RESEARCH RE-GROUP
On Monday morning we came together to put all of our new research on the mood board and then moved around the room to get an overview of how each specialism had progressed with their research.
As you can see, there is a considerably larger amount of research that has been divided accordingly. The top picture presents research for Silhouette and Shape and the middle board presents research for print and texture. The shape and silhouette is being heavily influenced by victorian and teddy girl eras and the print is being taken from several starting points that we have carried through since our first meeting; Spring Heeled Jack, Fire of London, maps and animal skulls.
COMMUNICATION NOTES
The communication students talked to the group about their ideas for film, lookbook and Illustration/Graphics.
(FILM)
- Woman in mourning due to loss of her husband
- Burning images
- Keepsakes (links in with menswear research)
- Important to use the consumer's image in the film
- 3 Men/ 3 Women to address both womenswear and menswear
- Washed out makeup
- Not too 'horror'
- Church as location
(LOOKBOOK)
- Running theme of keepsakes
- 100% garment focused
- Designed to make money
- Not too indulgent in story
(GRAPHICS/ ILLUSTRATION)
- Tattoos
- Examples of everyones individual style
- Ideas for illustrating characters in our narrative
It seems to me that there is a very clear direction for the communication students. There is an apparent focus on darkness and sorrow which is really interesting, I am just a bit worried that it may spiral into being too over the top. I think that it is important to remember the brand that we are representing in our film and although there is a darkness to Bolongaro Trevor, their lookbooks and films tend to take more of a quirky and alternative direction, rather than focusing on darkness. However, I appreciate that the communication team seem focused and passionate about their ideas.
MENSWEAR NOTES
Menswear talked to us about their progression with research into silhouette, print and surface design.
- Looking into capes
- Attention to details
- Keeping it contemporary
- Embroidery samples of birds
- Simple silhouette
I really liked the starting points for print within the menswear section- they played around with using drawings that were repeated but placed over the top of each other which made a really interesting starting point. They had experimented with using embroidery to make bird motifs, taken from their inspiration but Ian pointed out that it may be too feminine but could be translated over to womenswear instead.
RANGE PLAN
Our aim is to make 15-20 outfits (30-40 outfits), working with a few statement pieces and simpler pieces to work alongside them. Ian spoke to us about the importance of brands communicating to their customers in a personal way and how companies can gain more income this way because the consumer feels like they have a personal connection with the brand.
What is a range plan? A range plan helps you to conduct a perfectly organised collection with the right amounts of certain garments. Season is taken into consideration firstly, so a Spring/Summer collection would include less coats, more jackets and in a Autumn/Winter collection, you would have heavy knits with garments offering more warmth and body coverage.
Ian showed us how to construct our Range Plan effectively, using a three step process. You use three different boxes titled 'BEST | Big Ticket' at the top, 'BETTER | The Rest' in the middle and 'GOOD | Core Product (volume)' at the bottom.
BIG TICKET
The 'Big Ticket' items are the items that will sell for the highest prices, these are likely to be items that you buy less often but will last longer in your wardrobe. Things you are likely to find in this category are; Leather Goods, Coats, Evening Wear, Signature, Accessories, Tailoring.
THE REST
'The Rest' items are items that are not too expensive, that you may buy every now and again. Things that you are likely to find in this category are; Statement Shirts, Statement Knit, Statement Sweats, Day Dresses, Trousers, Skirts. The average ratio of Trouser to Top ratio is 1:7 which means that the average person will purchase 7 tops for every pair of trousers or bottoms.
CORE PRODUCT
The 'Core Product' items are usually staple items that will possibly be more affordable but that you will buy on a regular basis, more often than those items in the above categories. Things you are likely to include in this category are; T-Shirts, Basic Shirts, Basic Knits, Basic Sweats and Jersey / T-shirt Dresses.
OUR RANGE PLAN
In order to decide how many of each garment there will be, we had to carefully discuss which items we would have more of and which items we would have less of. We also have to make sure that when these numbers are added up, that they total our aim of 30-40 garments.
Here is our range plan so far;
COATS 2 LEATHER 1 EVENING DRESSES 3 TAILORING 3
STATEMENT LOUNGE 5 STATEMENT SHIRT 5 DAY DRESSES 5
TROUSERS/SKIRTS 6 TOPS/T-SHIRTS 2 BASIC SHIRTS 2 JACKETS 2
PHOTOGRAPHY RESEARCH
We were given a list of famous photographers names to research between us which we then discussed and shared on Tuesday morning.
RAY PETRI GRACE CODDINGTON HELMUT NEWTON RICHARD AVEDON
VINOODH MATADIN POPPY KAIN NICK KNIGHT JEAN PAUL GOUDE
CAMMILLE BIDAULT PADDINGTON DAVID LACHAPELLE KATE GARNER
DAVID BAILEY ANNIE LEIBOVITZ
DAVID LACHAPELLE
DESIGNING
We grouped together around our mood boards to select certain parts that were reappearing in our research or just parts that we thought would be interesting to use in our designing. We wrote them all down and shared them with the whole group- the aim of doing this was to translate our imagery into designs but in a way that ensured we were all on the same page. We all needed to have the same idea so that our designs would look coherent together as outfits and more importantly, as a collection.
These are the main pointers that we decided on;
(Inspo from teddy girls imagery)
-ties around neck
-loose fitted trousers
-rolled up trouser
-pointed collar
-mid length/ cropped trouser
-cuffs with a lot of detail
-practicality (pockets, zips)
(Inspo from Victorian imagery)
-loose bottom, tighter top
-playing around with proportion
-pleats/ ruffles/ attention to detail
-high necklines or off the shoulder
-capes
-feminine vs masculine
-sleeve detail
I was originally really happy with these designs but after Ian looked at them, it was very clear that they were not what he was looking for! I think that he felt they were too modern and didn't quite fit in with either the victorian theme or with Bolongaro Trevor which is why I changed my angle slightly and came up with these designs.
REFLECTION
I am quite pleasantly surprised with how our group is working as a team, although there is never everyone in on the same day. There are people on the course that I had never had the pleasure of speaking to before this project. The problem with our age is that once we get comfortable, we like to stay that way, which is why us fashion students rarely talk to anyone outside of our individual friendship groups. I am being pleasantly surprised by people I never thought I would get on which is the best part of the project so far.
Speaking in front of the class today about my research was as equally terrifying as all the other times and I think my face was probably a bright shade of crimson. I hated every second of it and I couldn't help but overanalyse every part for an hour afterwards but I am learning to be kind to myself and being proud of myself for putting myself forward, rather than hiding. I may have looked like an idiot but at least I tried my best and challenged myself.
After design selection, I have to admit, I felt rather disheartened. I can take constructive criticism but I don't think it was entirely helpful. I was made to feel that the designs I had done weren't good enough and that I needed to start from scratch. I understand that this is part of the 'industry' but a bit more explanation as to what exactly I could do to improve would have been helpful.
Our aim is to make 15-20 outfits (30-40 outfits), working with a few statement pieces and simpler pieces to work alongside them. Ian spoke to us about the importance of brands communicating to their customers in a personal way and how companies can gain more income this way because the consumer feels like they have a personal connection with the brand.
What is a range plan? A range plan helps you to conduct a perfectly organised collection with the right amounts of certain garments. Season is taken into consideration firstly, so a Spring/Summer collection would include less coats, more jackets and in a Autumn/Winter collection, you would have heavy knits with garments offering more warmth and body coverage.
Ian showed us how to construct our Range Plan effectively, using a three step process. You use three different boxes titled 'BEST | Big Ticket' at the top, 'BETTER | The Rest' in the middle and 'GOOD | Core Product (volume)' at the bottom.
BIG TICKET
The 'Big Ticket' items are the items that will sell for the highest prices, these are likely to be items that you buy less often but will last longer in your wardrobe. Things you are likely to find in this category are; Leather Goods, Coats, Evening Wear, Signature, Accessories, Tailoring.
THE REST
'The Rest' items are items that are not too expensive, that you may buy every now and again. Things that you are likely to find in this category are; Statement Shirts, Statement Knit, Statement Sweats, Day Dresses, Trousers, Skirts. The average ratio of Trouser to Top ratio is 1:7 which means that the average person will purchase 7 tops for every pair of trousers or bottoms.
CORE PRODUCT
The 'Core Product' items are usually staple items that will possibly be more affordable but that you will buy on a regular basis, more often than those items in the above categories. Things you are likely to include in this category are; T-Shirts, Basic Shirts, Basic Knits, Basic Sweats and Jersey / T-shirt Dresses.
OUR RANGE PLAN
In order to decide how many of each garment there will be, we had to carefully discuss which items we would have more of and which items we would have less of. We also have to make sure that when these numbers are added up, that they total our aim of 30-40 garments.
Here is our range plan so far;
COATS 2 LEATHER 1 EVENING DRESSES 3 TAILORING 3
STATEMENT LOUNGE 5 STATEMENT SHIRT 5 DAY DRESSES 5
TROUSERS/SKIRTS 6 TOPS/T-SHIRTS 2 BASIC SHIRTS 2 JACKETS 2
PHOTOGRAPHY RESEARCH
We were given a list of famous photographers names to research between us which we then discussed and shared on Tuesday morning.
RAY PETRI GRACE CODDINGTON HELMUT NEWTON RICHARD AVEDON
VINOODH MATADIN POPPY KAIN NICK KNIGHT JEAN PAUL GOUDE
CAMMILLE BIDAULT PADDINGTON DAVID LACHAPELLE KATE GARNER
DAVID BAILEY ANNIE LEIBOVITZ
DAVID LACHAPELLE
POPPY KAIN
NICK KNIGHT
DESIGNING
We grouped together around our mood boards to select certain parts that were reappearing in our research or just parts that we thought would be interesting to use in our designing. We wrote them all down and shared them with the whole group- the aim of doing this was to translate our imagery into designs but in a way that ensured we were all on the same page. We all needed to have the same idea so that our designs would look coherent together as outfits and more importantly, as a collection.
These are the main pointers that we decided on;
(Inspo from teddy girls imagery)
-ties around neck
-loose fitted trousers
-rolled up trouser
-pointed collar
-mid length/ cropped trouser
-cuffs with a lot of detail
-practicality (pockets, zips)
(Inspo from Victorian imagery)
-loose bottom, tighter top
-playing around with proportion
-pleats/ ruffles/ attention to detail
-high necklines or off the shoulder
-capes
-feminine vs masculine
-sleeve detail
REFLECTION
I am quite pleasantly surprised with how our group is working as a team, although there is never everyone in on the same day. There are people on the course that I had never had the pleasure of speaking to before this project. The problem with our age is that once we get comfortable, we like to stay that way, which is why us fashion students rarely talk to anyone outside of our individual friendship groups. I am being pleasantly surprised by people I never thought I would get on which is the best part of the project so far.
Speaking in front of the class today about my research was as equally terrifying as all the other times and I think my face was probably a bright shade of crimson. I hated every second of it and I couldn't help but overanalyse every part for an hour afterwards but I am learning to be kind to myself and being proud of myself for putting myself forward, rather than hiding. I may have looked like an idiot but at least I tried my best and challenged myself.
After design selection, I have to admit, I felt rather disheartened. I can take constructive criticism but I don't think it was entirely helpful. I was made to feel that the designs I had done weren't good enough and that I needed to start from scratch. I understand that this is part of the 'industry' but a bit more explanation as to what exactly I could do to improve would have been helpful.
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