The contents within this Journey Book, showcase the journey from my brand me concepts, developing my personal brand ‘Molly Ellen’, creating a 360-campaign concept, and finally the creation of my final major project.
Completing the Brand Me (Concept Direction and Development) modules, pushed me to delve deep into who I am, not only as a person, communicator, but as a brand. What purpose do I want my brand to have, what theme/aesthetics/fashion styles represent me best, and how will I translate that message and style into a fashion concept? A pivotal part of the brand me research, was answering reflective questions such as ‘Am I a safe communicator? ‘Do I feel confident showcasing my ideas? ‘Am I fight or flight?’ Answering these questions honestly, sharing and talking through my thoughts, opinions, and personal matters, enabled me to move forward with each brand me task, creating an honest representation of myself, helping to develop a brand identity that truly embodies myself, my interests, fashion styles and aesthetics’ that appeal to me, as well as showcasing my specialist skills, relating to career fields I am interested in pursuing, within the fashion industry after I graduate.
Self- reflecting on my, upbringing, childhood, and past personal situations I have endured, was an extremely insightful process. I learnt a lot about my own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses, interests, and passions to an extent, I had not prior to completing the brand me module. I had the happiest of upbringings, my parents have and always support me in everything I do, and I would not be the person I am today without them! Growing up in a small, quiet, Cheshire county, living in a traditional, cosy 4 bed Cottage, surrounded by lovely nature and wildlife, instilled a calmness in me, as well as an appreciation for the scenic natural countryside, I saw and still see every day. Being constantly surrounded by beautiful nature, instantly makes me feel tranquil and serene, and always calms my thoughts when needed. Growing up surrounded by a natural environment, has made me admire and cherish, the enchanting, blooming and captivating nature around me, as well as appreciating the natural flow and movement of nature, such as Trees and Flowers. This acknowledgement has played a part in creating my brands aesthetic, which I discuss later within this journey book.
As well as reflecting on the predominant positive, joyful memories from my childhood, it is also important to self-reflect on the times where I struggled and found difficult. When answering the question, ‘Am I fight or flight?’, I took this as an opportunity to share and discuss, my personal ongoing experience with speech anxiety. I first started to notice signs of speech anxiety when I left my primary school bubble. I loved my time at Primary School, I always had a smile on my face, I felt happy and confident, and to my own memory, I never struggled with presenting my work or participating in discussions. As soon as I began my years at high school, that is when I noticed confidence in myself and my work massively dropped. I previously stated in my brand me component one essay, that I find it extremely difficult to join in group discussions, speak up in class, get my idea’s across verbally, even in my one-to-one tutorials, or presentations in a smaller group. As well as these many situations, it also occurs in my daily life. I also previously stated in my brand me component one essay, that my speech anxiety is at its worst, when I am put in a presentation situation, where I have no choice but to present my work. I find this so frustrating as there is nothing more I would love to do, than to be able to fluently share my ideas, opinions and thoughts to my peers and lecturers in a presentation situation, as well as in regular class discussions and one to one tutorial’s.
As I write this today, I am in a completely different head space, to where I was 5 months ago, regarding my speech anxiety. I successfully completed my speech anxiety treatment with my therapist, back in February, and since then, I am proud to say I have completed many presentations, class, and team discussions, with much more confidence and self-belief in myself and my work, prior to seeking treatment. I still have my struggles when presenting, and discussing my idea’s, however I am learning to accept that, its normal to find presentations nerve wracking, as well as sharing ideas! I am now feeling a lot more positive and confident, in my work and idea’s. This does not define me and has only made me stronger as a person and will continue to do so. I am excited for the future post-graduation, as well as looking forward to what my future career brings, hopefully a role within either the two specialised fields I am interested in: Fashion styling, and Social media management.
The key concepts I took away from the brand me chapter one research, was that I knew, I wanted my brands message to be positive, inspiring, and excepting! My four key message points are. •Positivity through clothing •Diversity •Individualism •Positive body image These four points showcase the message that I always intend for my brand to portray. I am a very understanding, caring, and excepting person, and am passionate about promoting individuality and positivity through fashion, so it was important for my brand to showcase those messages.
Another key concept, of the brand me chapter one research, was undertaking research, into which fashion styles I am drawn too, fashion brands/designers and certain celebrity’s style, which appeals to me. This played a significant part within developing my personal brand ‘Molly Ellen’. The aesthetic/theme of the Molly Ellen brand was drawn from this initial brand me research and is the driving force behind the Molly Ellen brand, and my 360-final major-campaign concept. I am drawn to romantic, classy, sophisticated, demure style clothing, and have always admired and appreciated the work of Chinese/American designer, ‘Anna Sui’. Her floral, vintage, romantic and Victoriana garments and designs, have always inspired me, and her work played a part, within my initial brand development research. Anna’s skill of creating timeless clothing collections, that have both cultural and historical allusions is inspiring, and adds dimension and depth to the meaning of her designed garments. Anna’s passion and admiration for both history and art, is incorporated into her design concepts. With these two-subject area’s having such a vast number of topics, history, and information to explore, this offers versatile garment creation. Anna then mixes the references she has taken from history and art, intertwine them into her designs, creating a strong outcome, embodying her cultural references. This has influenced and inspired me, to ensure that my brand outcome, showcases a mixture of styles and garments to produce a captivating and versatile final major project outcome.
Following on from researching into Anna Sui, this led me to research into a variety of other brands/designers, who reflect my brands aesthetic of romantic fashion, femininity, and individuality. One of these designers is Irish designer, ‘Simone Rocha’. Simone’s designs showcase femininity in an underground, riotous and subversive style, conveying a tom-boy feminine look. This style offers a unique fashion style, with the use of clean, simple colour palettes such as white, cream, and black tones, as well as a mixture of fabrics, such as embroidered lace. Simone’s collections offer a new and unique take on feminine wear, and the concept that you can still wear feminine/elegant garments and have subversive thoughts and opinions on current issues is inspiring, and similarly to ‘Anna Sui’ has inspired and influenced me to, include a range of romantic and contemporary garments within my final project, to create a new romantic concept. ‘Molly Ellen’, is an elegant, demure, and classy brand, showcasing, romantic fashion, femininity, and individuality. Radiating happiness and positivity, I aim to capture this with a romantic, feminine contemporary, but historically styled, series of stylised shoots. As I stated within my 360-campaign plan, this could be showcased through a combination of demure, elegant, romantic style garments, alongside modern pieces to create a modern but historic style, conveying confidence, positivity, and individuality.
‘Molly Ellen’ sits within the Premium High Street market level. The premium high street market level, also known as the ‘high end high street’, is the higher end of the high street market level, offering premium quality clothing, for a much more affordable price, in comparison to buying into luxury labels and designers. In summary as to why the Molly Ellen brand, sits within the premium high street market level is. •There is a gap in the market for a new romantic story to be told! •I personally shop within the premium high street market level, it adds a more personal aspect to my brand. •(As stated in my 360-campaign plan.) After looking at luxury designers such as ‘Anna Sui’, ‘Simone Rocha’ and ‘Cecilie Bahnsen’, I realised that the luxury market, already have designers and fashion garments, catering to the romantic fashion style, where the romantic style is already very much reflected and represented. This style is not often recognised within the premium high street level, - I will bring something new with the Molly Ellen brand.
As well as these three significant points, one of my main influences, that contributed to my brand concept, and the reasoning behind my chosen target market is the premium fashion brand, ‘&otherstories’. ‘&otherstories’, offers a range of fashion styles, created for specific collections, suited to each ‘&otherstories’ design workshop, located in Stockholm, Los Angeles, and Paris. Each garment from a specific city collection, embodies and represents the culture and fashion style, of either of the three city’s. In relation to my brand’s aesthetic and concept, the Paris designed collection, suited perfectly to Molly Ellen. “Our designs from Paris reinvent the romantic essence of the iconic French girl.” (&otherstories, n.d.) ‘&otherstories’, is a premium fashion brand, that I, often purchase from. The styles of the clothes, accessories, and the overall calm, classy, elegant in store, and online shopping experience, represents me, and my brand aesthetic and message perfectly.
To further my research into the premium fashion market level, I researched into what is currently happening within the premium high street. Whilst researching I came across a variety of articles, that I have used as my main source of research. I came across an interesting reference from a Fashion Network article, dated back from April 2020. The article stated: “But the 34% fall in overall interest is still a sign that some affluent consumers may be anticipating a more challenging financial environment. They seem to have shifted their interest from the higher-end luxury labels like Burberry and Gucci towards premium brands such as Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and others, where searches have actually risen 18%.” (Halliday, 2020) This suggests that premium brands are becoming more represented and showcased within the fashion industry, and more and more people are wanting to purchase affordable luxury items. Especially since the Boohoo scandal, which came to light last summer, of which workers were being paid as little as £3.50 per hour.
Another article I came across, was from ‘who what wear’.com; named. “This Is My Secret to Finding Expensive-Looking Pieces on the High Street.” (Montgomery, 2021) This article courtesy of California based fashion label, and trend report sit ‘Who what wear’, mentions a variety of premium brands, and premium lines, to engage and persuade readers to make premium fashion purchase choices, buying into substantial, long lasting, and high-quality affordable items. The rise of premium fashion articles, particularly from last year and this year, in my opinion suggest that customers, are willing to spend more on premium/good quality items, due to the global ongoing devastation, that consistent fast fashion consumption is causing.
Whilst researching, I also came across premium fashion brand ‘Darla’. The Darla brand represents my brand’s theme perfectly. On the brands about us page, they state. “Darla is a premium slow fashion brand that celebrates the beauty of bygone eras with handmade-to-order British designs. Each of our ethically-made creations is inspired by the delightful charm of femininity, and is crafted with dreamy details like frills, ruffles and oversized collars. To put it simply, we create sustainable clothes for lovers of nostalgia, romance, and whimsy.” (Darla, n.d.) The Darla brand resonates strongly with my brand concept. I have gained further inspiration from the style of clothing, commercial and editorial imagery, in which has helped to develop and progress further within completing my final major project
A significant romantic and feminine premium fashion collaboration, launched between Swedish high street brand ‘H&M’, and Irish designer ‘Simone Rocha’ back in the beginning of March, this year. When I first found out, about this collaboration, it almost felt like fate! A mainstream premium range, offering romantic wear! This premium romantic, sustainable and inclusive range, offering both womenswear, menswear, and children’s wear, designed for high street retailer H&M, created by Irish designer, Simone Rocha, whose work represents girlish unique femininity, showcases a formal and feminine collection, infused with Simone’s Irish heritage. The fabrics used within the collection, are all sustainable, ranging from organic Cotton to recycled Polyester, providing an ethical romantic look. Alongside the sustainable fabrics, puffed sleeves, intricate lace, delicate detailing, and floral prints, were significant within the garments in this collection, showcasing Simone’s signature styles and embellishments. Romantic feminine fashion is making its move, into the premium high street forefront, and is there to stay! The collection deemed very popular upon its first drop, nearly all of the beautiful sustainable pieces had sold out, with popular demand for a re-stock. The vast popularity and excitement over this collection, created a conversation and admiration for elegant, subtle, classy, and feminine wear, showcased within both womenswear, menswear, and children’s wear, conveying an inclusive, positive look.
My brand Molly Ellen, is creating a new romantic story, situated within the premium high street market, showcasing romantic, historical fashions, styled with modern and contemporary pieces, to create a new modern, romantic feminine look. After the launch of this collaboration with high street brand ‘H&M’ and Irish fashion designer ‘Simone Rocha’, it has re-assured me that there is a place for my brand concept, of a new romantic story, combining both traditional and modern romantic styles, alongside contemporary everyday pieces, to create a fresh and unique elegant look, situated within the premium high street market level, targeting my chosen consumer demographic.
The consumer I am aiming my final major project campaign towards, is both Millennials and Generation Z. Specifically the older spectrum of Generation Z, between ‘17-22’, and the younger spectrum of the millennial generation ‘23- 26’.
The concept of my final major project, is a series of romantic stylised shoots, conveying the Molly Ellen aesthetic of romantic fashion, femininity, and individuality. The outcome of these stylised images will convey confidence, positivity, individualism, and will showcase a mix of contemporary and historic styling. Taking inspiration from my previous research, of styling of luxury brands, such as Anna Sui and Simone Rocha, I will create a new romantic way of storytelling, suited to the premium high street market level. Moving my brand concept, through into this final module, and for me to develop, and engage with the romantic concept of my brand, and final major project further, I created and experimented with many forms of primary imagery. Such as photography, illustration, and styling.
A starting point for my primary research was rose imagery. Due to florals, especially roses often associated with the romantic era, as well as romantic fashion. Another reason, I decided upon rose imagery, as my initial primary visual imagery, was after the advice and support I was given, by our Brand Management industry lecturer- ‘Tony Green’. I was struggling to come up with primary imagery idea’s, due to Covid-19 lockdown restrictions at the time, and with the help and push off Tony, we came up with the concept, of taking images of roses, in order for me to develop my brand’s aesthetic further, adding depth and movement, to the meaning of the illustrated rose, within my Molly Ellen logo. An illustrated rose, is situated and incorporated within the Molly Ellen logo, symbolizing my brand perfectly, so it made perfect sense for me to begin my primary imagery journey with Roses! I experimented with both real and fake roses, allowing me to compare and reflect on which images worked better and why.
I firstly took images of real pink roses, in my garden. At the time I took the images, it had snowed the night before, offering a snowy, white crisp background for my roses to lay. I also filled a glass vase of the roses, and placed the vase in amongst the snow, as well as placed on a vintage style bench, which was also located within my garden. From taking these initial primary images, it offered me a base layer, to developing further primary imagery concepts, suited to my brand’s aesthetic of romance, femininity, and individuality. Following on from this, I manipulated the real rose imagery, as well the illustrated rose from my logo, and combined them onto a previously styled image, I styled during my time at college, prior to attending university. The image I styled in college, was a replica, and in the style of the iconic, 1963 image of English model ‘Jean Shrimpton’, photographed by American commercial photographer, ‘Bert Stern’. Within this image I styled, the model Ashleigh is wearing a floral headpiece. This image suited perfectly to the Molly Ellen style, and could be easily manipulated to embody the Molly Ellen aesthetic even further, as well as showcasing, the primary rose imagery in a different style. I used photoshop, and the polygonal tool to cut around the real rose imagery, and logo illustration. I then simply fused in the rose imagery evenly, around the headpiece and hair. As well as manipulating traditional imagery, I also added the real rose, and illustrated rose imagery, onto the illustration of the Jean Shrimpton, I also created at college. This offered a contrast and multimedia look. I was very happy with the outcome of these two manipulated primary images I created. They portrayed the simple rose, and illustrated rose in a developed light, creating substance to the floral images, offering an insight into what they would look like within a stylised campaign image. I also experimented with a polaroid camera, creating shots to showcase both the real and fake roses in a vintage style, signifying historical and nostalgic references, often associated with the romantic era, and romantic fashion. The strong outcome of these initial polaroid shots influenced me to incorporate polaroid style imagery, into my further primary imagery, test shoot and my final major project campaign.
I produced a practise styling shoot, styling my own romantic, and contemporary everyday wear garments- straight from my wardrobe to my garden! This also included dress stand styling images, both traditional, polaroid and fake polaroid style, courtesy of an app called ‘Dazz Cam’, an app offering a fake polaroid effect. The dress stand was kindly given to us, by our module leader, ‘Tracey’. My younger sister modelled for me, as I styled and took the images via my phone. My sister modelling for me was the perfect choice. She fits within my target market, generation z bracket, as well as this, she modelled for my final major campaign, enabling me to style garments and accessories, that I know will suit my Sister, creating a stronger overall outcome. The location for my test shoot, was in my family home, behind a teal wall, as well as my open space beautiful garden. The use of using two locations, created a versatile look, and allowed me to experiment and discover which location would work best, for when it came to creating my final major project. I took over 200 test shot images, including traditional phone photography, real and fake polaroid shots, as well as moving slow motion videos. The slow-motion videos allowed me to capture the movement of the garments, in particular the flow of the elegant white maxi skirt. I took inspiration, from the natural movement of the nature I am surrounded by at home, such as trees and flowers, when recording those videos.
Adding to the forms of photography and video, I also illustrated the outfits my sister would be wearing for the test shoot. I illustrated garments together, that would be paired together, alongside the accessories and props used, for example a rose garland, in which my sister is delicately holding, or has gently placed around the outfits, in the images. Since the images, taken with my polaroid camera, achieved such a strong and vintage style outcome, I experimented with multiple-coloured polaroid films such as, the traditional white, pink, and colours of the rainbow. The drop of colour added a fun, youthful look to the polaroid images, offering a nostalgic, but contemporary feel, suiting to my brands concept perfectly. After showing my polaroid imagery to my module leader ‘Tracey’ and brand management industry lecturer ‘Tony Green’, I felt inspired and encouraged to include polaroid imagery within my final major project. Both Tracey and Tony were so positive and impressed with the use of polaroid’s, describing them as strong images. From this I felt inspired, and re-assured that my brand identity and concept was strong and developing in the right direction!
The outcome of my final major campaign shoot showcases the Molly Ellen aesthetic, concept, and message to its full potential. The choice of outfits, accessories, makeup, props, and backdrop, embrace the Molly Ellen aesthetic in a romantic, nostalgic, and contemporary way. The stylised images from my final major project campaign shoot, depict a romantic, feminine look, styled with modern, soft, and romantic garments, conveying confidence and individuality.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions at the time. My Plan B final major campaign idea, as stated below, became a reality, with only a few slight changes occurring. As I stated in my 360- plan essay: ‘My plan B, 360 campaign, would consist of my younger sister, becoming the model for my shoot, with me still taking the pictures and styling the outfits. My younger sister is part of my family bubble, as she lives with me and the rest of our family, in our family home. My younger sister also fits into to my specific generation z age range, so it would still be suiting to the Molly Ellen brand. The second plan B location option I have considered, would be to customize a room in my house, into the style of a photography studio. With a pastel pink, or white professional background. I could also place a large variety of pink roses, and other flowers, particularly ones I described myself as, in my brand me, chapter one research, around the background, to still capture the fresh, feminine and romantic feel to the shoot.’
This was not a setback, and in fact produced a higher quality shoot. My sister was the perfect model, and embodied the romantic, girlish, and feminine Molly Ellen, aesthetic to its fullest potential. The location for my shoot, was a room within my house. I built the set from scratch, consisting of a white sheet, a floral garland, house plants, roses, a vintage style stool, and two vintage looking rugs. I was very happy with the outcome of my set. It offered a vintage, DIY look, in which complimented my model’s poses and outfits.
I cherished the time I had with my sister, creating a romantic makeup look, styling of the romantic and contemporary pieces I had put together, and of course, making sure all the outfits, accessories and makeup embodies the Molly Ellen aesthetic, keeping in mind my market level and target consumer. Fashion styling is one of the career paths, I can very much see myself going into. I have a passion for styling garments together, to create a fashionable outcome, suiting to a particular concept. The enjoyment of expressing yourself through clothes, and embracing different styles, through the styling of clothes, I find inspiring and exciting! I took over 600 campaign images, using my phone camera, as well as over 60 polaroid images, using a white polaroid film for the, behind the scenes and final image shots, and a pink polaroid film for the dress stand styling images.
The incorporation of the two photography styles, created a versatile and diverse campaign, showcasing the Molly Ellen new romantic story, to the best possible outcome. I am beyond happy with my final major project images, the backdrop, styling, outfits, props, and my sister as the model, represent Molly Ellen perfectly. The stylised images radiate, modern romance, with voluminous sleeves, frills, floral prints, styled alongside modern everyday wear items, such as denim jeans and chunky trainers. I will promote my campaign via my @mollyfmc Instagram, as well as my website ‘Mollyellen’. Social media is another potential career path, I could see myself going into after I graduate. I will make sure to upload all final campaign images, at the times of best engagement, for my posts to reach as many people as possible. Promoting Molly Ellen- a new premium romantic story- embracing feminine romantic wear in a new light! Molly Ellen is creating a new romantic feminine story; bringing romantic, elegant pieces back to the limelight with modern, everyday styling; see you later athleisure, contemporary romantic fashion has arrived!
I cannot believe my Fashion Marketing and Communication journey has come to an end. Those three years have flown by! I have learnt so much from this course and will take all these skills I have learnt out, into the vast exciting fashion industry! I have pushed myself, learned new techniques, and have created a brand that honestly represents me, ready to showcase to industry. I started my university journey a very different Molly, to the one sat here, in this moment writing this. I have achieved so much, not just work related, but also personally. I have become a much more confident person, and have gained a lot more self-belief, than I started off with! Thank you to my hugely supportive family, friends, and lecturers who have always encouraged me, to be the best I can be!
&otherstories. (n.d.). About & other stories. Retrieved from &otherstories: https://www.stories.com/en_gbp/about/about-us.html Darla. (n.d.). About us. Retrieved from Darla: https://www.studiodarla. com/pages/about-us Halliday, S. (2020, April 22). Premium fashion beats high street and ultra-luxe in lockdown says LovetheSales. Retrieved from Fashion Network: https://ww.fashionnetwork.com/news/ Premium-fashion-beats-high-street-and-ultra-luxe-in-lockdown-sayslovethesales,1209305.html Montgomery, J. (2021, February 23). This Is My Secret to Finding Expensive-Looking Pieces on the High Street. Retrieved from Who what wear: https://www.whowhatwear. co.uk/high-street-premium-brands All images are my own, apart from branded images, from fashion brands, and celebritys. I have referenced these on a seperate document of references.