Fashion Business research

Lingerie


If I was to set up my own fashion business, I would be really interested in working with lingerie, this is because it requires a lot of intricate work, and I would really like working with all the different types of material and lace, and also designing pretty underwear.

I have researched to existing lingerie brands.

Victorias Secret

  


Victorias secret is an American designer, manufacturer and marketer of women's lingerie, it also has a range of womenswear and beauty products. It is the largest American retailer of womens lingerie.
Victorias secret have stores all around the world, mainly located in shopping centres, they currently have 1000 VS lingerie stores and 100 independent VS beauty stores in the US, and 14 stores through out the UK, however they also have a website where you are able to purchase there items online. VS are well known for their annual Victorias Secret fashion show sponsored by and featuring Victorias secret items, they use the show to promote and market their goods in high-profile settings. VS also have their own twitter and instagram accounts as social media is another way they promote new items and upcoming events, such as the fashion show, and different offers.

By looking on their website, you can see straight away its quite a simple layout that is easy to navigate. The first things you see are advertisements showing you what offers and deals they have going at the moment, which influences you because you will want to browse the sales and buy their items. The layout is mainly black and gold which is quite elegant, and also appropriate for the christmas season as they have a glitter font and as you scroll down the homepage they advertise their christmas collections. Similarly on their instagram, they also advertise offers found on the website aswell as images from their fashion shows.

Victorias secret has products ranging from bra/knickers sets, to night wear, aswell as kimonos, baby dolls (pictured above). Most of the products are priced over £20, which can be seen as quite pricey, however expected from a high street brand. They also often have well known offers such as 5 knickers for £20, or buy one get one free bralettes.

Boux Avenue

Boux avenue is a chain of lingerie stores based in the UK. It has 28 stores in the uk aswell as 12 international stores across 5 countries and is also available online and on mobile. Boux Avenue is owned by Theo Paphitis who is an entrepenaur and was also on Dragons Den.
The stores are known for their traditional layout where underwear is placed in drawers according to size instead of being placed on hangers. Similarly to VS, they also use social media such as twitter and instagram to promote new collections, and offers they have going, such as sales.

Similarly to the Victoria Secret, straight away I can see similarities in the lay out of Boux Avenues website. They have also used a theme of black and gold glitter, and also have offers, specifically for the day, which is 'cyber monday'. This website is also really easy to navigate, it has drop down menus and different sections for their products such as Lingerie, nightwear and swimwear.

Boux avenue have a really aesthetically appealing instagram page, everything is light pastel colours, and some images are also christmas theme. They use their instagram to post pictures appeling to their customers, aswell as reposting their customers instagram posts, which feature items brought from Boux. 

Their products also have a similar price range to Victorias Secret, with most things being atleast over £30. They also have a way to simplify your search, as there is a side bar which allows you to search by, size, colour and price range.


Footwear

The next buisness I'm going to be looking at is womens footwear.

Public Desire

Public desire is a womens footwear brand that is online only, the brand ships to all countries around the world from their distribution centre in the UK. Their base in Manchester has an extensive outreach within social media to fashion bloggers and instagram followers, therefore they claim to bring the latest styles. Public are also known for having quite affordable prices for good quality products. 

Public desire are online only therefore they mainly use their website, online blog and instagram to communicate with customers. The website has a really simple layout, that's easy to use. It's sectioned off and each part has a drop down option to help refine your search. Again, just like the other websites I have looked at one of the first things you see is a massive advert showing you there is a sale, this make you want to browse the site and possibly buy items. Their Instagram is used for a similar purpose, to promote offers, show new products and connect with their followers through funny posts. 

Public desire have a huge variety of footwear, from party heels to knee high boots. On their home page they are currently advertising boots with the title 'booty call'. Customers are more likely to click on this as it's winter and they will be shopping for winter shoes. Looking at the prices, they are really reasonable, most shoes are £30 or over which is actually quite good for womens footwear that is good quality.

Just Fab 





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3D Fashion

Iris Van Herpen 


Iris van Herpen's "between the lines" collection focused on the gaps and sections between materials making up garments. Looking at the designs you can see they are based on optical illusion patterns that have been distorted to create a 3D shape. The last design of the 3 I have included, is made up of loads of little 3D cast shapes to resemble broken glass. I think Iris' designs look quite high tech and futuristic and I think this was one of her inspirations for this collection. I really like the first design, as it's made out of 3D hand casted transparent leather, and resembles shards of ice, as well as having a frosty effect.

Textile Designers

William Morris

  

William Morris was an English Textile designer known for his repeat pattern wallpaper prints. Looking at his images I've noticed he uses a lot of floral and nature patterns, such as trees and birds. He uses a lot of colour, however all the colour looks quite vintage. All the print joins together perfectly and will be continuous through out. I think this print is suitable for it's purpose as, straight away, you can tell it would be used on a wall paper or for interior design, therefore I don't think this style of print would be suitable for my jacket.

Alexander Mcqueen

Alexander McQueen was a British Fashion Designer. He is known for having worked as chief designer at Givenchy from 1996 to 2001, aswell as having found his own label. The prints I have looked at are from his 2010 collection, they are repeat patterns that resemble butterfly wings which is what he was inspired by (Nature and evolution). I like the way he has taken a section of the pattern and created a dress, this makes it more likely to be unique. This could inspire me to create one big repeat pattern, and then take a piece of it and put it on my deconstructed jacket, or even create a sleeve/collar out of it.

Cath Kidston 

  

Cath Kidston is a Birtish brand specialising in homeware and bags/purses. From researching the brand I noticed straight away all of their products stand out and have a consistent theme of floral patterns and pastel colours, especially pink and blues. I really like the designs by Cath Kidston as they are very girly and dainty. The prints are featured on homeware, bags/purses and small trinkets. I would feature a print similar to this one on a product, if it was designed for females.

My photography panel.

I created my textile panel using some of the photos I took myself in the photography workshop. The pictures I have used have different lightings such as tints of pink, purple and turquoise, this is one of the reasons I chose those ones as I thought they would be the most interesting to sew on to.

One of the new techniques I used was using heat transfer paper. I printed out my chosen image on to a sheet of transfer paper, cut it up, and then ironed it on to my fabric. The technique is quite simple, all you have to do is put the transfer paper face down on to your fabric and iron over the top, however you have to use quite a high heat and put a lot of pressure on the iron. Once I ironed on my image to the textile panel I then incorporated machine embroidery over the top, I sewed over the blurred faces in the image, and also sewed a pattern over the top, so that both the images do not have the faces showing.

On the other photos, I have covered them in tape to create a laminated and shiny effect and then done designs over the top. Again, I removed one of the faces on the image and replaced it by attaching fur using reverse applique. This has come out really well as it looks very different especially being where the face should be, and has introduced a new texture compared to the shiny surface of the laminated image.

I have also gone over certain features of the image with machine embroidery such as the letters on the t-shirt to make them stand out by using a contrasting coloured thread.

Another one of my laminated images has a picture of one of the lights giving off a bright purple/pink tinge, so I have cut out the light and replaced it with a dark blue sequin material that goes well,  as it’s shiny and reflects any light that shines on to it and resembles the effect of a lamp. It is also another new texture as each of the sequins feel rough to the touch.

Overall, I am really pleased with the textile panel and the way it has turned out, I would definitely put this on my jacket as the colours on it go really well with the dark blue denim colour of my jacket, and I also would like the effect of the shiny sequins on my jacket as it would be eye catching in the light. It also would look good as no faces have actually been featured on this piece which make it look like an abstract collage of different materials and colours.

Decorative Samples

Deconstruction/Distortion

For this sample, I looked online for pictures associated with deconstruction and distortion for insporation. I saw a lot of abstract work, and also many pictures where things have been either distorted to look like something else, or taken apart and put back together to create a brand new garment (Deconstruction).

 
Distorted origami faces - Aldo Tolino                      Commes De Garcons - Autumn/Winter 2017


Damaged - Lev Kronski

Collage sample

This sample was also completely abstract and was supposed to reflect my theme of deconstruction/distortion. I used different materials such as fur, mesh and bits of a magazine to experiment with different textures, this also helped me as I could see if I wanted to use any of these on my reconstructed jacket.

You can see I have also overlapped the different trechniques. I have included fur, to make the piece 3D and have a contrast in textures, I sewed it on by using reverse applique, which is done by cutting a hole in the calico to reveal the fur underneath. I found this is a good way to make your garment a lot more interesting by featuring materials that feel different to the touch.

I have also sewed on cut outs from fashion magazines. I found sewing on paper quite easy and liked the final outcome as it looks different and edgy. To include the idea of distortion I have cut out models from the magazine and paired them up with different cut outs, as well as placing different fabrics on them to look like it’s part of the garment, I have done this with mesh, as it stands out, especially as it’s slightly transparent and feels rough. To some cutouts I added bows made out of ribbons to make it look like a dress.

I have filled in the empty bits of the calico with free hand machine embroidery, this has made it stand out as it’s completely turned the calico in to a different texture, it’s usefull to draw details on fabric, and I could use this on my jacket if I want to change up my fabric.  Overall I like how this piece has turned out, I would feature something like this on my jacket, as it shows a combination of techniques that reflects my theme and looks eye catching.

Stencil Printing Sample

I have learnt and experimented with Stencil Printing to see what I could come up with, and whether I could feautre it on my jacket.

To create the stencil for my print, I used card and a knife to cut out different shapes that I could repeat over and again to create a pattern. Once I cut those out I placed the stencil over calico and painted over the top, I had a choice of using a paintbrush and stippling the paint on or a sponge. I found the paint brush gave the best effect if you want a solid colour, whilst the sponge gave a better stippling effect, this is better when you want to create a fade.

After I completed my print and it was dry, I then added to it using the machine and similar techniques to my other sample. I was looking at how I could recreate the print in different ways. I have cut out som traingles and replaced it with fabric, I have also sewed lace or mesh on top of some of them to change up the texture and also creat a whole new pattern on the fabric underneath. I have coloured some of the triangles in using machine embroidery and pink thread, to make it match the whole sample, and tried out different patterns in the triangles. If I was to do a repeat pattern on my jacket I would use stencil printing as it’s very simple and adding paint on to the fabric makes it stiffer and completeley changes what it feels like. I would also change up the colours and use more than one.

Fashion Photographers

Nick Knight

            
      

Nick Knight is a British fashion photographer, he is an honorary professor of the Arts London and was awarded an honorary Ph.D by the same university. Looking at the pictures I have found, I really like the style the photos have been taken, I think they all look quite abstract and futuristic. I also really like the backgrounds on each of the photos, especially the thirds one, as it looks distorted and resembles a water marble effect, and the colours of the background match the colour scheme of the models clothing.

Miles Aldridge
  


Miles Aldridge is a English Fashion photographer and artist. His photos really stood out to me straight away, as they're all very vibrant and reflect a 60's theme. I found that a lot of his images are around the home where the model is doing things such as house work or sitting at the dining table, I like how he has incorporated this in to his images and made it look modern and stylish despite it looking like a scene from the 60's. This is a lot different compared to Nick Knight, as in his pictures Knight has chosen plain coloured backgrounds, perhaps to put all the focus on the model, whereas in Aldridges photos there is a lot going on in the back ground. I think this has made Aldridges photos a lot more interesting. I also really like all the bright and vibrant block colours found in all of his pictures as it catches your eye and the image tells a story as well as modelling clothes.