Final Fashion Film

As discussed before this year we had a project to design a new installation for the TOPSHOP oxford street store. It was to be based on a decade and target a new or existing market. The topic was only for the purpose of university.

Here is my final film- aimed at the 'Factory Girl' following my theme was MOD girls/early mod movement in Europe and inspired by Godard New Wave films. The whole production, filming and editing was done by myself and the music is JESSIE WARE.

Though initially nervous about the idea of completing a fashion film I threw myself into this project and really enjoyed it, hope you do too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6-unW9w0AA


For more information on project see previous posts.

The Relationship between Art and Fashion

This term as part of my Contemporary Contextual Studies course I had to write a presentation and design a poster to show how artists could inspire designer's collections. I had to chose a designer and artist to use as an example to convey this idea. Here is my final poster and presentation.

 

 

This term I have really leant that in fashion it is key that you have one eye on the future and one on the past but as the fashion cycle speeds designers do not have to look too far back when sourcing inspiration.

History as we know repeats itself and I think this is no more obvious than in the work of today’s designers. We are offered an expanding mash up of recycled styles, and as we settle into the possible post post modernism era I believe the days of linear progression are long gone.

As a fashion communication student I am taught to predict the direction of fashion in terms of advertising, promotion and selling a difficult task in this fickle environment. I think the industry has changed dramatically over the past few decades but something that is unlikely to ever change is artists and art movement’s influence on designer’s work.

To demonstrate this idea I have chosen to focus on a living artist who was at the forefront on a cultural and sociological shift and a designer said to be of a new breed that embody British design today.

Movement

Brit Art’ was a short art movement in the 90s started by a group of young British artists praised for their oppositional and entrepreneurial attitude, their drive and their innovative art that demanded media attention.  

Artist such as Damien Hirst, Tracy Emin were among this group along with the slightly less controversial Fiona Rae of whom I have selected as my artist. Together this group of Goldsmith’s graduates revolutionised contemporary commercial art with their choice of pieces that captured perfectly the attitudes to art around this time.

The 90s were viewed as a time of peace in the window between the cold war and the war on terrorism but that is all that was peaceful. Continuing libelisation, Lad culture and youth  culture along with the encouragement of recycling in design resulted in a decade of  mash-ups in just about every aspect of life. This is very much reflected in Rae’s style.

There Brit Artists were taking advantage of this liberisasion and the post modernism rules slackening. It is believed that the 90s saw the gradual shift from post modernism to post post modernism and although this period is still being determined the feeling of cross over, freedom and the potential to determine the future is what inspired these young individuals.

Artist

Fiona Rae was a painter who works were as high energy as the movement itself. She uses a mix of materials to create dynamic paintings that were humorous, imaginative and ambitious. She sees “beauty as potentially dangerous” an attitude I think adds a daring angle to her subject.

It is easy to see popular culture influences in the designs as well as a clear Japanese cartoon element that add a cool graphic art feel without losing the pace of her pieces. She is said to have taken a lot of inspiration from the comic Krazy Kat and what I love about Rae’s work is the personality she manages to capture in such visually delicate and beautiful paintings.

Her work is a great example of how the 90s post modern art movement allowed her to take references from Pop and 60s art as well as cultural art. The heavily patterned pieces contrasted with the very mechanical pieces shows an eye for detail and a control of colour. As Venturi once said Post modern art’s philosophy was ‘less is bore’ and although done sophisticatedly Rae builds onthese roots.  

Designer

Though perhaps not a house hold name I think Rae’s work has the potential to inspire many collections. When I saw Louise Gray’s SS13 collection the similarities were unmistakable. Similar to Rae, Gray is a member of a pack of graduates this time from CSM who are tearing up the London fashion scene with the potential to really determine the future of the industry.  The difference however is Louise Gray is said to be working in post post modernism, something still difficult to get my head around but seems to be  continuing on the back of this blur of boundaries between creative industries.

The result of this is her designs are colourful, free and fun; she has been described as a post post- modern Westwood- all the same daring, popping ideas but without the political agenda.

The 90s influence is in everything from the 60s designs and colours to obvious cartoon elements. The collection had a very young east London vibe with the punning, plagiarism and slogan uses made popular in the 90s.

The use of glass and plastic along with the space age styling gave the collection a kaleidoscope meets Austin Power’s feel. There was no rules followed in this collection Louise said she just thought about everything she liked but does “look back to look forward”.

The shapes, pattern and detail could have been lifted straight from Rae’s work. The pallet is very girly, youthful and playful something that both women’s work embody. I thought there was an obvious GIRL POWER FEEL to the collection with the arrival of Barbie which is excruciatingly 90s; the decade that brought us the Spice Girls and the Wonder Bra, this again reinforces how Rae’s recognition of popular culture could inspire Gray to do the same.

Conclusion

Louise Gray is practicing the freedom of a new wave of artists and designers in thes same way rae did in the 90s. Like Chanel and Picasso it will begin to become difficult to decide who is inspiring who.  There is no guessing the direction of the references and therefore trends of next season but this unpredictable environment is why I chose to study communications and I think the industry is experiencing a very exciting move into a new era and with these artists and designers working closely together I think the creativity is unstoppable. 

 

Chasing Purple Hearts- Topshop Film

One of most interesting but challenging modules of this term is Fashion film. I have never done any form of filming before and although I am familiar with a lot of fashion films due to my obsession with Nick Knight and Showstudio, planning and executing one for myself is not so familiar.

Receiving the brief was very exciting. It instructed us to research, pitch and complete a fashion film for Topshop and the design for its full installation in the Oxford Street Store. Choosing the 60s as my initial inspiration I began researching the fashion and culture from this time.

It is important not to lose sight of the market and brand I am working with, full Topshop brand research was key in insuring my pitch was as strong as possible. I chose to base my film around the early modernist culture as there is an existing market for this style at Topshop; the Factory Girl range is very popular and embodies a lot of the influences I want to capture in my film.

This week is the official pitch of the ideas covering the general inspiration, concept, art direction, mood and plan for the film. There is a lot to think about when pitching as it is important to cover all the information without the client getting bored. I always feel comfortable with the initial section of the pitch, what I find scary is the question/ grilling to follow. My tutor will no doubt quiz me in all areas of research and planning and I must be able to provide all this information and seem as though I know what I am talking about.

Crits though scary always help to focus my mind on the areas to work on and the direction I am taking next. Here are the three pitch boards which include the intro, concept and interior. The interior board shows the designs I have done for the layout of the section of the store that will create the right retail space and atmosphere for the film/collection. Brands and stores invest a lot of money and time into their installations as it plays a big part in brand image and marketing. This is definitely an area of fashion communication I am keen to explore further.

 

Who's that girl?

Hair and make-up can radically change the look of an image. This week’s challenge was to use one model and create three dramatically different looks. This was a good way to make us push the boundaries of styling, I myself am guilty for keeping things classic and minimal as that is my personal preference. After this exercise I am now keen to try more adventurous looks in future shoots.

Here are the three looks created with one model.

Seeing Strips- styling shoots

The styling shoot for Fashion photography was a lot of fun. The steps taken when styling a shoot are simple, you start with one garment and work through the look sometimes this will involve several pieces and accessories and sometimes little is used allowing the garment to stand out.

The hair, make- up, mood, lighting, model, and expression will all contribute to the styling of a shot. As we have been working in the studio there is limitations with the set up but a lot can still be done around the composition and look of the shot.

Taking inspiration from numerous campaigns, magazines and stylist I put together a look for a lace coat. To avoid being clichéd I tried various fun ideas before settling with this theme.

Accessory Campaign

Our second brief is to do with fashion still life, and is perhaps one of the more challenging areas to get inspired by. When photographing or reading fashion journalism it is usually the personality behind the picture that captures me, you do not have this hook when photographing objects.

Therefore it is important to be creative. Using photographers such as Martin Parr and Sam Taylor Wood I began looking at how I could photograph accessories in a campaign that would be visually interesting while still showcasing the fashion items.

I chose to place the chosen items along with unusual situations for fashion advertisement. Heavily inspired by Sam Taylor Woods use of decay and Martin Parr's focus on everyday scenes I put together images that could be used as part of a shoe spread for the magazine Wonderland. This is one of the magazines I have been studying this term, it is an aspirational lifestyle magazine with a clear focus on new and emerging talent in the creative industries.

 

I am happy with the images I have produced so far but as we are only in week six these are just working examples as the final spreads will be more developed and hopefully more impressive.

Starting with the minimal

London Fashion Week now feels like a distant memory as exciting project briefs are now taking up all my time. As I have said before this term we are coving the creative aspects of the course with modules in Fashion photography, fashion film, Still life( advertising campaigns) as well as a continuous module in contemporary and contextual studies.

 

I have been really enjoying learning about the art direction though I would not say photography is one of my strong points nor the direction I want to pursue.

First up we have fashion photography and over the four weeks we have completed a minimal styling shoot, a styling shoot and a hair/wig/ makeup shoot. This involved a lot of research work before deciding the final direction of your shoots.

Minimal styling can be interpreted differently but if you think of Stella McCartney, Celene or Chloe they are all famous for their minimal styling as brands. Minimal can mean the amount of clothing, detail or backdrop etc used.

It is also a good exercise to explore lighting effects and mood in capturing the brand, collection or idea. Minimal styling is surprising versatile as you can see in the two very different images I have chosen to show.