K O O E B R D T N Lucas Yiu Ka Yam B1EI
“
CONTENT 6.
Bootleg Consumerisum
14/
Efficient “Behaviour
10_Gender LESS/MORE
INTRODUCT
CTION
This Trend book is the first product of the Year 1 semes-
ter 2 within the Fashion & Branding course at the Amsterdam Fashion Intstitute (AMFI). The Trend book is based on wide-ranging, up-to-date trend research on Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Methodology included reading articles, books, taking photos in the city to discover the up to date trend. The aim of the trend book is to discover and understand the possible trend going on, allow us to ensure how a brand should position itself to fit the future. Three trends will be included, Bootleg Consumerism, GenderLESS &GenderMORE and Efficient Behavior. Each of them will be discussed individually in the following.
Bootleg Consumerism Bootleg stands for a product that is
illicitly produced, distributed, or sold without proper taxation, and at a loss to the original manufacturer of the goods. This can apply to anything, from booze to cigarettes to fashion design, etc, as long as it is sold and distributed by other than legal means. Stolen audio/video recordings that are illegally sold and distributed on Internet are also included. And these types of consumerism have been raised and rising in all area.
Bootlegging is not a new phenomenon to the fashion industry. The most recent phenomenon is bootleg turned into a way for design houses themselves to make money from.
(Gucci Real Fake Bootleg T-shirt at Cruise 2017 )
(Balenciaga FW17 Pays Tribute to Bernie Sanders )
Demna Gvasalia showed his second Balenciaga menswear collection in Paris and predictably, it was widely discussed. The talking points included his relaxed take on office wear, shopping bags made of leather. And the most discussed Bernie Sanders's logo. "Balenciaga 2017" with recognizable underlining stripes could be read as a sign of affiliation with the beloved candidate defeated in the US political race. It was politics bootlegged by fashion. (FEDOROVA, 2017) Alessandro Michele designer of Gucci, released a range of T-shirts and hoodies with Gucci logos which looked like vintage fakes one. T-shirts cost $325, and hoodies go for over a thousand. Vetements’ garments have been inescapable these past few seasons, and a parody brand, VETEMEMES, has gained huge success through bootlegging the Vetements raincoat. The raincoat has been compeletly depleted once it is out. (Bobila, 2016)
6
(VETEMEMES bootleg raincoats )
( “Wok toWalk’ Store at Rotterdam )
( “Wok toWalk’ Store at Rotterdam )
( “Dolce & Gelato Store at Amsterdam )
‘Wok to Walk’ is a popular Asian fast food. It has opened more than 50 successful company-owned and franchised stores all over the world. The idea of serving Asian fast food in a quick and flexible way had
‘Wok to Go’ is a really similar company to ‘Wok to Walk’ in the Netherlands. The products that they both serves are basically the same, and with the similar brand name, logo, marketing strategy and branding method, ‘Wok to Go’ also have 17 franchised stores all over the Netherlands. This is one of a example showing the bootleg strategy can easily gain the success from the customers.
‘Dolce&Gelato’ is an ice cream store where you can have a taste of freshly made ice cream. The first thing that comes up to my mind is not the Italian gelato, but the fashion brand Dolce & Gabbana. Using a similar name of a fashion brand as an own company name can also become a marketing strategy to gain attentions from the customers.
77
Bootleg Consumerism
“ (Ava Nirui bootleg art works )
8
Artist and writer Ava Nirui stands out as the star in these brand games. Inspired by Vetements’s overpriced use of Champion logo, she worked with actual Champion sweatshirts and incorporated their C logo into the names of other designers, like Rick Owens, Chanel, Gucci, and Marc Jacobs. Her other pieces merged Chanel with Kappa, Louis Vuitton with Ghostbusters, Maison Martin Margiela with McDonalds. These sardonic art pieces of late capitalism turned out to be very popular and there is even someone sold a few copies of her designs. (FEDOROVA, 2017) Bootlegging the
bootleg of a bootleg.
WHY? Speed is one of the main reasons for the raise of bootleg.
When a product cycle speeds up, the consumer will easily get bored, and constantly supplied by fakes, copies, “inspired pieces”, and a stream of images of all of the above. In fashion, another reason is the debility of the hierarchy of luxury. The highs and lows are mixed up: Louis Vuitton collaborates with Supreme, Gosha Rubchisnkiy with Fila. Survival in the industry today depends on constantly leaving people wanting more — through collaborations, limited editions, and even self-bootlegs. At the same time, the power of bootleg goes much further than just a weapon of hype. Artists and independent emerging brands often use brand knockoff to comment on the nature of fashion and consumerism.
(Vetements SS16 DHL T-shirt )
9
GenderLESS | GenderMORE
“
10
GenderLess Refers to one’s identity as female or male or as neither entirely female nor entirely male. And GenderMore, I’m referring to increse the gender diversity, filled in the gender beauty gap between men and women.
(COCKTAIL FEST- a LGBT clubbing event’s poster at Rotterdam )
G
enderless Nipples - An Instagram account depicting nipples in extreme closeup aims to against double standards in censorship on social media. Genderless Nipples shares closeup images of nipples taken at such proximity, it is difficult to tell whether they are male or female. After just 70 posts in six weeks, the account has close to 50,000 followers on Instagram. Instagram is notoriously rigorous in removing images of women’s bare breasts, prompting the #FreeTheNipple campaign ongoing since 2012. (Hunt, 2017)
(Genderless Nipples Instagram Account )
Since I am an exchange student from Hong
Kong, the unisex bathroom idea is quite new to me. And I have realized the unisex bathroom idea is getting more popular in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. Gender-neutral toilet facilities benefit transgender populations and people who exist outside of the gender binary; people with disabilities, the elderly, and anyone else who may require the assistance of someone of another gender; and parents who may wish to accompany their children to the washroom or toilet facility.
Acne
(Unisex toilet at AMFI)
(Acne Studios FW15 Campaign)
Studios founder Jonny Johansson’s 11-year-old son modeled women’s clothing in the brand’s Fall/Winter 2015 campaign; the Spring/Summer 2016 collection included men’s pieces that read “RADICAL FEMINIST” and “GENDER EQUALITY,” presented alongside androgynous silhouettes. (SANCHEZ, no date)
11
GENDER MORE / LESS
NOBODY HAS TO KNOW WA R E H O U S E
NOBODY HAS TO KNOW is an Amsterdam based
WHY
Fundament of these multifaceted collections is the pursuit of a more tolerant and open-minded society where love, respect and acceptance for everyone’s differences are self-evident. (NOBODY HAS TO KNOW, 2017)
Young people are increasingly challenging conventional gender stereotypes, embracing a queer identity while rejecting the gender binary is less a trend and more a reflection of growing up in a world with unprecedented access to information and communities, at a time when the concept of identity is open to interpretation.
warehouse offering multi-sexual, multi-ethnical and multi-subcultural collections; all carefully selected regardless of physique, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, colour, status or religion.
Diversity and equality
(NOBODY HAS TO KNOW store at Amsterdam)
Current society is dealing with much hate, intolerance and division. The recent colliding of opinions and political issues magnify the pain, resistance, anger and fear. NHTK believe that love and acceptance for inter-individual differences are the answer. We are all different, yet all equal. By showing the beauty and force that lie as much in diversity as in equality, we help bridging this gap. NHTK’s concept and collections empower people to break social boundaries and live by their own standards and contribute to an open-minded and tolerant society. ‘Wear what you love. The rest? NOBODY HAS TO KNOW.’
GenderLESS&GenderMORE?
As more designers, retailers, and celebrities embrace genderless clothing than ever before, the movement is reaching the mainstream. Genderless clothing and dressing isn’t new: 1960s and 1970s rock royalty, like Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie, wore sequins and kimonos. But this trend is dominating again, and this time it isn’t only about grabbing the attention of people only, but becoming more common on everyone daily life.
13
Efficient “Behaviour Efficient Behaviour refers to people seeking a way to make everything more convenient,
energy saving and time saving. People are discovering new ways to take advantage of our unwillingness to move. Digitalization therefore usually took place to speed up the process and increase the service quality.
........
Since I have arrived to Amsterdam, I have noticed many of the shops, transportations and events all don’t accept cash. As more shops and transport networks adapt to contactless card and touch-and-go mobile technology, Amsterdam and Rotterdam are in the process of relegating cash to second-class status. Some shops and cafes are now, simply refusing to handle notes or coins. The number of cashless or ‘cards only’ registers in Dutch supermarkets have increased significantly over the past few years.
14
Shopping can be scanned using the AH scanner or via a special mobile phone app. The new supermarket does not accept cash and alcohol purchases have to be approved by an assistant.
(AH scanner at Albert Heijn)
(Cashless sign in at store at Rotterdam)
(OV -Chipkaart reader in Amsterdam)
Albert Heijn has opened a new supermarket in Amsterdam where customers have to scan their shopping and pay the bill without the intervention of a shop worker. (Robin, 2015)
.....
Efficient “Behaviour Amsterdam is pioneering a new way to donate to the homeless: a jacket with a built-in wireless payment device. Those who want to give will make a payment of €1 that goes towards either a meal, overnight-housing or a bath. The winter jacket with an incorporated wireless debit device ‘pinjas’ can go a long way, as charitable giving becomes as simple as tapping your card for payment at the store, with the added value of humanly contact and exchange, that might make this coat feel even warmer. The system ensures that the charity is well spent and that at the end of the day, partnering institutions allocate the money to essentials: food, housing and selfcare. From the giver’s perspective it reduces biases that might hinder donations, as well as fears that their good intentions might encourage someone’s bad habits. (Balica et al., 2017) (‘pinjas’ the cashless donate payment jacket)
16
.............. WHY?
Time was when if you wanted an easy dinner but couldn’t be bothered to go out, you’d have to resort to a supermarket ready-meal or a dodgy curry picked up from the Indian restaurant down the road. But times are changing, and in most cities in Netherlands are now spoilt for choice with endless options for high-quality food delivered straight to our door with the rise up of food delivery apps like Deliveroo, Uber Eats.
B
Also for grocery, the online grocery shopping in the Netherlands is booming. Dutch people spend 450 million euros on online grocery shopping last year - a 55 percent increase compared to 2013.(NLTimes, 2016) This is according to figures from data provider Syndy, RTL Nieuws reports. The report compared the “e-grocery” markets in the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France to each other and found that the Netherlands has one of the fastest growing markets for online convenience stores in Europe.
(UberEats iphone APP and the deliverying Deliveroo)
asically, as we get lazier and lazier, people are discovering new ways to take advantage of our unwillingness to move. Which wants you to relax while every meal gets delivered to your doorstep. Also the convenience of delivery, wider breadth of selection, and (often) lower prices, makes online shopping an ever-more attractive option. And online shopping is more environmental friendly, it reduces the total amount of driving to and from shopping areas, which in turn decreases the amount of traffic. For the cashless payment, it speeds up the transaction process and it’s more secure by avoiding the human error. 17
CONCLUSION Bootleg Consumerisum
So why do fashion bootlegs inevitably get us
talking? Might it be our persistent desire to be cool and accepted? But also the fact that they raise a bigger question of copy and original in contemporary culture, and whether those notions are even relevant anymore. When navigating the tricky terrain of real and fake, remember that bootlegs only work because of the consumer’s desire — they only matter as long as you keep to want more. In the future fashion industry, do we have to keep making gimmick to generate desire of customers in order to survive, or we should remind everyone focus back more to the design and the idea?
18
Gender LESS/MORE
Efficient “Behaviour
In the future fashion industry, the lines of gen-
Customers will expect more convenient, time
der will continue to blur. Even men and women’s physical appearances are becoming more similar: super thin physiques, thicker, equally groomed eyebrows. The gender fluidity will provide more equal freedom of dressing for everyone, no matter what chromosome we are carrying, women already have that freedom. Men will be the next to changed. As a brander, we need to change with the consumer.
&energy saving shopping experience in the future for sure. Being cashless, E- buying is going to get more common and popular. In the fashion industry, we need to be fit in this trend. How can we provide the most convenient, pleasurable shopping experience to the customer? Maybe the whole collection of ready-to-wear can be purchased online instead of just some selected items. Or provide customer two sizes in one purchase, they can ship and return the wrong size afterward to ensure they can get the perfect one. 19
REFERENCE PHOTOS
KRISTIN ANDERSON, (2016), Gucci Resort 2017 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.vogue.com/article/ gucci-resort-2017-acid-washed-denim-jeans [Accessed 1 March 2017]. Geri Dempsey, (2016), Balenciaga Creative Director Demna Gvasalia in an homage using his 2016 campaign logo in their Spring 2017 Menswear collection [ONLINE]. Available at: http://diss.ltd/fashion-is-more-than-justpretty-people-in-pretty-clothes [Accessed 1 March 2017]. Vetememes, (2016), Vetememes [ONLINE]. Available at: http://www.meltyfashion.fr/vetements-plagiee-pourson-t-shirt-snoop-dog-a-900-par-urban-outfitters-galerie-2616197-3390043.html [Accessed 1 March 2017]. Ava Nirui, (2016), Art Works 2016 [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.instagram.com/avanope/ [Accessed 1 March 2017]. SSENSE, (2015), $158 Exclusive Blue & Purple Tie-Dye T-Shirt [ONLINE]. Available at: https://www.pinterest. com/pin/327707310366516856/ [Accessed 1 March 2017]. Farhad Manjoo, (2016), SFW genderless nipples, as protest. [ONLINE]. Available at: https://twitter.com/fmanjoo/status/806202010932346880/ [Accessed 1 March 2017]. The Snobette, (2015), Acne Studios Media Campaign Autumn 2015 [ONLINE]. Available at: http://thesnobette. com/2015/09/acne-studios-media-campaign-autumn-2015/ [Accessed 1 March 2017]. Team Jony, (2016), Contactless Payment Jackets [ONLINE]. Available at: http://bitcoinnews.bankofcommunity.com/amsterdam-conscripts-homeless-in-the-war-on-cash/ [Accessed 1 March 2017].
TEXT
FEDOROVA, A. (2017) Fashion’s bootleg era. Available at: https://www.vice.com/en_id/article/fashions-bootleg-era (Accessed: 1 March 2017). Bobila, M. (2016) Why bootleg Gucci is, to some, more authentic than the real thing. Available at: http://fashionista.com/2016/11/vintage-gucci-bootleg (Accessed: 1 March 2017). Hunt, E. (2017) Male or female? Genderless nipples account challenges Instagram’s sexist standards. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jan/19/genderless-nipples-generates-50000-followers-on-instagram (Accessed: 1 March 2017). SANCHEZ, K. (no date) His + hers: Blurring fashion’s gender lines - Astro read. Available at: http://astrogoread. astro.com.my/topics/article/s_614-s_614-4519633 (Accessed: 1 March 2017). NOBODY HAS TO KNOW and reserved, A. rights (2017) I.D. Available at: https://www.nobodyhastoknow. com/pages/i-d (Accessed: 1 March 2017). Robin, K. (2015) Albert Heijn opens supermarket with self-scan check-outs only. Available at: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2015/10/albert-heijn-opens-supermarket-with-self-scan-check-outs-only/ (Accessed: 1 March 2017). Balica, A., de Boer, J., Beekmans, J. and Payet, J. (2017) ‘Amsterdam’s homeless go Cashless’, 10 January. Available at: http://popupcity.net/amsterdams-homeless-go-cashless/ (Accessed: 1 March 2017). NLTimes (2016) Dutch buying more groceries online. Available at: http://nltimes.nl/2015/07/09/dutch-buying-groceries-online (Accessed: 1 March 2017).
21