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ELITISM FOR ALL Volume 8 Issue 2 £8 Autumn 2014
BOUDICCAS GAME FACE
/ FRAGRANCE ANALYSIS / SAMANTHA JANE HARVEY / FASHION COMMUNICATION and promotion / FASH10106 / BOUDICCA / WODE WAR / HAUTE COUTURE fantasy / ASTHETIC DRIVEN / An account for IMAGINATION / CELTIC WARRIORS / HEROIN CHIC LIFESTYLE / Factory Girl / ANDY WARHOL / EDIE SEDGEWICK / FILMSTRIP STYLE memoir / INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE / ABSTRACT AND AMBITOUS / Visual nature and ARTISTIC ROOTS / AMBITIOUS PIECES with a storyline / Bringing a community TOGETHER Boudicca ‘essays’ collection still (2006)
TANK / 2 “What do you collect and why? Boudicca, because these are the clothes I wear in my dreams. The ones where you are running in the dark for hours when you become aware of a clashing noise. You look down and realise your dress is made out of knives.” Aurora Shulman - i-D The Elevator Issue. 2000
Boudicca is a culture, expressing character and condition. Founded by artistic design duo Zowie Broach and Brain Kirkby, this haute couture fantasy is a design house respected for its integrity, depth of thought and exquisite detail. Their aesthetics reflect sexual ambiguity, juxtaposing masculinity and femininity with subtle, indirect attention to androgyny within tailoring. ‘As aesthetics have long been philosophically associated with art and taste, their consumption elevates individuals whereupon they consume ‘fictions that have taken up residence in reality’ (Wood 2005) Boudicca’s rejection of mass production motivates them to create unique, storyful pieces that are to be worn for a lifetime, all reflected within their brand expansion perfume, ‘Wode’.
Boudicca ‘essays’ collection stills (2006)
‘Scent that marks you as one of a tribe, but its uniqueness is that it marks you invisibly’’ -Zowie Broach of BOUDICCA.
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Lindowyn-Stock, Woad Warrior (2006)
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Boudicca’s big idea is to evoke stories, an account for imagination. The colour identity of this arresting brand is defined by a striking, ocean blue, significantly signposted throughout their creations and collections. Specifically in this advert, they commemorate the ancient Briton’s role in traditional warrior warfare, as well as their passion and dedication to their country, enhancing the brands origins. Woad, a term altered and coined into Wode, defines the extract taken from a leaf that depicts the pungent blue tones used as war paint to help disguise the Celtic warriors at war. Most famously worn by warrior Queen Boudicca, this instantly provides empowerment for the brand as it presents them not only as a fighter, but inventive and intelligent in that wode is a method of disguise and trickery. The exclusive atomiser effect upon the body, emphasised within the advert as weeping yet energetic, mimic’s the bloody battlefield and impact upon Celtic warriors. This links to ‘Wode’ by Boudicca’s target consumers of middle aged, uniqueness with class persona’s because it allows them to become part of a group, similarly to warriors within a clan or tribe, gaining a sense of inclusion, matching their differences and darker sense of style.
Boudicca ‘Wode’ Perfume Advert (2008)
Boudicca ‘Wode’ Perfume Promotional material (2008)
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Factory Girl, Cigarette (2006)
Boudicca’s creative concept reflects the heroin chic lifestyle that was exploited in the 1960’s, based upon the wanderlust behaviour of the time, famous outbreak Factory Girl (2006) was promisingly mimicked. Featuring American artist and leader of visual art movement Pop Art, Andy Warhol’s imaginative work is heavily imprinted upon this fragrance advert. Not to mention the resemblance and cloned persona, the agitated, yet hopeful look in the
model’s eyes reflects the chaotic rise and fall of socialite Edie Sedgwick. The dripping blue wode reflects the war wounds of overcoming drugs and the leaking love the she embodied upon the earth, reflecting her contradicting innocence of drug abuse. On the dicey topic of death, Boudicca’s filmstrip style memoir illustrates ‘Edith minturn Sedgwick, beautiful artist and actress, and all-round loon, remembered for setting the world on fire, and escaping
the clutches of her terrifying family .. She leaves only good wishes behind.’ – Andy Warhol. This subtle design equation of art direction and model choice supports Boudicca’s brand values of quality and emotion wrapped within a heartfelt storyline. As a brand the advert creates context for the consumer’s to live within, causing their clothing and perfume to feel like an experience, rather than an accessory.
Edie Sedgwick, photobooth style by Andy Warhol, 1966
TANK / 13 Retro and precise, this fragrance advert replicates a filmstrip, continuing the typical 1960’s vibe with a multimedia approach. A selection of film with slight movement reinforces Boudicca’s storyline trademark, creating a brand image immediately for the consumers to connect too and build around. This equally involves the consumer, leading to open interpretation and expansion upon their initial scene selection provided. Furthermore this also habituates Andy Warhol’s identification of repetition. ‘I like things to be exactly the same over and over again’. Warhol’s grid of repeating provides a more formal arrangement, illustrating more of a minimalist, contemporary piece. Furthermore, using grids and serial forms evoke ideology and geometric precision. This reinforces the brands aesthetics and attention towards detail, consquently placing ease upon the eye to allow smooth and accessible interpretation. This composition features an overwhelming amount of faces, however with no single face to latch on to as a focal point, this clever effect conceives no mind to focus on one single idea, ultimately taking in the image as a whole.
Edie Sedgwick, film strip from Screen Test No. 1 directed by Andy Warhol, 1965
This is beneficial too Boudicca because the uniform system reflects clean and precise idea’s and production behind the perfume. Equally, that their ingredients and finished product is polished and ready to wear.
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Instantly impactful, Wode’s execution is the ultimate scent for expressionists. Fiercely erotic, with a rich sensual radiance, this incredibly complex structure brings out Wodes warm, voluptuous heart that is shot through resins and woods that evoke shadowy northern forests. This piece exploits elements of Roland Barthes’s romanticized and mockery strategy. Interestingly, real life scenarios of drug abuse and war are transformed into art through mockery of a filmstrip storyline.
Boudicca ‘Wode’ Perfume Advert (2008)
Demonstrated through the visual contrasting make-up and grasping body movement, this advert provides a message of a perfect fragrance for a woman who knows her own mind and has courage of her convictions. It presents luxury through a tone of voice of non-conventional languages, therefore supporting the brand message of high quality products, with an avant-garde/punk attitude. Due to Boudicca products being non mass market, this allows marketers to experiment with elements, and for example they haven’t included the mandatory perfume commandment of including the actual bottle within the advertisement. However this makes the brand unique because people would have to go out of their way too search for the bottle, but if they were dedicated to the brand, because of its small target audience, they would be likely to do so anyways. Overall, I feel the execution worked successfully with the brand, due to their visual nature and artistic roots, the advert is more to observe and appreciate rather than serve practical purposes.
Bousicca Couture Backstage, Miguel Villalobos (2008)
Boudicca ‘Wode’ Perfume Promotional material (2008)
Moving Textiles, Boudicca (2006)
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Boudicca ‘essays’ collection stills (2006)
‘Wode’ by Boudicca is an interesting, appealing concept. Whilst it’s not entirely practical, the brand has consistently gained praise for its visionary approach to the fragrance and fashion marketing industry. Therefore, in reference to their values, they alternatively focus on bringing a unique, interactive experience to the consumer in their advert and products. This reflects back to the origins of the design duo, having started in the 90’s as an artistic expression blessed upon our very own eyes. This successful experimental fragrance advert is rather hypermodern, therefore illustrating and supporting Boudicca’s brand message of providing abstract and ambitious pieces with a storyline, to bring a small community together becoming a part and involved with something new.
REFERNCES SHOWstudio. (2011). Boudicca. Available: http://showstudio.com/contributor/ boudicca. Last accessed 18th March 2015.
Rachel Lane Hooper. (Dec 2013). The Beauties: Repetition in Andy Warhol. Available: http://www.academia.edu/5458144/The_ Beauties_Repetition_in_Andy_Warhols_ Paintings_and_Platos_Ascent_to_Beauty. Last accessed 18th March 2015.
Aurora Shulman . (2000). Boudicca Quotes. Available: http://www.platform13. com/pages/declaration/quotes.html. Last IMAGES accessed 19th March 2015. http://www.essays.boudiccacouture.com/ pages.html Unknown. (2014). Isatis tinctoria. Available: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isatis_ http://lindowyn-stock.deviantart.com/art/ tinctoria. Last accessed 19th March 2015. Woad-Warrior-7-44542435 Woad Inc. (2011). History of Woad. Available: http://www.woad-inc.co.uk/ history.html. Last accessed 19th March 2015.
http://www.fragrantica.com/perfume/Boudicca/Wode-Scent--6130.html http://theredlist.com/wiki-2-24-525-770771-view-1960s-4-profile-edie-sedgwick. html
Rock through History. (2006). Factory Girl. Available: https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=5qJ8NwkZn7g. Last accessed http://dianepernet.typepad.com/di15th March 2015. ane/2008/05/boudicca-coutur.html IMDb. (2006). Factory Girl. Available: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0432402/. Last accessed 18th March 2015.
http://www.plymouthart.ac.uk/latest/calendar/moving-textiles-boudicca