TAYLOR DZIEDZIC THIS BOOK IS A SHOWCASE OF MY SELECTED WORKS THAT I CREATED WHILE STUDYING FASHION COMMUNICATION AT RYERSON UNIVERSITY. THESE WORKS EXPRESS MY CREATIVITY AND PERSONALITY THROUGH PHOTOGRAPHY, ILLUSTRATION AND GRAPHIC DESIGN .
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a 100 page book about nike
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a 100 page book about nike
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and likes than any other. The Roman designer’s rich, renaissance-inflected aesthetic is “Made for Instagram.” That same aesthetic fuels Gucci’s high online engagement rates. The brand achieves strong organic traction on social media channels — with products like its Princetown slippers driving a 160 percent year-overyear increase in earned media value according to Tribe Dynamics. Scrolling consumers with ever-shorter attention spans respond to the richness of Gucci translated online, giving it the
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When Italy was under a fascist dictatorship in the 1940s, leather was difficult to come by, so the company experimented with other materials like linen and burnished cane. The burnished cane bag, also known as the Bamboo bag, became so popular that it’s still produced today.
highest rate of growth of any luxury brand. But what makes Gucci’s strategy so successful commercially is the combination of its massive digital reach combined with comparatively affordable prices, enabling consumers to buy into key products. Keeping prices accessible means Gucci can reach cohorts of consumers typically unable to afford luxury products, giving it the first, third, fourth and fifth best-selling products in the ranking — all under $500, with some less than half of that price.
BALENCIAGA: AUTHENTICITY AND EXCLUSIVITY Though Gucci beat Balenciaga by a considerable margin in both rankings, Demna Gvasalaia’s influence on the Hottest Brand ranking is still impressive, with Balenciaga and Vetements ranking second and third respectively. The Demna-effect was felt throughout 2017 thanks to the widespread adoption of Gvasalia’s engorged silhouettes and couture sensibility towards streetwear. However, his authentic connection with luxury’s youngest consumers distinguishes his output from those that emulate his work. According to the company, 65 percent of Balenciaga’s consumers are Millennials and they are responsible for 50 percent of total sales. Balenciaga was the sixth most buzzed-
about brand on Instagram (measured through comments) according to the content sharing application, even though it is not one of the top 10 most followed brands, nor is Gvasalia one the top 10 most followed designers. “The younger generation is looking for something that stands out and makes them special rather than necessarily an amazing finish that you would find with some traditional brands,” Balenciaga’s Charbit told The Financial Times earlier this year. And Gvasalia’s idiosyncratic vision has driven impressive search traffic, growing 50 percent in volume year over year, while placing two products in the Top 10 selling products of 2017: the Speed Boot and a logo tee. Consumers also typically engage with product images 15
IN FACT,
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MORE PEOPLE ENTERED THE
SEARCH TERM
“GUCCI” ON LYST OVER THE COURSE OF THE YEAR
THAN THEY DID THE GENERIC TERMS
“SHOES” AND “DRESSES.”
Balenciaga in 2016, Cedric Charbit worked under Francesca Bellettini at Saint Laurent — first as product strategy director and later as executive vice-president of product and marketing — helping drive the house’s sales past the billion-dollar threshold for the first time in 2015. By closely linking the design and merchandising functions, the commercial products available from Gucci and Balenciaga are not just an afterthought that comes at the end of the design process, but rather a natural outcome of the collaboration that comes between a designer and a switched-on product team that knows how to commercialise his ideas. This ability to take brand heat and translate it into sales is reflected in the Lyst data for top-selling products in 2017. Together these two brands account for the top five selling products in 2017, with four products by Gucci, the label’s “bloom slides,” logoed belt and T-shirt and its “Ace” sneakers, and Balenciaga’s Speed Boot, which landed in second place overall.
GUCCI: DISCOVERABILITY AND ACCESSIBILITY In 2017, Gucci was the numberone searched-for brand on Lyst and Google globally, according to analytics released by both companies. What’s more, the brand added 8
TAYLOR DZIEDZIC PORTFOLIO
GUCCI 12
a mock brand profile booklet for Gucci
million Instagram followers in 2017. To build a variety of takes on its core aesthetic, Gucci has also successfully cultivated relationships with creatives such as Coco Capitan, Petra Collins and Helen Downie, better known by her Instagram
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Gucci’s first big clients were, as the brand says, “horse-riding aristocrats,” and they clamored for equestrian gear. This is where the brand’s famed horse-bit detail comes from. handle Unskilled Worker, adding idiosyncratic nuances to its brand codes and communications. The brand also appointed a group of millennial advisors, aged below 30 and described as “a committee” by chief executive Marco Bizzarri — allowing it to tap the perspective of digital natives in its product and communication strategies. However, it is how naturally Michele’s maximalist aesthetic lends itself to Instagram and other digital photo-sharing apps that gives Gucci its competitive advantage. He has the highest engagement rate of any designer on the app, according to Tribe Dynamics, with his posts receiving proportionally more comments
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TAYLOR DZIEDZIC PORTFOLIO
GUCCI OR BALENCIAGA:
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WHICH WAS THE HOTTEST BRAND OF 2017?
Article Written by BOF Team Photography by Tommy Ton
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a mock brand profile booklet for Gucci
IN THE LATEST LYST INDEX, BOF REVEALS THE 10 HOTTEST BRANDS AND 10 TOP-SELLING PRODUCTS OF 2017 — AS WELL AS THE SECRETS BEHIND THEIR SUCCESS. 7
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ADOLESCENCE
a moodboard for an editorial shoot based on adolescence
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a mock editorial spread for i-d magazine and photoshoot
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ink and watercolour paintings of a life model
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digital illustrations created on photoshop
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a mock exhibition booklet on Virgil Abloh
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a mock exhibition booklet on Virgil Abloh
CONTACT
taylor.dziedzic@ryerson.ca @taylor.dziedzic linkedin.com/In/taylordziedzic/