Global Sourcing

Fashion Film

AW15


With any brand, visuals are a key role to promoting and sharing the brands ethos.
We decided to create a fashion film to portray our Brand, SiSi as well as having screen grabs as the images that would be used for our look book and advertisements.

As joint Creative Director, Sarah and I researched what films where already out there and what we would want to incorporate into our own. The 3 films that we felt would emphasise and encompass are brands 'look' where:

YSL – Michael Pitt by Michael van Dijk
Close ups of models face and portrait shots, we are also going to adopt the
way YSL portrayed their collection by having our garments personified by
a speaker in an erotic way, we have also chosen to have it in French as it is
the language of love and we want our clients to feel that they can love and
be loved by the garment. Also as the name translates into Spanish ‘Yes’ we
would want our marketing approach to not just be within the United Kingdom but
for a European market as well.

Marina Abromovic x Addidas for show
studio.
We want to portray this idea in our film, where parts of the set
will be in focus as well as having the overall film to be in this black
and white effect.

SAGE – In between.
With this being the main inspiration for the the fashion film, we
loved the close ups of skin , body parts and garments where the
model is almost interpretive dancing which portrays emotion,
this will be perfect to utilize this stance letting the public know
how great our brand is. We also want to look at using the same
lighting and crispness of the film as it is incredibly clean and
contemporary and has managed to steer well clear of being a
dove advert or erotic.


I organised the model, having originally cast an agency model, and in the process realised that this would not be a unique selling point to our chosen market, yet another fashion film portraying a glamours girl would not fit into our brand, we needed a woman that our market would relate to, a mother who is constantly on the move, whilst balancing a job, a child and a husband. Almost with a 'Gentlewomen' approach.

Our woman would need to portray this working lifestyle and to show that even with everything going on, that our brand and clothes can give her the relaxing escape she truly needs.

After referring this idea to the rest of the team, we went ahead for the search for our women.

So, where to find such a women? luckily, my sister fitted the role perfectly. She is strong, never gives up and is naturally beautiful. On the day,  and the running up to it, she said to me "ohh, I don't know! I'm not a model.. The rest of your group do know that I just had a child.." with this, i responded but that is why we want you, you are beautiful and natural, our market place would find you far more relatable than a otherworldly beauty, we want the natural women, warts and all. (my sister has no warts.)

Luckily, my sister is a drama teacher, so we had no worry with how she would act in front of the camera.

-

Before the shoot my Co-Creative Director and I created the set, with milk bottles, bought and painted by one of our designers. We glue gunned the bamboo panels and tied a natural yarn around the attaching points, for extra structure. (luckily it only started to fall apart when we had completed the filming, thank God.)

After meetings with the wonderful photographer/cinematographer , I was confident in that she shared the same vision that we as a team had. So with my job of overseeing and directing the film with advice and opinions from the rest of the team we managed to successfully create a mood that would be fit enough to have the brand name SiSi all over it.

As the creative Director and I, this was our main role throughout the group project, so much like with the "YSL" film we wanted to have a passage that would be read over ours. It was incredibly effective without showing any of the actual garments. No music, as it would be distracting, we wanted the audience to have their own romanticised views of the film, writing short narrative which would accompany it.

At first, we made it quite erotic, (even considering to leave university to become the next best selling soft porn authors,) who knew personifying clothes would be so salacious. Yet after the filming, we realised it was to obvious and overtly sexual. We needed a speech, that would show love and care, enticing our market into our clothes, transporting them into their own, individual bliss. Whilst trying to find a middle ground.  Steering clear of soft porn or a Dove advert.

"There is a sense of familiarity of this warm, comforting feeling surrounding me 
- The soft texture was unforgettable and there was nothing quite like it. The ripples of my skin were surrounded ever so softly by your touch. 
- I crave your touch, your comfort. -

Come to me, pressed against my skin, let me indulge myself in the beauty of you. 
- After this, you and I are both melting into one. 
- My imperfections made perfect by the drape and texture surrounding me and comforting my very soul.

Your secret is safe with me"

And so, with great pleasure, we SiSi give to you, our first Fashion Film.
Enjoy!

Global Sourcing

Shop Layout

In a presentation, the best ways to promote an idea is with imagery. If there is an actual product to show it will be easier for the audience to understand. So for us as a start up brand we wanted to portray not only our ethos but how we would envision it. 

If we were to have a store, what would it look like? having previosuly done a shop report for Cos and The Kooples we had an in-depth ideology on the importance of a good shop layout. 

I created  range of shop floor ideas from a birds eye view perspective, then choose one within our team. 

Once we had the initial layout i could get to work on constructing it. Luckily i had practice designing layouts for areas as my Father is an architect and Mother is an interior designer.  I collated the ideas the team had, with what they would want in our store. From shelving to colour palettes. Then processed all of these ideas with my father, guiding him (as i did not have a strong grasp on sketch up) with what we wanted.

We chose a mixture between natural and man made, waiting to play with the dichotomy of these. Having a focal point, would be the living wall, which would be made up of living plants to coincide with our ecological ethos in our garments. 

These Ideas are further reinforced with our choice of bamboo and ethically sourced stone and timber materials. Importantly we also looked at the  vitality of recycling in the modern world and so used old milk bottles in an innovative way for lighting.

We feel that having this shop floor visual shows our brand's image and how it could be portrayed.

Global Sourcing

Brand Name

I was interested in milk baths and their benefits on the skin, and knew that Cleopatra was an advocate of them. 

I started to research further and found two other devotees, Elizabeth I of England and Elisabeth of Bavaria. Whilst thinking about names for our company I thought of ‘Elizabeth of Luxury’ but found this too long and cumbersome, and it also stated the obvious.

Our clientele should know our products our luxury without having to state it in our name. We wanted something short and snappy so I started look into each of the women individually.  I discovered that Elisabeth of Bavaria had a nickname, Sisi, which we thought was perfect, a short but sweet name with a significant meaning behind it. 

As we are a company that would want to branch out into Europe, SiSi is ideal, as it is easily translated into different languages. 

For example, ‘si’ is ‘yes’ in Spanish. 

We want this to be a brand women will say yes to.

As a group we decided to run with SiSi and got the brand manager to create our logo, something clean and timeless but not dated. This will show of our brand image instantly as it will be the first thing the market will see.

Global Sourcing

Surrealism 

How it changed fashion!

Surrealism became a global cultural movement after its early beginnings in France in the 1920s.

As a movement it incorporated all the visual arts including literature, film, music and fashion. The aim was to resolve the contradictions between reality and dreams.

 Simply put, by allowing the unconscious to express itself art changes our perception of reality. The resultant works can be disturbing and illogical. There are unexpected, imaginative juxtapositions and there is always an element of surprise.

How was this translated into fashion? The Surrealists, especially Salvador Dali provided a major influence to the work of Elsa Schiaparelli, an Italian fashion Designer, who was a contemporary of Coco Chanel. She has been described as one of the most prominent fashion figures between the World Wars.

Schiaparelli gave her imagination free rein and her garments are a true reflection of the ideas behind Surrealism. Her skeleton and lobster dresses are iconic pieces that have a place in fashion history. So too does her slipper hat, which in turn is cited as Karl Lagerfeld’s inspiration for his 1990 corset hat.

Since the early 20^th century Surrealism has continued to influence and inspire Fashion Designers. In the last twenty years the following notable figures have created designs that are directly linked to the Surrealist Movement. These include:

Thierry Mugler (1997 Bird dress), Victor and Rolf (2010 cut-out cheese dress in coral netting), Comme de Garcons (2009 cream netting ‘tutu’ outfit), Kenzo (2013 ubiquitous eye motif) to name just a few.

One of the most Surreal Designers of the moment is arguably Maison Martin Margiela. There is always an element of surprise in the catwalk shows. As far back as 2009 there have been touches of Surrealism incorporated within the collections. For Spring Summer 2009 the models faces were blanked making reference to the anonymity of figures in Surreal works of art. The ‘is it a wig or coat ‘from this collection recalls Schiaparelli’s monkey hair coat. 

Maison Martin Margiela’s Spring Summer 2015 show with Galliano at the helm incorporates vintage bits and pieces, much like the Surrealists use of everyday objects that are looked at in new ways. Tim Blanks in his January 12^th. review of the collection describes “an edge of the grotesque” recalling the disturbing quality of some Surrealist works.

Maison Martin Margiela spring 2015 couture

Surrealism was an explosively exciting Art Movement that filtered throughout Western Culture. I for one am thrilled that Maison Martin Margiela continues to incorporate Surrealism in their designs, because after all where would we all be if we don’t dream ?

-F-

Global Sourcing

15/1 - London baby! 

We had a day trip up to London to look at some USP's of brands/companies whilst looking out for shop layouts, promotion, adverts, window displays, customers and staff workers! On top of the actual garments (quality, standard of production, where it was produced etc.) to see where in the market, our brand would fit in as well as if there is an opening for it!

First it was off to Liberty's, traditionally English and after new management have propelled the once Mock Tudor building into the luxury battlefield of the 21st century, housing contemporary designers such as Rick Owens, Yohji Yamamoto contrasting with Stella McCartney and Vivienne Westwood! we found some interesting shapes, textures and layouts, yet what we all realised, there was only one small secluded section for loungewear, which was yes, beautiful but was not that contemporary in design and did not have the health benefits! 

Also, at Liberty's the rest of the group spoke to a skincare representative of Aromatherapy Associates, whose oils smelled wonderful, one especially that relaxed you and made you go to sleep. something that would be perfect if infused with one of our garments. This also gave me the idea of a scratch and sniff business card's!

Then to The Kooples, yes, because I love to shop there anyway, yet the atmosphere, the layout and the way the brands ethos is shown is so clear and contemporary which is why I wanted to show  it to the rest of the group! Plus the staff in there are always so very friendly, even in Paris and Nice they are utmost presentable, professional but by no means un-approachable. Their shop layouts utilise the space to get enough information in without feeling overcrowded and overwhelmed. The latest look book/adverts hung on the walls above the shelves, as the rails of clothes methodically progressed, from lighter wear (t-shirts etc.) to outwear jackets and suits. 

What also appealed to me with The Kooples, are there packagings, always with a dust bag, and when you buy online the receipts are kept in a black envelope with their embossed logo! something that we two could adopt, and potentially even use in store, nothing is more annoying trying to organise your receipts in your bag or to find one, so having it in a envelope would keep it from being muddled among the rest of the many, many miscellaneous receipts!

Cos was next on the list of places to see, their clean cut lines and simple silhouettes transfer to their store so effortlessly, its a shame they are always so busy, which does add to a bit of chaos, yet the clothes and decor bring you back to a sense of mellow.

As we were in the area, we decided to look at some of SoHo's fabric stores to get a feel (and some swatches) for some luxury fabrics and what we would want our garments to be made from. 

Then last on our stop was Selfridges, where we journeyed straight to the 6th floor to discover, yet again a niche in the market! only  a small select of lingerie brands where there to greet us and hardly any loungewear items! 

This trip has defiantly confirmed;

 - where we would want to be in the market

 - that the market we were trying to find would have a place

 - what aesthetic's we are really trying to portray

 - and what mood and ethos we want to promote

With this, our survey that one of the group members created will give us enough evidence, research and information to really get the ball rolling!

-F-

Global Sourcing

12/1- My co-creative director came around my house so that we could establish what fashion films are out there at the moment, and what are their USP's. We managed to look through a range from Nick Night's Show Studio and Diane Pernet's ASVOFF as well as some you tube finds, one that we extensively researched was 'Prada Therapy' with Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Kingsley .... which incorporated such a simple idea whilst combing subtle humour, is this perhaps a way we want to take our brand?  Along here are some of the notes we collated from it! 

-F-

Global Sourcing.

Weekly blog updates into my time studying the unit 'Global Sourcing' where i have to work within a group to create a brand that will be marked by a selection of judges in a "Dragon's Den" scenario.

I have Chosen to work as the Creative Director for our group, as thats where my strengths lie, focusing on the aesthetic. Yet, we decided as a group, instead of limiting ourselves into specific roles, we will all contribute towards each others. In theory, this would give us practice into the different roles but also support from everyone within the group.

09/1 - For the first week, we met up as a group to establish what type of brand we are trying to create. We decided to create a mood board, highlighting key areas within the fashion industry, and what aesthetics we like. We decided originally to create a new lingerie brand that was for the women's fantasy, but after further exploration it was not an innovative idea or marketing strategy. 

After further contemplation we came upon the idea of creating a Loungewear brand, with an aesthetic and health benefit twist. Combining fabrics with smart technology and natural fibres make, for a (still) highly unexplored area. For the Brand we want to partially focus on four main fabrics;

 - Milk

 - Bamboo

 - Micro-encapsulation

 - Ofly/ insect repellent.

 

Gathering images to hone in on our brand image was the next step, and once we had gathered enough images, i went home and created the mood board for the target audience, giving a straightforward answer into who we are selling to. A Hard working Woman, who has to travel a lot and needs a way to be pampered and to unwind, whilst caring for her skin and still looking like the strong woman that she is. 

As you can see, the mood board gives an essence of cool and relax whilst not being boring or dreary, no one wants to be seen in there favourite (yet still hideous) onesie or hoodie! We are trying to give the customer a way to relax in our clothes, have benefits to their health and wellbeing. Most importantly to feel comfortable and not have to worry if a friend decides to pop over, if you need to travel on short notice or be seen in public, because damn, our clothes look good!

The mood board also encapsulated a colour palette, despite ever changing and evolving shades and tones with every collection, yet this selected palette gives us a broad and aesthetically pleasing appeal that intrigues even the most fashion shy.

-F-