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AD4606 Brand Development Brand Book
By Luke Owen
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...Everything written in black and white...
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Contents Page 1.
..............................................................................................................Front Cover
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...............................................................................................................Cover Page
4-5.
..........................................................................................................Contents Page
6-7.
.............................................................................An Introduction To Marketing
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...............................................................................................Brand Collaboration
10-11. ...............................................................................Sustainability Within Fashion 12-15. ............................................................................................................H&M Profile 16-23. ...................................................................................Off-White and Virgil Abloh 24-29. .........................................................................Croquis on H&M and Off-White 30.
..........................................................The Collaboration and why it would work
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.............................................................................................The Target Consumer
32-35. ......................................................................................Visualising the Consumer 36-37. ..................................................................................The Collaboration Narrative 38-41. ....................................................................................................Music Inspiration 42.
................................................................................................................References
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.............................................................................................................Bibliography 4
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An introduction to marketing Branding is the process of which a company creates an image or perception involving a unique name and image to market a product to a specific target consumer. The whole point of branding is to find and communicate to the right audience and the way this happens is through the correct branding structure, with the long-term goal of retaining that target market and building a loyalty with the consumer. Branding and marketing dates to the first industrial revolution with the rapid progression of both scientific and technological industry alongside. This created a mass production market that made people buy and consume rather than make themselves. This was helped by the amount of jobs created by this initial rise in production jobs, growing the economy as well as the consumer market. The first printing advertising was recorded in 1450, but it was nearer the 18th and 19th century that saw the introduction of magazines (1730’s), posters (1839) and billboards (1867) These are still very common marketing techniques today and with the technological advances in the 4th industrial revolution. The poster on the right is just an example of a poster in the 19th century. The term influencer is a common term thrown around today, but the role has been around ever since the 2nd revolution when savvy fashion designers employed women to wear their pieces to popular events to be photographed and exposed to the media. Fashion shows and mannequins became a part of fashion with fashion shows being toured around countries and lasting up to three hours at a time, then being repeated every day. Again, technology has given new ways of advertising and marketing, with the commercialization of the radio (1922), the tv (1941) and the telephone (1946). During the release of these new mediums, business became more competitive and these new ways of communicating only elevated the market and production output. This was the beginning of the persuading technique and trying to convince people you’re better than your competitors By the 1960’s, we’ve had the introduction of television ads and the beginning of telemarketing, with dedicated teams and resources being put into these areas. The traditional practices were also still prevalent in the market, with a wide variety of magazines and physical media circulating. As the new millennium approached, the first wave of personal computers (1981-1984) and Mac’s were invented (1984), advancing branding through more complex and strategically planned methods.
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Figure 1’Lait pur Stérilisé, de la Vingeanne’, poster, T.A. Steinlen, 1894, France. Museum no. E.296-1921. © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
The turn of the millennium saw search engine marketing and advertising, within the early stages of this, companies used to strategically change search result to optimize their exposure by use of early algorithms, but nowadays, SEO (search engine optimization) was quickly made impossible to tamper with. Covering the history of branding, it’s clear to see the evolution and stages that brands have had to go through, but brands contain many different aspects that need to attended to, including brand values, reputation, loyalty, personality, image and many other aspects which we will delve in to now… Brand values are essential to creating the identity of said brand, what are their beliefs, and what promises have they created. This core creates the soul of the brand. This then leads on to identifying and creating a loyal customer base, retaining customers and getting them to promote your brand by involving it in their lifestyle, this is essentially free marketing! This also gives the brand a chance to charge a higher price for products as they know, people will buy them. This is tied in with brand loyalty and how the values can then lead to this. Brand loyalty is the act of creating consumers ambassadors for the brand, promoting to their social groups, creating the image that the brand is personal, and people are more inclined to trust this and relate to their friend’s experience and opinion on said brands. Its important to have consistency with the product or service as this will be brand loyalty over time as well. This all contributes to the brand identity, which is what the brand projects, creating a perception of said brand, this then creates a brand image that is the collation of that perception by the consumer. This plays a critical role in influencing and guides the decisions of the consumer. “Brand Identity is essentially ‘how’ a business wants to be perceived by customers. It is through brand identity design that a brand strives to communicate clearly with the target audience. Brand identity is the combined message transmitted via the brand name, logo, style and visuals.” (Edmonds, 2013) What really sets brands apart is the persona they create and how they can communicate this on a personal level with the consumer, creating a connection that goes deeper than just a product. Giving the brand and the marketing a personality, an individualism that makes it stand out. The immersion allows for a better understanding of the brand values and beliefs that I referenced earlier. All these qualities all build towards a brand’s reputation, which is crucial because this is projected to the people who aren’t aware of the brand initially. The reputation is the perception of the brand outside the consumer base and is the initial thought of potential consumers. “A favourable Brand Reputation signifies that the customer lays his or her trust in the brand and its offerings and feels good and takes pride in purchasing the good and services.” (Bhasin, 2019) Even though this apply to all brands, the way companies’ approach this can differ depending on their target market and the generation they aim to. So older generations, appreciate more traditional methods, whereas younger generations are more online and technologically adept, meaning social media and online marketing methods are more effective. This overview helps create an understanding, which will then be referred to throughout my brand book, backing up information and strategies used throughout my project which is combining a fast fashion brand and a luxury brand, thinking of the target consumer, how to advertise to this consumer and why behind all of this.
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Brand Collaboration What is a brand collaboration? Simply put, a brand collaboration is where two brands come together and offer a unique service or product based off and stems from those two brands or business entities. Usually a collaboration would happen to benefit both sides, either in growth or placement in their respected market areas or levels Collaborations can come in the form of many things, from Virgil Abloh and his Evian water bottle, to Supreme and Budweiser creating bucket hats. These collaborations may seem quite random, but they do have their merits and reasoning. Take the Abloh x Evian collaboration for example, a water bottle company partnering with one of the biggest names in fashion over the last five to ten years. How did these come about? Probably one of the biggest talking points in fashion and society globally, is sustainability. Fashion has really picked up in recent times and every brand and company is being called out for any unsustainable or unethical workings. Every designer is being looked at to set the standard in terms of sustainability. Partnering with a company, in Evian, that can offer a new outlet for sustainability was perfect. This collaboration was a good mixture of unique product and communicating a good message as well. The bottles themselves are a good product and serve a purpose, to hydrate. But more importantly, the process and the “ACTIVATE MOVEMENT” project continuing from this is good. The project is to fuel a new movement on finding new ways to be sustainable and changing the world for the better, one £45 Evian bottle at a time. So, with a marketable product and a positive message being communicated, both brands came off with a better image, an ongoing project that focuses on sustainability and it was two different markets and potential consumers coming together also. The only contentious part may have been the pricing of said Evian bottles, with some being as much as £45, but with Soma, a premium, highly sustainable hydration brand, also being involved in the physical production, and the Abloh quotation marks, this was justified. This price stems more from Abloh’s designer background. 8
Collaborations are becoming increasingly popular, with a lot of brands biggest works coming in the form of collaborations. Notable mentions of some of the biggest collaborations of recent times would-be Off-White x Nike, Adidas and Palaces ongoing collaborations. Louis Vuitton and Supreme have also collaborated which produced some of the highest reselling pieces in streetwear I’ve seen. Collaborations like Beyoncé and Balmain offered something slightly different than just a product. The exposure that Balmain got from dressing Beyoncé for Coachella was extremely beneficial. It’s important that both parties have something to offer each other. In this case, Balmain offered an extremely high-quality service and dressed Beyoncé and she in return, performed on one of the biggest festival stages in the world, Coachella, which is also known for the fashion trends it produces and the festival outfits they have every year. Overall, collaborations are always good for brands to keep their audience engaged and keep their audience growing from different areas. It also shows a flexibility from a company to be able to create different products to suit a market. This then offers a chance for the brand to branch out and create more products for their own lines based off that collaboration. An example of this would be how Nike have created some apparel for their main lines based off their collaboration with Off-White. 9
Sustainability within fashion Sustainability and the conscious effort to improve it in every aspect of our lifestyles and society is really important. From using less energy or creating a higher yield within product production, ti finding more ethical and morally correct ways of working. Fashion is a massive contributor to pollution. Each year, its estimated that around 1.14 million tonnes of clothing is supplied to the UK market. Around a third of used clothing (350,000 tonnes) is wasted at landfills each year, to put this in perspective, 1 tonne of clothing is about 200 black bin bags full of clothing. Part of the reason, in my opinion, that fashion is such a high contributor to pollution and so unsustainable, is because people don’t realise the damage it does. People would instantly think about transport or their use of electricity when thinking about ways to be more sustainable. After researching and going through countless articles on how clothing brands want to be better and make promises to be more sustainable, a lot of the promises won’t be in place till 2022 or as late as 2025. Which I find to be a bit of a cop out so to speak. Especially fast fashion brands, I think this is because of the potential losses in investing in more ethical and sustainable ways of working. With the margins on profits being narrower especially for economy and fast fashion, focusing on quantity over quality. Brands like Primark are a prime example, creating a lot of products, for all ranges and sizes, for very cheap. This means they sell a lot of units and use factories and transport more than other companies, but interestingly they don’t actually sell online, they only have an online catalogue that can locate the item instore for you. One of the positives to this would be that they don’t do home delivery so they are sustainable on that front as they make you physically go and shop instore for their products. 10
On the background of this spread I’ve highlighted some products and brands that I think make a consious effort on the sustainability front. One of the brands I’ve looked at is Raeburn and its creator Christopher Raeburn. Collaborating and creating many unique pieces from a multitude of materials, Raeburn takes sustainability and makes very wearable and durable products. One of my favourite pieces would be the Raeburn x North Face bag (top right). These were made out of old tents and tarp, with the aim of showing that many and any materials can be re-used. Raeburn has also shown the reusage of parahchutes and kites to create tote bags and other products. (Elven, 2019) Someone who has really pushed the boundaries on the sustainability front is Stella McCartney and her numerous years on this has lead to multiple collaborations with Adidas which in turn has lead to Adidas creating more and more sustainable products through their ‘Parley’ range (Top left). On the Stella McCartney website, their mission statement reads “We are agents of change. We challenge and push boundaries to make luxurious products in a way that is fit for the world we live in today and the future: beautiful and sustainable. No compromises.” (McCartney, 2020). I think it’s unfortunate that more companies and designers haven’t taken this stance sooner. One of the main issues is sustainability has now become a trend, so companies are doing the bare minimum to be sustainable as they know more people are consious of it now. The problem with this is that, companies aren’t commiting to a better future, but a quick profit whilst they can, offering a more premium product, a more sustainable product, at a higher price. A brand who have done something similar to this is Palace, creating bags for life, hoodies and tees with a recycling logo on. The one point to make is that Palace create more premium products anyway. So even though I don’t think it was a marketing ploy, I didn’t see anything to suggest they’ce created anything to push sustainable or take further actions to be more sustainalbe.
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H&M is a fast fashion brand focusing on providing the essentials and creating for the parts of society that wouldn’t necessarily be as fashion conscious. As a brand they focus on sustainability and working ethically within fashion trying to improve the life of clothing and doing their part to promote sustainability and push this agenda, which is a brilliant stance to take, in two ways. This is very important for the planet and on a trend point of view, being sustainable is a very big trend and something that a lot of companies make a point of being. Potentially giving a false sense of security to their consumers.
Brief history of the brand H&M began in 1947 and was created by a man called Erling Persson, who opened a clothing store called Hennes, Swedish for ‘Hers’ and 21 years later, in 1968, he bought a hunting apparel and fishing store called Mauritz Widforss. When he combined the two, he started selling men’s and women’s clothing, combining the names also, to create Hennes and Mauritz or as we call it today H&M.
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H&M in the market H&M is a fast fashion brand that sits in the same regions as the likes of River Island, Asos, Zara etc. Providing the latest trends from the catwalk in a watered-down sense. Making luxury and high-end fashion, easy to wear for the general consumer. Offering a range of essentials for men, women and children’s wardrobes. I find H&M brilliant for filler pieces, for example, I would go and buy a pair of expensive sneakers that need a pair of cargo trousers to match, I know I could walk in to any H&M and find a pair of basic cargo’s to suit my needs.
The H&M Consumer Looking at the H&M consumer, it would be a wider range of generations, but a generalization would be that they aren’t as brand loyal, shopping in multiple retailers for the perfect item. Not to say H&M doesn’t have loyal customers, but the majority would be that of people trying to keep up with the latest trends without necessarily spending a lot of money or spending a lot of their time to get it, in H&M or elsewhere. The typical customer would have a steady income and time to consume the different capsules and pieces on offer, providing clothing for all the family means it potentially becomes a one-stop shop for a family looking to update their wardrobe, at a good quality, yet reasonable price.
S.W.O.T
Strengths – When comparing H&M to other fast fashion brands, their sustainability stance and how they approach it, is a strength and something that makes them stand out to the consumer base. Their diversity in product and range of consumer is also a positive, with a wide range available to a diverse consumer base. Weaknesses – Apart from sustainability, there’s not a standout attribute to H&M I feel they potentially don’t carry signature look that could make them standout to the masses, but rather they provide essentials. Opportunities – Sustainability, keep finding new ways for people to be sustainable and create a space that promotes this, be the frontrunners, the innovators on the fast fashion market level as I don’t feel there’s another brand that promotes it as well as they do, or at least follows through with it as well as them. Threats – Ties back to opportunity and how if they don’t carry on growing and expanding on sustainability, other brands will catch up, rendering H&M with no standout attribute. Plus, sustainability will be a huge part of fashion now for the foreseeable future so invest in that. 13
H&M and their take on sustainability I think the reason H&M is still regarded as one of the big fast fashion retailers is because of their sustainability range and how they’ve identified this as an important selling point adding to their attractiveness. One of the stand-out points that I was told about prior to researching H&M was the garment collecting they do. This initiative is in place so people can make the most of their clothes instead of sending their clothes of to landfill. H&M actually accept clothing from any brand and condition, anytime, any day of the year. I’ve taken this from H&M’s ‘Garment collecting’ page on their website. This is a great initiative that gets people thinking about recycling and reusing their clothes. H&M reward you for this, with every bag of old clothes you take to a H&M store, you receive a £5 voucher back to spend on any purchase over £25 or more. There’s incentive to recycle your old clothes, which 0% of the clothing ends up in landfill as well which is another positive. Saving the world one bag of clothes at a time. This is taken straight from H&M’s sustainability page, talking about their mission, the strategy and the long term of it. Another string to the bow of H&M’s sustainability front is the conscious range, focusing on sustainable materials and offering this for fair prices. The following is taken directly from H&M’s website… H&M run a conscious range, and this consists of their best priced products for the sustainable process they go through. To qualify for being part of their conscious range, the product must be made from at least 50% sustainable materials like recycled polyester and organic cotton. This is taken from H&M’s ‘Conscious products explained’. Sustainability is a massive part of H&M’s identity and I don’t think this will change anytime soon. Through my research, I’ve identified this as their marketable asset and using this aspect of their brand will be crucial in attracting and creating the identity and image I want to create. 14
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Off White and Virgil Abloh Off White was started after Virgil Abloh finished his previous brand called Pyrex Vision. He created his previous platform, basing it in Milan, with Abloh defining it as “The grey area between black and white as the colour Off White” Off White creates a range of products in both the menswear and womenswear markets, with products such as outerwear, t-shirts, belts, backpacks and many more different pieces and accessories. One of the things that made Off White from the very crowded streetwear market was the highly recognisable logos and branding that was consistent within all the pieces, for example the arrows logo or the diagonal lines logo, featuring heavily on hoodies, t-shirts and eventually £60 phone cases. With Abloh having previously been educated in architecture, they also offer some homeware pieces such as ceramic pots etc. Also offering lifestyle products like towels and suitcases. The core aesthetic of the brand is “Everything in quotations” This principle is apparent in the physical and aesthetic elements of the brand, which make heavy use of references and often take familiar concepts and reinterpret them in new ways. This has been met with accusations of plagiarism and unoriginality, which doesn’t sit well with the fact that Abloh was rumoured to have stopped Pyrex vision because of the copyright issues with the kitchenware brand and controversy over his reuse of other labels apparel. Off White biggest collaborations have come with Ikea and the famous “The Ten” collaboration with Nike, which still sparks collaborations with the two today. These collaborations were more ambitious than what any other brands were doing at the time and the hype created around these is being compared to the latest collaborations happening between different companies and how they compare. Another notable collaboration was with Rimowa on creating a luggage collection. 16
Off-White and where they stand Off-White has a very strong grip on the menswear market, creating sought after pieces season after season. Making you almost need an Off-White piece in your wardrobe just because you have to. In terms of market, they are very much in the luxury market. But I feel they have a unique place in the market, when looking at the pieces they create and the way they’re worn, I feel like Off-White is almost a bridge from lower level streetwear brands like Stussy, Palace and Billionaire Boys Club. Especially since Louis Vuitton acquired Abloh, they’ve realised this, and the move was an attempt to bring that audience to the step-up within the luxury market, from a more streetwear orientated brand like Off-White to a more blatantly high-end brand like Louis Vuitton. Being the forefront of the Streetwear trend, it will be interesting to see where OffWhite go from here, in terms of grasping the tailoring driven beginning to the 20’s and maybe changing their identity or using their influential pull to put their own spin on it and creating a sub-trend of their own.
The Off-White Consumer The brand in my eyes is almost the pinnacle of streetwear or has been since the mid 10’s. I first saw Off-White through Instagram and the whole craze behind the paint splatter hoodies, creating a silhouette signature look that everyone who could afford to, then recreated for their own flex. It reminds of the Fear of God trend that Jerry Lorenzo created a year or two earlier. The consumer, in literal terms would be millennials who are interested in luxury fashion, someone who’s physical image is important to them as well as keeping up to date with the latest trends and hottest brands. Within this bracket there’s 2 consumers, a person of high income or at very least secure income and financial position. Who can afford to splash the cash on designer brands such as Givenchy, Gucci Balenciaga and of course, Off-White. The secondary consumer is that of an also fashion-conscious consumer but one who spends a couple of times a year in the luxury market. Remaining loyal to these brands but having less disposable income than that of the primary consumer. The younger generations are slowly taking over the luxury market as top spenders and this was the reason streetwear was so popular because it was a way of the younger audiences to express style in a sophisticated but still casual way, even as the trends look towards tailoring, Off-White will be able to balance streetwear and more formalwear together as they already have. Featuring blazer and shirts in their latest spring/ summer collection. 17
The Off-White Signature Off white has a pretty recognisable design, maybe not intricate enough for some but the application of marketing, simple but effective design has been a killer. Looking at some of the logos within OffWhite, there’s the arrows logo, which was inspired by according to many different sources, British public transport. This, at first glance seems an unlikely source, but with Abloh having a background in architecture, he could have definitely run in to the images from the 1960’s around the rebrand of a Scottish public airport. The quotations marks are a heavy signature of Abloh’s and I found a good quote describing it perfectly “Quotation marks are one of the many tools that Abloh uses to operate in a mode of ironic detachment…Abloh rejects the who-did-itfirst mentality of previous generations in favor of the copy-paste logic of the Internet and its inhabitants. His new order is protected by a fortress of irony.” (TFL, 2019) This opinion is somewhat controversial, and the idea of copying and stealing work is seen as negative and harmful to the industry, according to Picasso… “Good artist copy; great artist steal.” The idea whole Off White brand is heavily influenced by art, an example being the Mona Lisa collection Abloh made with the literal Mona Lisa on hoodies and tees. Abloh has created a brand that both infuriates and excites the fashion industry at the same time. As far as the wider audience is concerned, having the latest Off-White belt or sneaker collab is still where its at. 18
S.W.O.T analysis
Strengths – Their collaborations and the way they branch
out into multiple markets means they have a wide audience. Working with brands like IKEA, Evian (interesting one), Nike and Rimowa. These brands cover a lot of different bases in terms of exposure and audience range, helping Off-White become a more than a clothing brand and become a lifestyle brand. Weaknesses – One problem for Off-White might be the potential repetitiveness that after a couple of years catches up with them, but they have already potentially made up for this with their new logo, released in the back end of 2019. With Abloh coming out talking about streetwear running its course and the trend itself dying, adaptation to the new trends will be needed, but how will this go with Abloh heading Off-White as well as Louis Vuitton. Opportunities – Almost blending the strengths and weaknesses together, collaborations with brands will help transition from one trend to the next for Off-White. Using their previous ties to create new platforms for consumers/ new products to market. Off-White are a jack of all trades and I think they can transform themselves into a lifestyle brand, covering all bases in a detailed way, expanding the way we perceive the brand. Threats – With Off-White ending the decade on a high, I can’t see Off-White being the frontrunner of the following decade, the threat will be to the reputation of the brand and if not calculated and careful. They could be in danger of not growing with the times. It’s important, in my opinion that they observe, adapt, and reimagine the trends to cater to their audience whilst maintaining relevance through collaborations, fashion shows and potentially looking at famous influencers. An example of this would be how Skepta has been seen representing Louis Vuitton and collaborating Nike and how this brings his audience to the brands. This all leads back to growing and how you can always gain exposure through multiple avenues. 19
Virgil Abloh Abloh was a civil engineering student at the university of Wisconsin-Madison, he completed his undergraduate degree in 2002 and rumour has it that he skipped his final critique to attend a meeting with Kanye Wests manager John Monopoly. This is arguably where the work between Abloh and West began. In 2006 he completed his master’s degree in architecture from the Illinois Institute of Technology. Apparently during his time there, when a Rem Koolhaas building was completed, this potentially started his journey in to fashion “Piqued my interest and opened my gateway into fashion.” (Yotka, 2018) Something I’ve learned whilst researching fashion in general is how networking and building up contacts in the industry is so vital to growing yourself in experience and adding to your own brand. In 2009, Abloh and West both interned in Fendi in Rome… Michael Burke, CEO at Louis Vuitton “I was really impressed with how [Abloh and West] brought a whole new vibe to the studio and were disruptive in the best way.” (Yotka, 2018) Also in 2009 they made a statement at Paris fashion week, feeling like outsiders or like they weren’t supposed to be there, they took this opportunity to try and influ-
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ence the culture of fashion through bringing excitement and for the next decade, the streetwear decade, they did, through different avenues, achieving different goals but creating for a similar space and purpose. West and Abloh continued to work together, in 2010, Abloh became the creative director of West’s creative agency Donda. With West he continued, being the creative lead for the art on Kanye and Jay-Z’s ‘Watch the Throne’. Then, with Abloh’s presence in the industry seemingly firm, he branched out and created the brand “Pyrex”, brand being a word I use loosely. Shade intended. New York 2012, the brand launches, using Ralph Lauren flannels, valued at $40 each, he then screen-printed ‘Pyrex’ and the number ‘23’ after his childhood hero, Michael Jordan. When this process was finished, he preceded to sell these for $550 each. This brought a wave of criticism and complaints because of the supposed simple work but incredible price tag as well as being accused of ripping other brands off, or the fact he took other brands clothing and ‘rebranded’ them and stole it as his own. Unbelievably, Abloh leaves Pyrex behind in 2013 and the brand Off-White is born, a multiform creative endeavour based in Milan. Being predominantly a fashion brand, Abloh began to merge ideas of streetwear, luxury, art, music and travel. With his signature “Quotation marks” being created and still, 7 years later, an ever-recognisable signature in fashion. In 2014, Off White launches womenswear and both men’s and womenswear are shown at Paris fashion week. In 2015, Abloh’s womenswear operation gains steam when Beyoncé wears a palmprint sweatshirt with the word Nebraska on it. Getting the biggest names in popular culture to represent his brand was a huge part in the growth of Off White.
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Off White is named as a finalist for the LVMH prize… “Launched in November 2013, the LVMH Prize was created to honour and support young fashion designers around the world. Every year, a young designer and three graduates from fashion schools can claim the prestigious prize.” (Yotka, 2018) Even though OW didn’t win the award, this gave even more exposure to the brand, and at this point, everyone who was anyone knew and wore Off White, donning the arrows or quotation marks of Off White. 2016 and the global take over began, opening a concept store in Tokyo. “The store features a watercooler with Off-White branded cups that visitors take for free and resell on the secondary market.” (Yotka, 2018) He also debuts the Off-White furniture range in Milan, featuring iron grid chairs, benches, tables and Carrara Marble tops. The year is 2017. Personally, I think this is where Off White peaked in the last
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decade, where just associating the name Off White with anything gave it a resell value. Listing some of the notable happenings for Virgil: • His first New York opened • He won a British fashion award for Urban luxe brand • Collaborated with Takashi Murakami on opening at Gagosian • Released his first song • Collaborated with names such as Jimmy Choo, Jacob the Jeweler and Warby Parker In my opinion, the biggest achievement was the collaboration with Nike and ‘The Ten’ collection. Recreating the ten most influential and popular silhouettes associated with Nike Converse and Jordan. Including the Air Jordan 1, the Blazer, the Chuck Taylor and the Air Force 1. Creating a unique theme throughout, a deconstructed work in progress vibe. That featured a safety tag of course. This changed the way the sneaker community and fashion community in general consumed shoes and the resell market changed. With collaborations nowadays being constantly compared to back to ‘The Ten’. This collaborations between the companies is still continuing, with clothing lines and the ‘Track and Field’ range being the latest in this partnership. The year of 2018 huge personally for Virgil Abloh as he’s picked up by Louis Vuitton to become the artistic director of menswear, taking the role formerly filled by his mentor Kim Jones. “It is an honor for me to accept this position. I find the heritage and creative integrity of the house are key inspirations and will look to reference them both while drawing parallels to modern times,” This was from a statement he made just after he got the job. (Yotka, 2018) As he headed Off White and Louis Vuitton through 2019, he as his own brand released a long-anticipated collaboration with Ikea, featuring rugs, tables and chairs. All at reasonable prices, but of course, the resell market had other ideas. He also exhibited at the museum of Contemporary art in Chicago. 23
Croquis focusing on H&M and Off-White
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After analysing the different strengths from creating the croquis’s for the respected brands and also finding common ground between the two at the same time. I have found products and styles that would suit both brands and match both aesthetics including brands that I think each brand work well with. Off-White has a strong narrative and the messages within the clothing is more prevalent. With the quotation marks and artistic flair, I think these are attributes I will take to the collaboration. I’ve attempted a more conceptual approach, involving background images and more graphic images to portray a story. Giving each croquis a purpose, or agenda. Something to take note of is the use of materials, or the variation of such. Comparatively to H&M, Off-White use a more diverse type of material and pattern, maybe bringing this design attribute will help H&M stand out from the rest of the fast fashion brands, giving it more of a individuality. The approach I took with H&M was more a realistic approach, straightforward and something that showed how day to day the brand can be. The third croquis (see opposite page), represents how I see the H&M wardrobe, with someone owning multiple tops or sweatshirts with shorts, cargo’s and joggers, an essential collection. To match their popular shoes or sneakers. Both brands offer a strong streetwear aesthetic that can be built on and put into a collection. It goes back to creating art through a canvas and an artist. With H&M creating that strong base to hold the Off-White idea and I can see the links between the two through the croquis. Something important to remember is to keep the integrity and image of both brands in mind when creating the collaboration image. Finding the middle ground will be crucial and making sure that the brands are distinguishable in the brand.
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The collaboration & why it would work The purpose of this project is to research and develop a brand collaboration between a fast fashion brand and a luxury brand. Identifying the target market and the market level we want to approach. The brands I’ve chosen are those above and I chose these as I am very familiar with both and have consumed both brands multiple times. With the clear understanding of both brands and what they bring to the table, I can deduce the best way of going about combining the two and creating a collaboration that brings the two audiences together. The aspects of Off-White I plan on bringing into the collaboration is the wellknown branding, including the quotation marks and artistic design, aiming to send subliminal messages about modern day society through the clothing itself. Playing on the fact Off-White and its identity has been recreated by other fast fashion brands, blatantly ripping off the arrows logo’s, the paint and lines logo’s also. H&M’s main strength, as I mentioned multiple times throughout my research, is the sustainability aspect, combining a sustainable practice with Off-White’s design is a killer combination and something I’m excited to explore. The way I would describe the collaboration is that like an artists’ work, H&M is the canvas, whilst Off-White the artist, creating a story through art and its canvas alike. The H&M essentials will be the base to the art, using layering and shape to form the initial pieces and then adding detail with Off-White’s message and creating an in-depth meaning to each piece. Creating a collection that not only visually appeals to the audience but carries a message as well. The collaboration brand would essentially be a diffusion brand, more heavily based around Off-White whilst H&M supports. I would plan an individual popup space for it as I don’t think it would fit within a H&M and I would want it to be London based as that is where my inspirations are coming from. 30
The target consumer The general consumers between the brands aren’t too similar in general but I feelwithin a more detailed sense, a common ground can be found, looking at a certain target market. A fashion conscious, generation Z consumer who enjoys luxury fashion but consumes at a fast fashion/ high-end high-street price. Controlling what could and would be a lower disposable income than that of the luxury market consumer. Through the collaboration I want to balance the practicality, sustainability and style within a small range, giving the consumer as good a justification as possible as to why they should invest in the pieces and the story being told through them. A market I would consider tapping into is the sneaker market and ‘hypebeast culture’. An aspect of this I find really interesting is the stance and image that Supreme has. Which is a very split opinion and set of audiences. With some buying for investing and the hype of reselling Supreme (been there myself) and the other side of the perverbial coin which is someone who is genuinely interested in the meaning of Supreme and the artisitc side of fashion. Understanding where each piece is from and how some of the more contentious pieces are actually strokes of genius. An example of this would be the recent Supreme x Nike Air force 1, which was all over one colour, white or black and had a box logo on the heel. This sent some of the Supreme community alight as they felt they were being played or it was a joke as no one would pay resell or even over $100 for them (they did). Supreme took possibly the most coveted and popular sneaker of all time and added their signature to it, they asked for retail and people paid $100 for them, simply because they were Supreme. This is also an example of how collaborations can generate an immense amount of hype just because of the brands. I’ll look to break in to this market and use the names and brands to appeal to the larger audience whilst applying smaller details to give the educated consumer a deeper connection to the product.
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Visualising the consumer As well as talking through my target consumer, I’ve created some supporting images to show how I visualise the different people i want to reach with the collaboration. Image is very important and i want to create the clothing to be very specific to an aesthetic but also cover bases within mens streetwear in general. My first example shows a more popularity driven person, who wears what they see other people or influential people wearing. Smoeone who isnt necessarily bothered about the hows and whys of their clothing. The ffact they’re wearing a Canada Goose jacket itself is tragic, because of the unethical sources of where the clothing and material comes from. Another tell is the mismatch of branding and how everything is obviously branded with logos and pieces etc. This person is where the logos on my collaboration would come in, as I someone who dresses similarly to this would want to wear something with blatant Off-White logos.
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Whilst having a target audience that consists of the casual consumer. It’s important for me personally, to communicate a more thorough message and use this platform to portray a message. My second croquis describes a more ‘woke’ fashion consumer. Who looks at more brands like Comme Des Garcons and Wtaps. Balancing a mixture of more complex and simple brands and pieces. The classic Nike AF1 for example, can be dressed up or down. This consumer makes some of the simpler items seem more sophisicated and elevates to that next level. Inspiration for this came from Japanese street style and how in general Japanese style is so much slicker and well adjusted than western fashion in my opinion. This consumer is the mid point of where I want my brand to be. Somewhat educated enough to buy and create new and innovative looks but at the same time, still a part of them that wears it because its Off-White, its Virgil etc. As i design pieces, its definitely important to go through these consumers and try to cater or remember what sells at different levels and why it does.
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I think someone i want to reach is someone who wears and collects streetwear as an archivable collection. Like for example, I’ve included some graphics off tees in the backdrop of this croquis because some people appreciate fashion as an artform, more than just what they wear. but what it represents. This croquis includes more as I think this consumer has more about them in a fashion sense. Investing in longlasting timeless pieces. Like an overshirt, always in style in someway, or a pair of expensive shoes that can be resold after being worn for a long amount of time. Reselling is part of the culture and I think can be a good way of being sustainable, giving clothing a longer life be it with you or the next person when you let it go. Education is something i think sways someone’s style massively. After reading about fashion or sneakers myself, I’ve grown an appreciation for clothing or brands i might not have had before. A heavier interest in designers and their lifestyle tends to be an attribute of this person, not fanboying or taking their word for gospel, but understanding and appreciating where each of their designs has come from. Following pages on instagram or getting inspiration from magazines and books can be seen as well. Watching fashion shows and moulding trends to their individual style, this again can be seen in Japanese style in my opinion, taking something and making your own version of it. One of the brands which has featured on two of the croquis is Heron Preson. A brand which I think I take inspiration from quite a a bit. The graphics on the hoodies and tees suggest a more artistic approach whilst the use and placement of logos reminds me of Off-White. Something that supports all the croquis is music lyrics behind each one, as I think understanding and rememebr that a better understanding can be seen when you look through multiple channels and attempting to understand a lifestyle as well as a fashion sense is also important. At the end of the day, streetwear is something that needs to be worn on a daily basis, providing style and more importantly, comfort. I won’t be seperating any of items for each consumer, but each one of my pieces will have aspects accustomed for each one, or at least, the whole collection will cater for each equally. I think through the marketing and creation of the space and service, each one of the consumer bases can be hit. 34
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The Collaboration Narrative Something I picked up straight away was creating a brand based off a place or a physical location, after researching great collaborations in the past, something I appreciated was the idea of creating something that was visually pleasing but also had a story that people could relate to. Great examples of collaborations like this would be a lot of Nike SB’s that were made with pairs like the Pigeon dunks made to represent the pigeons of New York City and crazily they had riots and fights upon release, with resell being in the $1,000’s. A different type of collaboration would be Quai 54, the French streetball competition now sponsored by Jordan brand, collaborating on sneaker colourways and a full range of attire. Again some of these sneakers resell for over a $1,000. Something that I think gives a product or collection longevity is this attachment or story, down to the queue you might’ve had to wait in or the packaging it came in, Strange Loves SB dunks that came out in early 2020 are testament to this, with the standard pair selling for $600 resell and the special box edition selling for double at $1,200. A great balance of simply and demand. Creating that unique experience that doesn’t necessarily end at purchasing the product is important for this collaboration. I want people to remember where and when they bought these pieces. Pushing a strong narrative will connect part of my target consumer and then the visuals and branding will push it to all of my target consumers together.
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After researching in to both brands and looking at avenues that potentially haven’t been explored in either brand in depth, I’ve decided to take inspiration from music, UK music in particlar. With Abloh having a DJing background, he is also interested in the UK music scene, talking Skepta and BBK before. The centre of the grime scene within the UK is in London, as that is where it originated from and most of the biggest names within the genre come from London or the surrounding area as well. Influencers and celebrity backing really pushes products to another level and I think adding musicians to the collaboration brings in another audience that can appreciate the collaboration from a different angle. It’s important that the music side of the collaboration offers more than just album art or lyrics on a t-shirt, and that it adds to the marketing, the overall storytelling and has an influence on the product, I’ll go through these musicial influences in the next part of my book. I think narrowing down where I want the collect to be based can give me a chance on customising and designing the customer experience in the best way I can. To do this I looked at the modern trends and different ways of making the collaboration stand out. Ways I’m going to do this would be: - Numbered apparel, creating a limited range, with every product having a number. For example if there was 250 t-shirts made, each would have a number on the wash tag or on the t-shirt itself saying “1/250”. - Exclusive physical retail only, something I find really interesting and unique about the London fashion scene, especially compared to the rest of the UK is how stores like Palace and Supreme operate on release days. Creating queues outside the stores. I think this is a good way to generate hype and create excitement for a product so it’s something I’m going to involve in my collaboration. This would come in the form of a pop-up shop within Soho or Oxford street. As I feel that the aesthetic I will create, would be better suited to a competely individual space oppose to within a H&M. - Unique packaging, taking inspiration from the Strange Love Dunks, the collaboration would provide sustainable and reusable zip bags, that Off-White already give out with their own products. As well as those, reusable carrier bags would be available with the collection, this would add to the post-purchase experience that I want to offer.
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Music inspiration After researching into Off-White, art is something that occurs and influences a lot of the brands work. Using different types of media is always important and is a good way to get a story across. I think the UK music scene has a strong narrative and I think has power to create visual and conceptual art. Influencing and creating a story or realisation is important to the collaboration, as well creating something people want to wear visually, creating a narrative and making the collection mean something. Focusing on some of London’s biggest artists and UK rap artists of this generation. For my collaboration, I’ve looked at three artist in particular, who I think convey a strong narrative or have a strong connection to fashion. The first artist I’ve focused on is Dave, a music artist from London. Dave is known for tackling societal issues and using his platform to speak about issues that potentially other artists or influential figures wouldn’t confront. He has also worn Louis Vuitton clothing at the Brits which Abloh had a hand in, being head of menswear at Louis Vuitton. Songs that I’ve highlighted on the right page are ‘Psycho’ and ‘Game over’, both songs of struggle. I think both songs have strong and clear narratives that I would intertwine with my brand and clothing. Using the lyrics to create or back a conceptual image or idea on a t-shirt that could also be marketable. Politics will always divide opinion, as it’s pretty much suppose to. But creating clothing that is based or talking about politics can go one of two ways. as peoples views and opinions can heavily impact what they would and wouldn’t buy. It can also give a brand or person a bad image. It could turn people away from a brand if it doesn’t align with their person views, so giving my work a conceptual approach might stop this from potentially happening. Collaborating with artists like Dave, having him model for some of the clothing or having some of the music at the pop-up store gives the collaboration more depth.
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Skepta is a huge name within music in the UK and has recently applied himself to fashion, modelling on a runway for Louis Vuitton and attending Paris fashion week. Skepta has reworked his image in to a more influential and lifestyle esc figure, more than a musician so to speak. Skepta has worked with Nike previously on his own shoes and apparel so isn’t completely out of the blue as Off-White have also worked with Nike on an ongoing collection. Using connections and common ground, Having Skepta model and endorse the collab on social media etc would push this collaboration on new channels and bring even more hype with behind the scene exclusives or a different view on the collaboration outside the respective brands Something I wanted to also incorporate is the use of his latest album art and lyrics sathe wording and phrases such ‘Ignorance is Bliss’ suit the message and narrative I’m driving. Again politics shows in his lyrics as shown below and this is something I want to include and take from as well.
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Narrative and a connection or familiarisation to a product is important, especially with a collection like this collaboration. Giving clothing a reason to be, or a chance at emotional connection will drive the product forward and make it stand out. Wretch 32 is an artist that raps and sings about very ‘real’ topics, that affect alot of people and his music really tears the wall between artist and audience down. Breaking this barrier builds a strong connection with the consumer and would give a type of brand loyalty, if the consumer can feel they’re more than buying a product but they’re actually receiving an experience from the brand as well. All of these artists will help form a mixture of clothing, advertising and message to my consumer. Through promotion on social media and maybe whilst performing, or receiving special ‘friends and family’ editions of the clothing. This refers back to the collaboration between Beyonce and Balmain, wearing their clothing whilst at Coachella. Their influence and collaboration also adds to the promotion in terms of reaching their own audiences. This artists will help push the message, providing a front for the subliminal messages I’m trying to tell, Subliminal Bliss.
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Bibliography Buckle, C. (2019, April 1). The Luxury Market in 2019: What Brands Should Know. Retrieved from GlobalWebIndex: https://blog.globalwebindex.com/chartof-the-week/luxury-market-2019/ Danziger, P. N. (2019, May 29). 3 Ways Millennials And Gen-Z Consumers Are Radically Transforming The Luxury Market. Retrieved from Forbes website : https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamdanziger/2019/05/29/3-ways-millennials-and-gen-z-consumers-are-radically-transforming-the-luxury-market/#4993bbb7479f H&M. (2020). Conscious products explained. Retrieved from H&M website: https://www2.hm.com/en_gb/ladies/shop-by-feature/conscious-products-explained.html H&M. (2020). Garment Collecting. Retrieved from H&M: https://www2. hm.com/en_gb/ladies/shop-by-feature/16r-garment-collecting.html Leach, A. (2017, August 30). Why does Virgil Abloh put everything in “Quotes?�. Retrieved from Highsnobiety : https://www.highsnobiety.com/2017/08/30/virgilabloh-off-white-quotation-marks/ McCartney, S. (n.d.). Sustainability Mission Statement. Retrieved from Stella McCartney: https://www.stellamccartney.com/experience/en/sustainability/themes/ mission-statement/ Olito, F. (2018, June 18). 9 things you didnt know about H&M. Retrieved from Insider news website: https://www.insider.com/surprising-fun-facts-about-hmclothing-store-2018-6#customers-can-drop-off-any-used-clothing-at-any-storeto-be-donated-5 Rakestraw, A. (2018, June 14). Behind the Design: Off-White, Margaret Calvert and the Graphics of Glasgow Airport. Retrieved from Grailed website: https:// www.grailed.com/drycleanonly/off-white-graphic-design-history
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