The city of Love

Paris is one of the most romantic, beautiful and luxurious cities in the world. The beauty of the people found it in, the fashion, the food, the whole atmosphere is simple amazing, and luckily enough I was able to visit the city last week. Looking at Paris on a fashion level, the city is perfect. The home of Haute Couture, Paris screams luxury, and the whole experience will be unforgettable. The Chanel Flag Ship store, as well as Louis Vuitton, the whole elegance and welcome from the city is just incredible, and the layout of the streets, and the hustle and bustle of the city centre is just phenomenal. The layout reminds me very much of New York, with blocks around the main shopping centre: Lefayette. The day was perfectly balanced between Fashion Shopping and sightseeing! I would recommend Paris is a place to visit if you have any sort of interest in fashion, the whole ora of the city is just beautiful! 

The FUTURE of Fashion

Everyone is watching you, and everyone knows where you are, what you’re doing and when. The project is about if you put your phone in ‘the Stealth Pocket’ you are invisible, no one is able to contact you, or talk to you at all.

Meat Pack Hijack is an app which is available on phones, which sets up an app and lets you know the discounts which are available in the Meat Pack store – each second that goes by the percentage of discount decreases each time; which brings an excitement and individuality to the store. 

Nectar points and discount cards are the future of shopping, with giving and signing up to this information, you are able to be contacted and individually publicised to about certain products which they have seen that you already have bought. Something that you are common and more likely to buy will be pushed to you first with a discount to enable you to feel special and have a more personal feel with the company; as well as keeping customers loyal within a certain industry.

Fashion as a Movement

• The Age of Collaboration: There have become a lot of collaborations within industries, such as Apple and Burberry, to create a cool, and other industry specialistic work. There is a lot of Fashion with Tech, Film, Music, which has enabled brands to really push publicity as well as almost rebranding themselves. 
• Avoiding Mega-Systems: Amazon, Google, Starbucks, Armani, Doche and Gabbana, Apple – all of these do not pay tax, which means that they have a different company which has a much lower tax, so that they only have to pay the smaller amount of Tax to allow them to wiggle their way out of paying. The Irish and Dutch Government are known for helping the lowering of Tax within companies. 
• Digital Craft:  The online experience has to now appear like magic; the Gucci Store in Milan, and the Burberry Store in Regent Street are an example of this. 

Punk

When you have an object, or a piece of clothing, a haircut, which has a very specific meaning within an industry. Vivienne Westwood created a t-shirt in the 70’s with a Swastika and with Christ hanging upside down on a t-shirt, which is so offensive to each. This is very commonly found within a country where disposable income is high. The youth of today have become very aware that there is a lot of pressure, and a lot of power with what you wear now, and the way you present yourself. Meaning that offensive and outrageous clothing has become very limited, as people are aware of the lack of money that is available now, and the fact that industries are very key to look at the whole image.

Also, within this culture, there is a lot of pressure from the media and what is acceptable within this day and age, however in the 70’s there was a much more independent look on fashion. Constantly different sub groups of fashion and independent styles are pushed by the media, there is a norm which is therefore created within the industry and what the youth of this age wear. Social media also has such an impact, and we also absorb and look over different fashion styles, such as customisation or hand making outfits like it used to, and instead we look at the high streets, music, celebrities and what is considered acceptable and fashionable to style ourselves.

Break Through in Fashion

In 1966, there was a new face on British Vogue’s cover on the March Issue; Donyale Luna. She was the first American black model and actress to be seen in the lime light; she was shot by David Bailey, one of the largest photographers of the time. Because she was such an inspiration and a new life for the fashion industry and the world of modelling, she created and opened a door to other black women aspiring to have their say in the industry. She enabled models such as Naomi Sims, Iman and Naomi Campbell to become an inspiration to the younger generation. Donyale Luna will always be remembered and inspired by those who knew her, as well as those whose lives she has opened up. She was described as:

“A new heavenly body who, because of her striking singularity, promises to remain on high for many a season. Donyale Luna, as she calls herself, is unquestionably the hottest model in Europe at the moment.”

MEN IN FASHION

Commonly, many of us mistake fashion as something that is aimed predominately at women, however, although there is such a large, undeveloped and exciting market still to be discovered. However, it is known that Men are not seen to follow the catwalks and the up and coming trends as women, instead of looking at the head designers and high fashion. Instead, it has been proven that when Men are looking at fashion, they focus on the celebrities which are selling them the fashion and products, as well as looking at them to teach them about the upcoming trends and what to do. Films, music, fashion and celebrities all play a massive part within the fashion industry and the way Men see fashion as a whole. 

When Pierce Brosnan was James Bond back in 1995, Pierce has a full chest and stomach of hair, as back then that was exactly what was commonly found within the audiences. However, the last James Bond film with Daniel Craig in 2013, the actor was completely hair less on his chest and stomach, as times have changed and what is now seen as desirable has manipulated over time.

All walks – Beyond the Catwalk

Three innovative, creative and very ambitions ladies within the fashion industry in 2012 created a way of showcasing the work of ‘8 cutting-edge designers on a 8 professional models aged between 18-65 and size 8-16, as a celebration of individuality and diversity.’

‘The All Walks mission is simple: to expand upon the imagery coming out of our industry and mirror a more realistic range of women, in age, size, race and appearance than fashion standards currently offer. We also challenge growing hyper-sexualisation of young women in fashion. The All Walks brand asks all fashion practitioners new and old to consider their own viewpoint on moral and ethical boundaries believing that positive messaging around self-esteem fro young women and men is crucial.’

Caryn Franklin, Debra Bourne and Erin O’Connor created All Walks Beyond the Catwalk. Franklin is a Fashion Commentator and broadcaster within the industry, O’Connor, the Model of the Sanctury and Bourne, a fashion consultant and former PR director at the company Lynne Franks. They set out  and recruited a team of casting agents, film directors, leading style magazines, printers and make up artists to create this project. 

THE BIG 4

There are four main Fashion Weeks which happen during the Fashion Calendar Year; Paris, Milan, London and New York. Paris is the capital of Fashion, and always shows first from the Couture collections, and almost 2 months before the ready to wear starts. Milan is a very wealthy fashion week, and has become one of the wealthiest country within the fashion industry. New York has always, and will always be very organised, polished and well thought of. Then, London is commonly still seen creative, young and innovative; however has a problem with price, large labels such as Dior have three shows: buyers, private clients, then the media. After the fashion weeks, there are then showrooms, which can be booked, where their garments can be bought.

Intellectual Properties

DESIGN RIGHTS:

Design rights cover the whole aesthetics of the design itself. It protects the appearance of new products and the individual characters which can be found on it: lines, colours, contours and texture. Design rights are also about £40 in the UK. They are relatively cheap rights to be enforced, and are commonly more used as a marketing tool. With a larger company, such as Burberry, the shape of the bag or the patterns aren’t always design protected as there are so many different new collections being created; which also causes many problems over time. 

MORAL RIGHTS:

This is where you have the right to be acknowledged as the creator to the work, as you have the copy right protection, however it cannot be assigned, it can only be waived within the industry. This lasts for the life of the creator, plus 70 years after their death to protect the piece. 

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION:

This is information which isn’t known by many; such as the ingredients of Coca Cola so that it cannot be copied and replicated; you as the creator want the rights and the protection from this so that you have an individual product. 

When creating a design, product, idea, you need to make sure that you have looked at what is already copyrighted and a document to show your development process which you have undertaken. Make sure everything is dated and noted, to make sure that you have security behind it. Also, owner ship need to be thought of, so that you are another can use the product, coming to an agreement. Make sure that you read the contract which has been given to you, so that your royalties are high enough and that you are defining yourself as well as the company.

Alexander Wang

For the last 3 months there has been something that has been top on many fashion followers calendars; the Alexander Wang release for H&M. The event was open to those with an early bird ticket which were rare. With faces like Ellie Golding, and champagne, live music and the chance to get their hands on the first Alexander Wang pieces, it was packed that night, and by mid-day on Thursday the website had crashed and all stock had been sold. This sudden rush for H&M is why it is so developed and ahead of many other high street shops, as it offers something different to entice new customers as well as holding onto the existing. This is key, not only for the store but for the individual designers as it allows a large audience for the brand as the prices and the audience have changed to suit the occasion. It is, and will always be remembered as an incredible event. 

http://www.hm.com/gb/