Having settled on a styling project for my negotiated brief, I am now in the midst of collecting research. Again, my target is for a high distinction project, I aim to collect as much primary research as possible. Fashion stylists tend to use street style as inspiration. In the role of a stylist, on the 27th of February, I ventured to Lulus Vintage Fair to take my own street style shots. Approaching people was difficult however most people were friendly and happy to help. I was inspired by the variety of outgoing fashion on offer. A big orange fur coat, seventies double denim and geisha fabrics were my favourite spots of the day. Here is the photos of my trend setting styles from the day. I will use these images in my project to create a board about the event.
Okay… well it’s not that real, but I did have a friend in need. Seen as though I have been flashing my new business card to anyone and everyone, Topshop Sunderland’s very own Florence Welch put my skills to the challenge. My friend Louise has an upcoming date in March. She has asked for my advice on what to wear since it has been a while. Her daily style involves floral prints, vintage shapes and everything worn with tights. She has asked for something which suits her style but a little sexier and not too dressy. This the mood board I came up with.
It is coming to the end of my final year in level 5 and time to start my final negotiated brief. Before I start the project I have to determine which route I want to take the project in. Evidence of this stage covers the first learning outcome. The past couple of weeks have involved many team tasks to help broaden my options. Self-evaluation, mind mapping and researching are all methods I had used to generate a concept for this project. One exersize involved picking a random image and researching further and further into that image to show how many options there is available to create your project around. Using the results from these exercises, I then had to generate 3 rough ideas for this project. I had two strong ideas. My first was inspired by an editorial shoot found in Stylist magazine. The basis of the project would be to style a photoshoot that looked couture but was actually created with charity shop clothes. My second idea was inspired by my mam and our dream of owning an accessories brand similar to all saints. I used Prezi to present my ideas to peers for feedback. It was a 50/50 vote on which idea they liked better. My heart was set on the styling project. While some peers though it was great, others questioned the purpose of the project. This feedback made me doubt myself. I then spoke to my lecturer for some advice on which to choose. She also loved the idea of my styling project. Her feedback was ‘the project does not need to have a purpose it could simply be a beautiful coffee table book filled with stylist shots’. This was what I needed to hear to give me confidence for this project. I am now going ahead with the stylist project. In two weeks’ time I need a proposal, mood board and gant chart for the project.
When I was told the current Visual Merchandising project was a carry on from the previous project, I was thrilled. I was passionate about the brand I had created so was happy to work further on the project. This project was mostly practical, hands on and creative. My favourite style of working. Although I was excited about VM, I found this project very hard to get the ball rolling. I think I was trying too hard to get a great idea. I used Pinterest to gather images as inspiration. I made many doodles of layouts but was finding it hard to like a concept. Time was ticking and in the end I ordered a range of props still unsure how I would use them (hoola-hoops, black PVC, flooring samples, spray paint). I found that a lot of the time during this project I was improvising. I also had to think of solutions to problems. The flooring samples were not as I expected and my painting method was time consuming and difficult. I took a risk in the project and prepared my props in hope to create something edgy and unusual with the help of my pin board. I was very pleased with my final installation on the opening night (see below). I got 74% Distinction for this project. This is lower than I had hoped as I was really happy with the project. Again, the area for improvement was in my research. My feedback suggests my development could have been recorded ‘in more depth’. I agree with the feedback as I did not spend as much time making my research book as I did the installation. Although I would have liked a higher mark I thought my installation was still a very strong piece of work.
From what started out as a un-notable day at Topman Sunderland, turned out to be surprisingly fun. Liam Haswell, art and creative genius, asked me for my help on his current project. As a part of his visual merchandising job, he is also a part the Topman Instagram team. His posts have to meet somewhere in the middle of campaign shots and street shots. ‘Yeezy’ was the trend he had been assigned with (totally not his cup of tea). My job was to take the snaps of him. Being quite the critic himself, I felt the pressure! However, I found this would be good experience as ‘selfies’ was as far as I went when it came to playing the photographer role.
We went on a wander for locations which would capture the essence of the clothes. I was slightly sceptical about not being able to find a good spot in Sunderland. From the I-Phone, I captured Liam walking in front of industrial walls and high rise buildings. Relaxed, every day actions complemented the clothes and location. At one point, the sun formed great ‘Yeezy’ like shadows across the concrete wall. These images created the most impact and were my favourite out of the shoot. I learnt that not the fanciest of locations create the best images. Something as simple as an IPhone, good lighting and a wall in Sunderland can be all you need. I love the large scale mood board’s arrangements around the class room this morning. My favourite, a Topshop Boutique board. The layout is balanced with a strong colour story. A wide variety of images from outfit builds, pattern texture, logos, mood images are used to fill the space. By looking at the board I cab instantly connect it too Topshop Boutique. I would love to use large scale boards like this to present some of my work.
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AuthorI am Olivia Davies, aged 20. This is my blog for Fashion Retail and Enterprise. Archives
March 2016
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