ability to mix and match different garments that seemingly had nothing in common. But it was especially her mother who left a mark on the designer. Linda McCartney was looked at as a bit of a grungy, bohemian queen, who wore faded denims, pale floral caftans and waistcoats, and Stella took inspiration from this. But it wasn’t only her. When she and college-friend Phoebe Philo started designing for Chloé, they created collections that fit perfectly with what they represented- young women with crude freedom and desire for fun. This vibe might have been influenced by the age they grew up in, making skinny pants, sequined dresses and even airbrushed T-shirts that drew inspiration from the t-shirts their parents wore in the 70s.
McCartney also claims she took great inspiration from films. She loved all the Doris Day movies that featured the American actress in both tomboyish outfits and gala-like ball gowns. To her, it seemed like the perfect representation of the mixed woman, who could be “manly” without losing her womanly touch, something which is still omnipresent in the designers’’ collections nowadays. She was also inspired by so many designers, including Donna Karand and Tom Ford. The former guided her in all he could and is often mentioned as being a source of inspiration for ther works.
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tella McCartney is considered one of the first luxury fashion designers to implement vegan fashion. This doesn’t only mean that she doesn’t use any leather, skins or furs, but that she actively takes part in this movement and tries to regularly commit to sustainability in an evident way in all of her collections. This environmental consciousness is part of the brand’s ethos in order to make the company a responsible, social, honest and modern one with a genuine care for the planet. In 2009, she was honoured by the Natural Resources and Defence Council, which works to protect wildlife and wild places to ensure a healthy environment for all living animals on earth and land
In 2011, she launched a partnership with the International Trade Centre’s Ethical Fashion Program (which works for fashion as a vehicle out of poverty), for which she hand makes accessories in Kenya. The program offers work opportunities for women to support their lifestyle in disadvantaged areas in Africa. The products that come out of this partnership are beautiful handcrafted bags, named the Noemi totes.
Values Something we must consider when talking about Stella McCartney is that we rarely differentiate the brand from the designer. It is a brand that has been closely knit, and therefore whatever Stella McCartney says, claims or believes in, is directly interpreted as a position that the brand also stands by. This is relevant to the project because Stella McCartney as a person has also made many motions to activate society’s consciousness especially in the consumption of meat.
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I n It nr o t rd oudc ut ci to ino nt ot oM a M na nR aR ya y
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an Ray was an American artist who contributed significantly to the Dada and Surrealist movements.
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Although he was often seen as an abstract painter, Man Ray, born in the year1890, eventually disregarded the traditional methods of painting happily moved on to work with different forms. Dada and Surrealism were important in encouraging this attitude; they also persuaded him that the idea motivating a work of art was more important than the work of art itself.
His art ranged from painting, sculpture, film, prints and poetry, and in his long career he worked in styles influenced by Cubism, Futurism, Dada and Surrealism. He also successfully navigated the worlds of commercial and fine art, and came to be a sought-after fashion photographer. He is perhaps most remembered for his photographs of the inter-war years. For Man Ray, photography often operated in the gap between art and life. It was a means of documenting sculptures that never had an independent life outside the photograph, and it was a means of capturing the activities of his avant-garde friends. His work as a commercial photographer encouraged him to create, very carefully composed prints.
Emmanuel Radnitzky (his original name) was born in Philadelphia and raised in Brooklyn . His artistic side started to show really early, and was offered a scholarship to study architecture in 1908. Much to the intiail dismay of his parents, Man Ray turned it down in order to focus on his art, but they later supported his passion and even arranged one of the rooms in their house and turned it into a studio. His topics or subjects were often inspired by his intrigue towards women and female eroticism, which is evident in many of his photographs. He also tried to crreate a Surrealist vision of the female form, by cropping in strange ways and over developing photographies to transform them into surreali images. He lived in New York, Paris and Hollywood, but it was the French capital that truly became a home for him.
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tella McCartney is a brand that has taken a good deal of care in reinforcing it’s image as being conscious whilst not losing the importance of portraying good style, quality and elegance to the female form.
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However their communciation campaigns tend to always linger on the “sweet” side and have often been catalogued as beatiful yet boring. The imagery and art direction is always phenmenal, yet when it comes to daring to showcase something different and surprising the consumers, McCartney doesn’t seem to be too sure about it.
Enter the McCarney and Man Ray fusion. The artist died 125 years ago this 2015, so the timing couldn’t be better. Stella McCarney would launch a capsule collection with limited edition pieces that would portray what she believes Man Ray would have done for the art direction of the firm.
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an Ray was a brilliant artist, and the thesis behind this concept is that he would have been a great art director for fashion brands too if he had wanted to be and were still living.
Also, McCartney is a brand that is namely based on the designer, and so offers very little brand history or heritage. It is relatively new, yet is competing in the luxury market with brands that have been around for many decades. Linking the brand to such an historically recognized figure will also add to it the certain story and nostalgic feel that it lacks. The objectives of this fusion are: • • •
To provide Stella McCartney with a slight edgin- ess and distraction To create a beautiful ode towards Man Ray To add a bit of history and timelessness to Stella McCartney (perhaps brand story)
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Stella by
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Editorial
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The only coloured elements would be the models in order to show-case the clothing properly and also small details taken from Man Ray’s original paintings.
The idea for the editorial is to narrate the story of how Stella McCartney and Man Ray interconnect in matters of art.
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The styles picked out for the shoot would mostly be colourful pieces of clothing that would clash well together with Man Ray’s most often used colour palette.
The backgroud of the images would be black and white in order to better convey a representation of Man Ray’s photography. The only coloured elements would be the models in order to show-case the clothing properly and also small details taken from Man Ray’s original paintings.
The models, which will be explained in the following sections would be pictured strolling around the streets of Paris with serious faces.
However, in the close-ups, the viewer would be able to appreciate three glistening shiny tears on each of the models, similar to Man Ray’s popular Glass tears. They would also be wearing cropped hair, very little powder on their faces so as to imitate the 20s pale look and black eyeshadow together with red lips. The editorial would be around 4 or 6 spreads., and would appear in prestigious magazines whose viewers had purchasing power, such as VOGUE and Harper’s Bazaar, and others that simply wanted the editorial for it’s visual beauty, such as I-D Magazine. There would also be an interview explaining the collaboration.
Across the editorial, Man Ray’s most popular quotes would be written as if scribbled by him in his own writing. Some margins of the editorial would be painted in bright colours, as were most of his paintings, whilst others would have no margins at all and simply appear to be cut out in black and white shapes (shown in the folllowing pages).
“It has never been my object to record dreams - just the determination to realize them.” Man Ray
The styling for the pictures would be done in a way so as to be able to incorporate Stella McCartney clothing, yet trying to make it seem possible for the models to have been wearing those garments in Man Ray’s time. Also, there would be practically no accesories except for shoes and the occasional purse. The focus is on the art itself.
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he goal of Stella by Ray is to try and portray the brand in a similar way as Man Ray’s artwork, therefore the models for the editorial would be selected so as to look similar to Man Ray’s usual female models (which he often used).
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he second model for the editorial would be Daria Werbowy. She too bears a similar resemblance to Man Ray’s stereotypical models, and also shares features with Freja Beha such as bone structure and hair texture. This is important so that the editorial has a connected feel to it.
The ukranian-canadian model has often modeled for the brand on the runway, but has never actually been used for any advertising campaigns. It will be interesting to see more androginous models featured in this capsule collection’s editorials, instead of hte usual girly, feminine, seductive models with big lips and clear eyes that are often used instead.
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The colour of the lips isn’t apparent in the pictures since they were all shot in black and white chromatography, yet we can assume by the bold darkness on the lips that they must have been a shade of deep red.
Also, the painting on the right proves he was quite enchanted by the idea of a sultry red lip with a perfect outline.
Eye make-up actually played a very important part in Man Ray’s photography.
The eyes, one of the things he most liked to take pictures of, were always extremely done up with big quantitites of black mascara and eye shadow.
C H ropped
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Practically all models from Man Ray’s photography show-cased women with cropped hair no longer than beneath the jaw-line.
However the exception is on the left, in which he took a picture of a blonde woman with exceptionaly ondulated blonde shiny hair. For the editorial however, we will stick to his usual crop of choice and portray the models with the shorter hair.cut.
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Man Ray’s photographs were black and white, but his paintings were the opposite, filled with vibrant bold colours that made everything stand out.
Therefore, the editorial would have a mix of both black and white backgrounds, together with colourful elements from the street and of course, the clothes.
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The city Man Ray spent most of his life in was Paris, therefore the editorial will be shot within the streets of Paris.
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Stella by
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Lookbook
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Canary americana jacket 1.200 Linda black-fit pants 700 Standard peach shoes 1.000
Black americana jacket 1.200 Linda black-fit pants 700 Black Maischief flats 900
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Fantasy sky top 600 Lolipop-in-a-fair skirt 800 Blue and grey Kitten Heels
Oriental garden kimono 2000 Black Cityrun Trainers 500
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Striped Laguna vest 500 Canary Captain Trousers 700 Standard peach shoes 1.000
Fantasy Sky cape 1.200 Fantasy sky shorts 700 Standard peach shoes 1000
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Website
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stellabyray.wordpress.com
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WWe eb bg gr ra ap phhy y RT.COM Paris Black and White Photography, Posters and Prints at Art.com In-text: (Art.com, 2014) Bibliography: Art.com, (2014). Paris Black and White Photography, Posters and Prints at Art.com. [online] Available at: http://www.art.com/gallery/id--b6494-c23951/paris-black-and-white-photography-prints.htm [Accessed 11 Dec. 2014]. Website
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ART.COM Paris Black and White Photography, Posters and Prints at Art.com In-text: (Art.com, 2014) Bibliography: Art.com, (2014). Paris Black and White Photography, Posters and Prints at Art.com. [online] Available at: http://www.art.com/gallery/id--b6494-c23951/paris-black-and-white-photography-prints.htm [Accessed 12 Dec. 2014]. Website
BIOGRAPHY.COM In-text: (Biography.com, 2014) Bibliography: Biography.com, (2014). [online] Available at: http://www.biography.com/ people/stella-mccartney-20680899 [Accessed 17 Dec. 2014]. Website
ENCYCLOPEDIA.COM Stella McCartney Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Stella McCartney In-text: (Encyclopedia. com, 2014) Bibliography: Encyclopedia.com, (2014). Stella McCartney Facts, information, pictures | Encyclopedia.com articles about Stella McCartney. [online] Available at: http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Stella_McCartney.aspx [Accessed 8 Dec. 2014]. Website MANRAYTRUST.COM Man Ray Trust - Offical Site In-text: (Manraytrust.com, 2014) Bibliography: Manraytrust.com, (2014). Man Ray Trust Offical Site. [online] Available at: http://www.manraytrust.com [Accessed 4 Dec. 2014]. Website MODELS.COM Freja Beha Erichsen - Model In-text: (MODELS.com, 2014) Bibliography: MODELS.com, (2014). Freja Beha Erichsen - Model. [online] Available at: http://models.com/models/Freja-Beha-Erichsen [Accessed 9 Dec. 2014]. Website MODELS.COM Daria Werbowy - Model In-text: (MODELS.com, 2014) Bibliography: MODELS.com, (2014). Daria Werbowy - Model. [online] Available at: http://models.com/models/Daria-Werbowy [Accessed 3 Dec. 2014]. Website
PHOTOGRAPHY.CA Fine Art Photographers Masters Ray In-text: (Photography.ca, 2014) Bibliography: Photography.ca, (2014). Fine Art Photographers Masters Ray. [online] Available at: http://www.photography.ca/fine-art-photographers/masters/ray/ [Accessed 6 Dec. 2014]. Website
STELLA MCCARTNEY About Stella In-text: (Stella McCartney, 2012) Bibliography: Stella McCartney, (2012). About Stella. [online] Available at: http://www.stellamccartney.com/experience/en/stellas-world/about-stella/ [Accessed 7 Dec. 2014]. Website
STELLA MCCARTNEY - ONLINE STORE Stella McCartney - Official website. Women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, lingerie, sports performance collection “adidas by Stella McCartney,” eyewear, fragrance and kids In-text: (Stella McCartney - Online Store, 2014) Bibliography: Stella McCartney - Online Store, (2014). Stella McCartney - Official website. Women’s ready-to-wear, accessories, lingerie, sports performance collection “adidas by Stella McCartney,” eyewear, fragrance and kids. [online] Available at: http://www.stellamccartney.com/es [Accessed 8 Dec. 2014]. Website THEARTSTORY.ORG Man Ray Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works | The Art Story In-text: (Theartstory.org, 2014) Bibliography: Theartstory.org, (2014). Man Ray Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works | The Art Story. [online] Available at: http://www. theartstory.org/artist-ray-man.htm [Accessed 5 Dec. 2014]. Website VOGUE UK Stella McCartney In-text: (Vogue UK, 2014) Bibliography: Vogue UK, (2014). Stella McCartney. [online] Available at: http://www.vogue.co.uk/spy/biographies/stella-mccartney-biography [Accessed 9 Dec. 2014].
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