Top 3 designer collections of S/17

While i was on The Impression, i came across the Top 10 awards. I found the top designer collections of S/17 particularly interesting and i picked out my top 3 from the list. The collections i love are all very intricate with lots of textures and embellishment which we're all going to see similar in our wardrobes in the next few months. These are the collections i chose to show:

I really loved this Fendi collection. The colour palette is fairly neutral however vibrant shoes are paired with the outfit which really stand out. The accessories in the styling really stand out to me, they're all very bold, like the big frame sunglasses, chunky chained pastel clutch bag as well as the straps shoes. ''In the show notes, he describes his girl as a "modern rococo muse." And he kind of made us want to be that girl, if not a slightly a toned down version.''- http://fashionista.com/2016/09/fendi-spring-2017-review.

''Fendi has long been in a playful mood – bag bugs, and those larger than life-size furry Fendirumi monsters: a pink Piro-chan and a blue Bug-kun that pop up at store openings the world over – and this season continued along that path. Models had hair bunched into half-up pigtails and wore thick gooey glitter gloss on their lips.''- http://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/spring-summer-2017-ready-to-wear/fendi/

This Valentino collection is my favourite, it is very girly and romantic with the use of different shades of pink. However using black with the pink makes the garments have a little edge, which makes them look more modern, rather than childish. The shoes are very simple scrappy sandals, they go really well considering the garments are bold, you wouldn't want to shoes to take over the beautiful, textured outfits so these are very suitable. ''Romance is delivered in contemporary shapes and details, like the lace-up flats and micro-mini crossbody bags swung over evening wear.'' https://www.popsugar.co.uk/fashion/Valentino-Spring-2017-Collection-42495477#photo-42495477

''Piccioli settled on the colours of the Renaissance, a palette that centred on yellow ochre, vermilion, malachite, absinthe and umber browns and worked them into his signature romantic whisper-weight dresses; long sleeved, high-necked, pleated skirts, grounded in ballet pumps with straps wrapped around and buckled at the ankle.''- http://www.vogue.co.uk/shows/spring-summer-2017-ready-to-wear/valentino/

This Marc Jacobs collection looks very futuristic as many metallics are used, the styling of the hair also links to this as it is in a very unique up-do with the use of deadlocks, however the dreads are bright colours and look un-natural, which is very different to what the models above have there hair like. This hair style actually got a lot of controversial comments social media about cultural appropriation, however Marc Jacobs stood up for himself saying he doesn't see colour or race, he just sees people. ''The collection reflects a young, free and eccentric mood, topped off with that extraordinary theatrical attitude that defines Marc Jacobs as one of the most consumed and talented showmen in the fashion industry.'' ''Marc Jacobs offers its version of a rave party, the expression of an infinite creativity.''-http://www.vogue.it/en/shows/show/spring-summer-2017-ready-to-wear/marc-jacobs

Spring/Summer 2016 ad campaign  

The unique look was inspired by Lana Wachowski, who starred in one of Marc Jacobs' campaigns. "We were also looking at other girls that were inspiring to Marc, and certain types of cultures, like rave culture, club culture, acid house, Boy George and Marilyn," said hairstylist Guido Palau backstage. http://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/hair/news/a17691/marc-jacobs-models-dreadlocks-nyfw-spring-2017/

''The spectrum of individuals photographed in our Spring/Summer 2016 ad campaign represent a celebration of my America. In collaboration with photographer David Sims and stylist Katie Grand, the people featured in our campaign personify this collection of fashion through their individuality. Collectively, they embody and celebrate the spirit and beauty of equality,” wrote Jacobs in the photo’s caption.http://www.vogue.com/article/marc-jacobs-spring-2016-campaign-lana-wachowski

Studio 54

What is studio 54? 

According to the BBC it is 'The best party of your life'.

Studio 54 is a former nightclub located between Eighth avenue and Broadway in manhattan, New York city. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, then in 1977 it was bought by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrader and was transformed into the nightclub, Studio 54. It is a now a permanent home for Roundabout Theatre Company. Many famous people have been to studio 54, in-fact it is mostly famous people who are aloud in. Tons of people queue outside to get in, but you just experience seeing all the famous people walking past and getting straight in. Between 1977 and 1981 it was at it most popular years, it was the place you would see thousands of famous actors, models, artists, fashion designers and politicians. 

''It's 35 years since Studio 54 opened in New York. It quickly became the best known nightclub in America, riding the wave of 1970s dance music and newly found personal freedom. It made vast amounts of money for its two young owners. But after three years the party came crashing to a halt.''

- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17829308

Diane Von Furstenberg - Fashion designer said in a interview with Vanity Fair "I had more fun at Studio 54 than in any other nightclub in the world,'' 

-http://www.vanityfair.com/news/1996/03/studio-54-nightclub-new-york-city

Calvin Klein with Brooke Shields both stand in the DJ booth at the reopening of Studio 54 night, 1981.

-http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/studio-54-gallery-1.1242582?pmSlide=1.2615100

              

   Grace Jones at Studio 54 in 1979                                    Grace Jones at Studio 54 in 1978

Studio 54 has also adapted into a fashion trend that was predicted to be very popular this a/w 16/17. It is inspired by the 80s as well as disco, so its just like what the top celebrities wore to the nightclub. The designers have been combining a range of materials, patterns, silhouettes and colours to create statement clothing for this trend, just like what studio 54 goers wore. 

For my current uni project i have been allocated the trend Studio 54, in the next few weeks I'm going to go through all the stages of the fcp process and then finally create a report document showing my research, big ideas, mood boards and the final set of images. In my next blog post I'm going to go more in depth to this trend and the work I'm doing.

Thank you for reading

Charl 

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Research referencing- http://time.com/3600002/inside-studio-54/

http://www.roundabouttheatre.org/Your-Visit/Venues-Theatres/Studio-54.aspx

Personal practice shoot for the excucution

In groups we have to create 3 images inspired by 'New Nomad' by Juergen Teller. First i wanted to practice by doing my own shoot, i put all my ideas together took a few photographs inspired by the existing editorial shoot. By doing this it gave me lots of ideas on what to do for the group photographs. As we got given the object makeup, i wanted to practice my skills by doing bright makeup on my model.

i made sure the makeup was really intense so it would still show on camera. i feel like it went really well and even though i used vibrant colours, it still looked nice and wearable on them model. 

                                    

I used a garden for my location shoot so it would be similar to the background in 'New Nomad'. It was luckily a sunny day which made the images come out really well. 

These were 3 of my favourite photographs i took. i styled my model in bright clothing so it stood out against the rural background. Similar to 'New Nomad' i wanted to my model to stand in more unusual poses that created a very mysterious and unexpected atmosphere. Overall I'm really happy with the shoot i done on my own and it gave me a good idea on different ideas we could do for our group project. 

Thank you for reading

Charl 

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Creative Concept

All teams got allocated a Creative Concept taken from a existing editorial shoot from the vogue achieve. My team got given 'New Nomad' from Vogue- March 2015. We first went to the vogue achieve in the library to find the magazine, and here is the issue:

These are a couple of the series of images we got given from 'New Nomad'.

We thought of a few words that we felt like represented the images: 

-isolated
-abandoned
-random
-rural
-nature
-shadows
-natural
-pops of colour
-disposable pictures

-contrast

Juergen Teller is a german artist whose photography stands out from the rest in the fashion industry.  

''The imagery he produces is always immediately recognisable due to its innate starkness. His photography is often over-exposed and regularly features the photographer himself in various stages of undress.'' - https://www.businessoffashion.com/community/people/juergen-teller?collections=7&query=Juergen%20Teller&offset=0. Tellers fashion photography have been featured in Vogue (US, France, UK, Italy) swell as W magazine, I-D, Details, The Face and many more magazines. He has collaborated with many big names such as Yves Saint Lauren, Helmut Lang, Vivienne Westwood, Céline and in particular he worked with Marc Jacobs from 1998-2014 shooting all his campaigns. 

When we first got given these images, we thought of words that we felt like represented the photographs, such as the theme and the message. It was really interesting analysing the images as the more you look at them, you notice lots of different factors. Each of the photograph have a contrasting background to the model, the scenery looks abandoned and isolated; whereas the models are dressed in very vibrant clothing with colourful wigs, this is very different to the background. Even though they're dressed like this the model they choose for this shoot are not glamerous or very feminine looking.

         

In the magazine, the images are printed with a white boarder, which looks like disposable pictures, almost like the magazine is a scrap book of holiday photographs, however they differ from usual holiday picture as they look very random and unexpected. This also linked to the name of this collection 'New Nomad' as Nomad represents a person that doesn't stay in one place, and travels to unexpected places. 

For the next part of this project as a group we need to take 3 final images inspired by 'New Nomad', swell as using the object makeup within the photographs

Thank you for reading

Charl 

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Slow Futures // Collages

Following on from my last blog post on the 'Slow Futures' trend, i wanted to create some collages with my interpretation of the trend. The first one is created with different textures and is inspired my 'Mercury Rising' a very futuristic trend, this is why i used monochrome colours swell as silvers and metallics. i layered a grey image under the womens face and cut parts out so you could see it, i felt like this made it look more robotic which linked to the trend. 

This collage is inspired by the trend as a whole, i used textures like wire, foil and string as well as metallic, pastels and monochrome colours. The wire and silver make it link really like to the futuristic part of the trend. I didn't want it to look perfect so i left in rough edges so it went well with the minimalistic part of the trend. 

 I created a colour board which is the most used colours within this trend, you can tell they're a range of very muted pastel colours with some neutral dark colours. 

So here is a quick little post about some collages I've been working on! i hope you liked them.

Thank you for reading

Charl 

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Creative Concept: Re-Cycle Tyrrells

For the creative concept part of our course, we got put into groups and were given a brand and a product. Our brand was Tyrrells (the snacks) and our product was a cycle helmet. These are both very random so at first we were confused at how we could combine them, however once we done our research we began to find similarities between both the brand and product. We first done research on the brand and found information about it, we then combined all we found started thinking about the purpose, values, positioning and the personality of Tyrrells as a brand.

This was the start of a mind map showing the connections between Tyrrells and a cycle helmet. we felt like words such as rural, local and traditional linked to both. 

This was our first moodpboard on the brand Tyrrells, we collected a variety of images and wrote about each one. we also linked the research to our key words which were handmade, vintage and playful. Tyrrels has only 25 different flavours of there snacks, which are all different colours, this makes the brand appear playful as well as traditional. We kept in mind all these factors when creating our product as we wanted it to visually look similar.

This is a few images and key words we collected to give us an idea of what most cycle helmets are like. The most popular helmets are very masculine and ordinary. This gave us inspiration to create a unique helmet suitable for both males and females and a variety of ages, but still with the safety purpose. 

This is our main moodpboard showing our final idea. We wanted to create a cycle helmet in the style of a famers hat, but still with the safety purpose; which linked to the rural, traditional key words we came up with. We would recycle lots of Tyrrels crisps packets from place special bins around in many citys. Once we collected them we would wrap each hat in the packets professionally so it would have a playful look. We also created two colour palettes- the dark colours for the older generation and the bright colours for the younger generation, these colours were inspired by the crisp packets. We showed our photoshop skills on this board by actually creating our product and layering crisp packets on top of hats.

To conclude we had to present, it went really well and the feedback was very positive. We were told that you could tell that we new what we were talking about as we really went in-depth with the research. The lecturers also liked our use of photoshop to show our idea as well as our tag line ''Re-Cycle Tyrrells''.

Thank you for reading

Charlotte

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Slow Futures

While i was on WGSN, i came across 'Slow Futures' which is a predicted trend for S/S18. Its going to be a very popular trend within fashion, lifestyle, hair and makeup. 

''Is “slow futures” a shift from the super high tech athleisure looks we’ve been seeing? Actually, athletic clothing is going to get even more high-tech, and the innovations there will filter into the fashion realm, and the world of design in general. Design and technology are becoming more seamless, and thanks to projects like Google’s Project Jacquard we will soon have clothes with technology woven into the textiles, giving us constant information about our health and performance, as well as an interactive surface with which to connect with others.''

- http://observer.com/2016/06/a-wgsn-trend-forecaster-explains-what-everyone-will-wear-in-summer-2018/

It is a very minimal trend, however with luxurious items of clothing. High tech aspects are also included which creates a very futuristic and innovative trend that is going to be massive. One part of this trend 'Mercury Rising' that visually looks like space, this is very futuristic with the use of metallics, silvers and metals.

Raw Minimalism is a very clean, neutral trend with raw edges- such as frayed edges, rips and unique textures. This trend has been around for a couple of years, as it is very similar to Kayne West brand 'YEEZY' which is very popular for both genders and all ages.

''The meat of the matter, of course, is the clothes and the accessories, and as for them, the Yeezy look remains consistent, based on surplus basics, knits of many kinds, and, certainly, the smash-hit sneakers. As he said in a Vogue.com interview before the show, “I want to make pieces that can be timeless.” Where the look of Season 4 did evolve was in the color palette. The show cycled through whites to blacks, with a concentration on pale colors that looked bleached or sun-faded.''

- http://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2017-ready-to-wear/kanye-west-adidas-originals

Yeezy Spring 2017

            

Overall this trend as a whole has been influenced by different artists such as 

Clara Daguin- from mixing technolgy with fashion

Oma- from his futuristic resort 

Ms Min- from there modern clothing

Kaman Yoo Hye jin- from there minimalistic yet busy designs

i want to create some trend boards inspired by this trend which i will post about soon. Thank you for reading.

Charl

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The Big Idea

After watching 'The True Cost' we went away and done all our own research. We created two posters, the first one showing our idea generation process. We wanted to base our Big Idea on Ethical fashion and workers right, so initially we focused our research on that. we collected different articles so we found the main issues and events, we then done primary research where we created a survey to find out what the consumer would like our Big Idea to be like and to give us inspiration on our target audience. It helped us see there views and opinion about issues in the fashion industry. It was really interesting as we asked 'Have you ever bought an item of clothing from an eco friendly company' and a higher percentage said never. This made us think that it would be a good idea to create a stylish yet eco- friendly clothing line. We also found out that only 7% considered environmental and ethical issues whist shopping, this really inspired us to create a very interesting 'big idea' so everyone would consider these issues.

Idea generation process poster:

The 2nd poster summarised our big idea, we wanted our big idea to raise awareness to students of ethical and environmental issues connected with the fashion industry. Our big idea is to have a fashion show displaying all our eco friendly clothes in collaboration with Topshop. It will also be put on in the student union so all our target audience of students will be able to come and get inspired. The twist is at the back of the stage there will be workers making clothes, so you can see exactly how your clothes are made and by who.

 The Big Idea poster: 

TOPSHOP X #BEHINDTHESEAMS

Here is an illustration i done to see more visually what the event would look like: 

Thank you for reading. 

Charl

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The True Cost

For our next project we first watched 'The True Cost' to get relevant information about the environmental and ethical issues affecting the fashion industry. This helped me gain insight into what is happening in the world.

ABOUT

''This is a story about clothing. It’s about the clothes we wear, the people who make them, and the impact the industry is having on our world. The price of clothing has been decreasing for decades, while the human and environmental costs have grown dramatically. The True Cost is a groundbreaking documentary film that pulls back the curtain on the untold story and asks us to consider, who really pays the price for our clothing?''

''Filmed in countries all over the world, from the brightest runways to the darkest slums, and featuring interviews with the world’s leading influencers including Stella McCartney, Livia Firth and Vandana Shiva, The True Cost is an unprecedented project that invites us on an eye opening journey around the world and into the lives of the many people and places behind our clothes.''

http://truecostmovie.com/about/

This was a very moving film that helped me get secondary research for my next project 'The big idea'. There are around 40 million garment workers, where 97% work abroad, where a lot of them are some of the lowest paid workers in the world. There is two sides to a story and some people say that they choose to work and that theres a lot worse they could be doing; however after many incidents such as the Rana Plaza Disaster- (which killed more than 1000 people), it really proves that the industry needs to change, especially as its such a popular industry to work in. 1/6 people in the world today work in the global fashion industry. 

Aswell as human rights, environmental problems are also a massive impact on the world. Cotton produces the fibre that is responsible for most of the clothing worn by the world today, as its in so much demand the cotton plant is being reengineered to keep up with the industry. Textile waste is also causing a massive problem, its non bio degradable which means it just sits on land fields while releasing harmful gases into the air. With all these problems considered fashion today is the 2nd most polluting industry, just behind oil.

Many fashion designers are now trying to change this, such as Stella McCartney who is ''trying to do it in a way, less harmful to the planet''.

FACTS

• 20% of the global industrial water pollution comes from the treatment and dying of textiles.
• 20,000 deaths per year as a result of pesticide poisoning. 
• 350,000 tonnes of clothes go to the land fields each year, which take around 200 years to decompose. 
• 2nd most polluting industry- deaths are cause from air pollution.
• 750 million people around the world lack water, however loads is used to produce clothing.

After all the research i found out, we now need to produce a 'Big Idea' to help raise awareness of the environmental and ethical issues connected with the fashion industry. 

Thank you for reading

Charlotte

Serious slashes // final mood boards

For our final piece we had to compose 4 mood boards on trend forecast, media, retail and consumer based on our trend serious slashes. 

TREND FORECAST

For the first mood board we analyse our A/W forecast serious slashes and put all our research into a physical mood board. We went on Buisness of Fashion and WGSN and found all examples of our trend, aswell as history or the trend. We found lots of different examples of this trend for all different styles of clothes.

 

MEDIA 

For the second mood board we found secondary research about the trend and found the publics opinions on it. We found many articles negative and positive about the trend, there was a lot of negative comments on Kylie Jenners jeans with rips at the bum. For slashes in evening wear, we found many articles mentioning how this trend is very up and coming and suitable for all ages.

          RETAIL 

For the retail board we went into many shops and found how slashes have been adopted by retailers and brands. This helped us see what kind of shops sell our trend, evening wear with slashes was being sold in high end shops, such as House of Fraser and Selfridges. Knitwear with slashes was being sold in high street brands with a consumer of a older age, such as Marks and Spencer's and ripped jeans were being sold in shops such as Topshop and River island.

CONSUMER

For the consumer board we wanted to see how the consumers have adapted our trend slashes. We took street style photos of the public adopted our trend. we managed to find quite a few examples for all the categories such as evening wear, casual wear and denim. We also had a survey so we could see the opinion on the trend.

So these are our final 4 mood boards showing everything about the trend 'serious slashes'. I really enjoyed this project and it was interesting having to go and find the trend your self in the shops and from people wearing it. 

charl 

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Serious slashes // primary research

So carrying on from my last blog post, it was now the stage at where we had to find our own research.   This proved to be quite difficult finding people wearing slashes considering it is winter, however somewhat relating to slashes are ripped jeans, these are a massive trend recently so we managed to find a variety of examples on the high street. Slashes are a very recent trend so perhaps they evolved from ripped jeans as they have been around for ages.

     

We first found lots of pairs of ripped jeans used for visual merchandising. The example to the left is how they could be styled for the winter and the image on the right is jeans styled for a night out; this proves that they are very versatile for different occasions. 

     

 I then went to find some street style of the public wearing slashes, above i took a photograph of someone wearing ripped jeans styled with a bomber for a more casual look.

     

For this next outfit the girl was wearing ripped jeans and a slash in her jumper, however the slash on her jumper was a bit different, they added a zip so you could choose if you want it undone or done up- this is a nice alternative to a normal slash. 

We also found many other example that we're going to include on our 4 posters! 

Thanks for reading

Charl

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Serious slashes // secondary research

For my first project at uni we got put into groups and got given a trend that we would have to research in order to create 4 mood boards. We had to compose the mood boards on trend forecast, media, retail and consumer.

Our trend was 'Serious Slashes'; I've never really heard of this trend however once i started looking into it i released how big it is getting. Slash means "cut with a wide, sweeping movement, typically using a knife or sword." This trend is very similar to slits and rips however slashes are more clean open cuts in a garment.

    

These are some examples of the trend being used. Above both Taylor Swift and Cara Delevingne are wearing slashes incorporated into a dress, this is promoting it to everyone who looks up to these celebs. 

Slashes in knitwear is usually put in for a more practical reason, the slashes at the side of the jumper make it more comfy with a loose fit. 

Overall i found a range of different examples where slashes have been used, including both evening wear and casual wear. For my next part of the project I'm going to find my own examples of primary research where I've seen slashes being sold in shops and wore by the public.

Keep an eye out for my next post on serious slashes

charl 

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Art and Design at College

Magazine i made for my FMP

So a few months ago i finished college, Ive spent the past 2 years studying Art and Design. Overall i have really enjoyed it and I am so glad i done it, even though it got very stressful. During the first few months in year 1 we had to do all different specialisms in Art, this included: Fashion and textiles, drawing, graphic design, contextual studies, photography, animation and 2d/3d fine art. At first all i wanted to do was textiles, however the more i had to be involved in the other specialisms, the more i enjoyed them. As we got into year 2 we could pick two parts to specialise in, i choose fashion and textiles and graphic design as this was when we had more control. As it got later in the year we started our final major project, for me this was the highlight of the course, we had complete control right from the start which included writing are own brief. For are FMP we were advised to only do one specialism however i wanted to do fashion/textiles, photography and graphics. I wanted to incorporate these all so i could create something linked to what i want to do in the future, i ended up making a variety of things including a magazine, a dress, skirt and fabric magazine. 

Dress i made

Overall i really loved my college course, i feel like i really made the most of it by linking whatever i did to fashion, which made me have a keen interest. For my course i received Distinction Distinction Distinction.

Top tips: 

Try and link different specialisms and projects to your interests i.e. i made a fashion magazine for graphics

DONE GET BEHIND - once you get behind and leave it till the week, it all piles up and you end up having sleepless nights. This also means you might not be able to get your work to the highest standard

Do want YOU want and don't follow what your friends are doing - you all have different interests so do what you have a passion for 

Do lots of planning and research and include it in sketchbooks 

When applying to uni make sure you do it well in advance do you have time to create a good portfolio

Thanks for reading

Charl 

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