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!
Tag Archives: Haute Couture
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.
At home with Kate MOSS
It has been released that this Christmas, Kate Moss is to let Vogue, and all of its readers into her personal home, and teach us about the real Kate Moss, behind the model face, which she really loves, hates and what she treasures the most. With memories and her personal life released, Moss is taking a huge risk within the industry, as well as an incredible experience for all of us to understand and get personal with the Model to really understand what she stands for, and why she has made the decisions she has within her career.
I believe that this is such a powerful thing for Kate Moss to do, and it allows us to understand her and get in touch with the real woman behind her career; family, children, marriage and her personal life. A great way of self-promotion.
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.
Brighton Fashion Week
The Dior Narrative
When looking into the narrative and the dream behind Diorissimo, there are many connotations which jump out of the product, and for me there is a very strong story which unveils. Dior is an incredibly sophisticated and well developed brand, which enables a strong sense of control within the brand; however for me, the dior fragrances are more than just smells, they work together in synergy to create a family like feel. J’adore, Miss Dior and Les Creations de Monsieur Dior are three sisters, and when you unravel the product identify within each fragrance you gain an understanding of the audience, smell, bottle aesthetics, and the feel of the perfume. These factors enable the consumer to learn more about where the product fits within the Dior Fragrance ‘family’.
J’adore is a very sleek, sexual perfume, which is incredibly feminine and independent. The woman behind the fragrance is heavily beautiful and someone how has confidence within herself, she knows what she wants and how she is going to get it. This very confident and forward figure which appears in the family of Dior is an older sister, and is a well loved, appreciated yet strong smell, and is well developed to the perfect amount.
Next you have Miss Dior, who is the youngest of the three, sisters within the Dior fragrance family; she is cheeky, flirty and incredibly girls; the smell is flowery and pink which is displayed strongly within the packaging colour and bow on the lid. Miss Dior is the youngest and although she is confident in herself she has changes to make to herself, and is giggly. If she were to be drawn, she would too be very beautiful, but younger, and she is fun; which is the most important element which can be taken from the fragrance.
Finally you have the strong family of Les Creations de Monsieur Dior, which are almost the cousins of the Dior family, as they themselves make up 6 of the Dior fragrances, meaning there is a strong bond and collection within the brand. Diorissimo, Diorella, Dioressence and Diorling are almost quadruplets, the smells and the looks which carry the Dior fragrance forward are so similar, the bottle shapes are all identical and the look and feel which can be captured from the fragrance are identical.
I personally see Diorissimo as an interesting family member within the fragrance market. The bottle itself is very bland, there is very little shape and outstanding factor of the bottle, however this inputs an element of mystery within the product, implying that Dior may have put all their efforts into the smell and left the packaging and bottle plain to allow a sense of the unknown into the product. The sell is so floral and fruity, almost a younger smell, however it was one of the first created which leaves the element of surprise when the scent is smelt as you see the movement behind the smell throughout the years. The Diorissimo woman is incredibly elegant yet simplistic, it leaves a lot to the imagination and allows a true mystical element to her; she too would be incredibly beautiful, old fashioned in her beliefs yet her rebranding makes her young in age. In my opinion, Diorissimo is the most interesting of the Dior Fragrance Collection, and although she isn’t the most famous, this adds the element of surprise to her, which is her unique selling point within the market.
The GRANDE-Mère of couture
There is one woman who has stood out to me over the years as one of the leaders of Couture, a woman whose work was so different and unique at the time, and even though art and poetry was the route in life she wanted to take, fashion took over and snatched up her talent and brought her into the ever-moving industry. Forty years after the death of Elsa Schiaparelli, her life has come back into the light as her work is reviewed and looked at again by many. Her passion and determination for doing something special with her life was such an inspiration, to not only her family, but young photographers, designers and fashion followers. From Giacometti designed ashtrays, to Dali dressing her windows, Schiaparelli was one of the most glamorous, genuine and loved designers of her time, and her mark has been left after all these years.
‘Elsa Schiaparelli was the most influential fashion designer of the 20th century. She was the first to use the art of her time in a provocative dialogue with fashion, and hoovering up elements that caught her fancy from all over the world.’
– Meredith Etherington Smith
There has recently been a book released about the life of Elsa Schiaparelli and her personal photographic collection of her family, lovers and the house she once lived in; which have all been selected by her granddaughter to bring her name back into the light and teach those about just how incredible she was. She is a name that I will always follow, and a book which I have ordered and am more than excited to read.
SWOT of Dior
STRENGTHS: Dior itself has so many strengths, but those which have drawn the company out the ground is the individuality and strong sense of narrative and the creation of ‘the dream’. Over the years Dior has created such a passion for the brand, and the need for it, which is why, 60 years on the company is still ever moving with the fast paced industry.
WEAKNESSES: Although the company is very well developed, it has only a few downfalls, due to the change of designers over the years, at points there has been very little stability within the business, and the change of the personalities being injected into the brand has meant that in some cases there has been a large change in style and designs of certain pieces.
OPPORTUNITIES: Dior is very aware as a company, and keeps up to date with all events. The Dior Harrods event in 2013, promoted the brand once again and allowed a whole range of audiences to view the garments and styles. The experiences which Dior choose to exploit are perfect opportunities for sales, and for the audiences.
THREATS: Along with threats comes strong competition within the industry, and in this case, the threats lie with Chanel, and the fact that there is such a strong connection between the two brands. However, threats also lie with the designers, as in the short stay of the designer Bill Gaytten in 2011 for Dior, this can cause threats as it can have a lasting effect on the brand essence.
The return of a familiar face
Early this month it was confirmed that the quirky, eccentric and all round adventurous fashion guru John Galliano is to restart his fashion career and has been appointed the Creative Director of Masion Martin Margiela. After the company having a slight quiet period over the last year or so, Margielas was ready for a creative boost, and a change within the company to boost the promotion of the famous brand, and there is no one better than Galliano for this position. He is expected to show his first deigned for Margiela in January during Paris Couture Week, including the ready to wear. Since leaving Dior, Galliano has been a loose cannon within the industry, and being under the watchful eye of the brand would do him some good – which in a statement to Vogue he very quietly agreed to! This is now something that I will be constantly watching and checking, as Galliano was one of the biggest names within Dior, and definitely left his mark