#FCNU

[k1rby-sucks]

So Netflix going around inventing all these monarchies and placing them in the same universe, huh?

[indiametson-fcnu-blog]

London Graduate Fashion Week 2017

London Graduate Fashion Week 2017 Wed 7th June - Dresser

London Graduate Fashion Week 2017 Sunday 4th June - Viewing

Back home over early summer I eagerly awaited June to arrive for London Graduate Fashion Week as it’s a great chance to see fresh talent and new experimental ideas. As well, the university stands always have previous students work on display, so it is a good opportunity to see different examples of how others present their work and the thinking behind their final outcomes.

I spent the morning looking over students work from universities around the country, of course I started at the Northumbria stand! Below are some images of work I thought was original and creative. The first image a student had printed their photographs onto sheets of chiffon which have an element of transparency to them, this then gave a inventive illusion of a busy photograph made up of many different elements when you stand at the front of the fabric pieces.

Interestingly, I came across a students work who must have had a similar brief to our diversity module where they had set up a campaign poster for ‘All Walks Beyond The Catwalk’. The model had concentrated on the category of gender and playing around with the boundaries of what ‘should or should not’ be worn by each gender. Following from that I also saw that DeMontfords programme handbook featuring a male model with vitiligo on the cover. This is a great example of diversity being bought to the front centre of peoples attention and embracing all skin types.

Later on, I watched the catwalk shows which had some questionable outfits, not too sure that they will become the most popular designs overnight however the majority were showcases of pure talent. Have a look below at some of the images I took from the catwalk and see what you think!

Same event but this time instead of being a guest I was a volunteer dresser working behind the scenes. The experience was such a real insight into the stress of being backstage but so relieving when the show finishes without a hitch!

6am start to be ready and in London for 8am was a morning that was fuelled by many cups of coffee. As soon as I arrived it was all hands on deck, the show was showcasing international fashion students which meant at times communication between the us dressers and the designers was tricky at times but through many hand actions we all managed to pull it off. I was given my rack which had 6 different looks ranging from an industrial leather outfit to oriental kimono to an outfit made entirely from straws. These uniquely creative designs were inspirational and getting to talk to the designers through their design processes was a great experience. I found the hardest part of the job was finding ways to quickly yet carefully get these pieces of art on and off the models within the 30seconds - 1minute interval time that you have from the model coming off the catwalk to needing to be in the line up.

So, there is an experience which I wouldn’t have thought would be something I’d sign up to but was extremely enjoyable and actually educational into the management behind the front show, a good insight into how much work goes into ensuring all runs smoothly backstage.

[chloewilson-fcnu]

PREFAB77

77 in Prefab77 stands for the year 1977. This year was very successful for British celebrities that were in art. They made a great impact on the street art scene.

7 P’s & 4 C’S

7 P’s of marketing       

Product :   Prefab77 is a collective that creates artwork including paste ups, layered prints and wood etchings with some painted, and some not. The art style is a mixture of punk and rock with pop culture blended in featuring African headgear, global historical figure heads and a lot of British iconography. It tends to be political and anti-establishment. By taking the faces of the Queen and Winston Churchill this could be a form of influence marketing as theses popular historical figures are identifiable and using their image will increase the amount of people that in some way understand what the art is saying, and therefore increase the people that enjoy it.

Price : Ranging from £33 to £210 from the Prefab77 website. Low to medium price range.

Place :   Starting in Newcastle, Prefab77 have origins in the North of England, New York and California.

Promotion :   Uses Facebook to promote their art and displays, through this they advertise the artwork and also the events/exhibitions that they are apart of.Events like The Art of Protest Exhibition which is a pop up event in London, Urban Nation Museum and a gallery in SCOPE Miami, Florida.

By participating these events they will get wider promotion and visibility to art lovers and buyers. Through Facebook they promote the event through announcing their participation in it, and these events range from UK base to US based. They also had an interview with Music On Walls that gives insight into the art and its inspiration. It opens their work to the audience of ‘Music On Walls” which is a website that connects he public with artists inspired by music. I feel this classes as influencer marketing as they are using the Music On Walls ‘brand’ to boost their audience, it is the same for all the other events as well.

People:  Prefab77 was founded by Peter Manning and he started his career printmaking and as a designer for the Queen in the British Army. His work was commissioned for by many well known designers such as Converse and NIKE. Artist Marc Ross who is a partner in the Prefab collective worked alongside Peter Manning for the Newcastle Dr Martens store. Peter Manning is the guy front and centre of Prefab77, and his art resonates with people who are invested in popular culture and intricate layering that creates fun and meaningful art. His audience is the younger population that is possibly politically aware and aware of current events and pop culture. The people that feature in his art are primarily women and I believe he intended it to be that way. They bring that feminine and romantic style that pairs so well with the inherent punk rock themes. Has paired up with Jonathan Le Vine Projects to sell some art which I would consider Influence Marketing. In addition they are feaftured in Nava Artem magazine which gives them exposure through another ‘brand’.

Process:

Handpainted 

Prints (Screen)

Wood etching

Mixed media 

Layering.

Advertising through social media and events with press release to start.

Done in studio and is not mass produced.

Sold.

Physical Evidence:

Prefab77 feature their art in galleries and sell their artwork through their website and other channels.

-Jonthan Le Vine Gallery

The 4 C’s of Digital.

Connecting: Prefab77 connect with the public through their social media and at their exhibitions. They have Instagram and Facebook where they post behind the scenes photos of the art being made so that the public can see the craftsmanship that goes into their work. This interests people because seeing the process of art being made entertains from its creativity, and proves where it comes from and the authenticity of the work.  This connects the audience to the artists s they can ask questions and comment on their photos and videos, allowing a clear dialogues between the audience and the creator.

Creating:

This brand is focused around creation in a lot of different forms including screen printing, layering and hand painting. This is all demonstrated on their Instagram and Facebook’s, however they could show the creative process a lot more to give their audience a clearer and more immersive view of their brand.

Curating:

They curate a good selection of art in their online collection. However they would definitely benefit curating more efficiently digitally if they created more experiential pages on their website that divides the different art techniques and themes. For their street art that is dotted about, this in itself is an effective curating technique, providing public space with art from Prefab77 that acts as advertising.

Culture:

Prefab77 lacks this quite a bit. They don’t have as much of an impressionable presence online as they could. Prefab77 has a great art style however this isn’t translated into the writing. They need to take the spirit of the art and write and produce social media posts that build a tone and community within the brand.

Looking at al of this, it is clear to see that put simply, they Prefab77 needs to build and make their brand more well-rounded in marketing and digital as well as with the art. This will allow them to give the presence they want to popularise their brand.

[joypearson-fcnu-blog]

Shaun Ross

Shaun Ross is a professional fashion model, actor and dancer who is mostly known for being an albino male model. He was discovered at the age of 16 from YouTube videos and was signed by Djamee Models and AMCK Models London.   

As we all know the fashion industry is mostly dominated by women, becoming a strong male model is hard. in most fashion photos, the male is seen as a prop to make the women stand out more and seem more powerful. Shaun Ross is not only unique in being such a successful male model but by becoming the first male albino model. This makes him an icon and inspiration for people who are a little bit diverse looking. 

Shaun was bullied at school from a young age by his peer’s they would call him names like “powder” and “white-out”. Younger people can look up to him and aspire to be like him in the future.

   I think he has changed things in the fashion world and more and more designers are wanting their models to stand out and be different from the typical “girl next door” look.

Shaun Ross fits the themes of body image and sexuality and starting changing the view and idea of models since the young of of 16. 

[katiewallace-fcnu-blog]

ERIKA LINDER

Erika Linder is a Swedish model known for her androgynous look, modelling both male and female clothing. She was first hired to be a male model where she portrayed Leonardo DiCaprio for Candy magazine. Linder has also modelled for Tom Ford, Louis Vuitton and various other fashion houses whilst portraying masculine, feminine and unisex looks.

After a while as modelling as a guy, people actually started to label Erika as a male model, which in an interview with w magazine she spoke about saying, ‘After a few years of shooting as a guy, they just saw me as this guy.’ Going on to say, ‘at the end of the day, I'm a girl, right? I don't want to be a guy.’ The whole point of her style was that she did not want to be boxed in by her gender, yet this is what people were still doing by identifying her as a male. Because of this she decided she needed to change her image and do something else.

I find Erika Linder interesting because she breaks the stereotypes of clothing having a certain gender. I think that this is really important as it helps break down gender roles and the idea that men and women should look and act a certain way. She doesn’t allow herself to be put into a category and I think that’s brilliant.

References:

https://www.instagram.com/richiephoenix/?hl=en

https://www.wmagazine.com/story/erika-linder-model-louis-vuitton

[faye-fcnu-blog]

Trip to NYC

I have recently been able to check an amazing experience off of my bucket list, and that was to visit New York City during Fashion week. Travelling to America in general has something I have been desperate to do for so long now, but over the years programmes such as: Sex and the City, Gossip girl and Friends only made my thirst stronger for the big apple.

From Brooklyn, to Soho, to the Upper East Side, every bit was thrilling to experience, yet all so different. It literally was the city that never sleeps and after an 8 hour plane journey, best bet I didn’t either. It’s a place of fashion, food, fun and f%*$ng massive buildings, all of which I soaked up within this magical week.

[rana-smith-fashion-communicator]

The Trend Forecaster

Trend forecasting is one of the most well-paid sectors in the fashion industry earning anywhere between £30,000 to £100,000 a year. But why I hear you ask…well they basically predict the future and here’s how.

It’s all about research. Trend forecasters study change in internal and external factors as well as consumer’s buying behaviour. Analysing this information allows them to see what influence these changes will have on the world and enables them to make predictions of what trends will coincide with this and understand market conditions. Now to explain how a trend forecaster works I need you to understand that they look at how, what and why a trend forms, as well as how it will affect our way of life, in turn effecting the brand.

As consumers we're all different, for example some of us love the bum bag and some of us hate it. Buying behaviour looks at who of us is buying what and why, but how do they do it? Simple, they watch us! Trend forecasters look at us and decipher the type of person we are, categorising us in to Segments and comparing those to patterns in demand.  Segmentation can be done geographically, behaviourally and by income, but most importantly demographically. Demographic segmentation have specific names for all generations, which one are you?

·      Generation Z: Born 1996 and later.

·      Millennials: Born 1977 to 1995.

·      Generation X: Born 1965 to 1976.

·      Baby Boomers: Born 1946 to 1964.

·      Traditionalists or Silent Generation: Born 1945 and before

PEST. Pest the frame work they use to see how change in specific external factors will influence trends, it stands for Political, Environmental, Social and Technological. A Political factor is what’s determined by law, like a ban on non-organic cotton would mean your new t-shirt would be made from organic cotton causing a potential price increase. Economic factors could be the amount of disposable income you have, deciphering whether or not you’ll be able to afford a new organic cotton t-shirt. Social factors, also know as Socio- Cultural analysis, is about consumers views and attitudes often looking at what they deem acceptable, so will you be buying a new cotton t-shirt if it’s not Fairtrade? Technological factors include how brands interact with you and what they do with information gained, what they’re offering you and how you can buy it.

Internal influences are often looked at using SWOT which stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. This type of analysis is used by trend forecasters to analyse the brand to work out if they’re on track with trends and change.

The forecaster creates a strategy for a brand, based on research. Allowing the brand to move forward adapting and embracing change rather than being left behind, making the trend forecaster essential to all brands.

[kirstenchalland-fcnu-blog]

Inspiration from Prefab77 work collaged in a mood board by me, representing layers of multi-styled artwork

[sophgardner-fcnu-blog]

Prefab77 MARKETING ANALYSIS

PRODUCT

Prefab77 sells political unique thought provoking artwork which focuses on popular culture and often features political / anti-establishment messages which contrast the views of the famous subject featured. The art predominately focuses on modern popular culture desirable to the mass market with rock and rebellion aspects the artwork is created to stand out from the competitive market.

PRICE

The artwork is varied in price but all in all is affordable for its target consumer. The price is not considered as luxury. It’s approximately £210-250 for a price of Prefab77’s work.

PLACE

Prefab77 originated in the north east, UK but since has recruited multiple artists who work from New York and California; though it’s main base is in Newcastle, UK.

PROMOTION AND CONNECTING

Their brand is promoted through their website, it phrased itself as an ‘conceptual visionary’ promoting specific messages within its artwork. The website itself uses a very conversational tone when marketing itself to its consumers. Making the consumers really value the brand they are buying from, and buy into the experience. The website also elaborates on the artworks hidden agenda and thought provoking messages.

PEOPLE

The artists are extremely skilled across all aspects of the work from digital to freehand work, which aids to the complexity of the pieces. The way the artwork is made using different techniques makes it more desirable to a wider range of consumers.

PROCESS

Photography - all Prefab77 artists shoot their own photos which are weaved into original artwork and photographs, then add paint and freehand procedures eg. Spray paint and varnish, and edit the images digitally. This adds layers and layers of technique and is a clear sign of hard work and complexity.

[faithrichardson-fcnu-blog]

This is a valuable article on diversity in fashion which pinpoints several key milestones within the industry. 

Fashion still has an immensely long way to go in terms of diversity, however it is encouraging to see it beginning to take steps (albeit sometimes baby steps) in the right direction.

[poppykasapidis-fcnu-blog]

During my first year at university I put together an editorial piece in the style and layout of Fantastic Man magazine. This included the whole shebang; styling, photographing, interviewing and laying it all out (involving many stressful hours on InDesign).

The photographs were taken in the kitchen of my interviewee, Jack. As students, we have limited resources so the kitchen, for me, was as good as a studio (with surprisingly good lighting). My friend Dan stood behind me shouting phrases at Jack so that I could capture his reactions on camera. (Dan, you wanted recognition for your creative direction. Here it is). In all honesty, it was the strangest photoshoot I have ever witnessed and the photographs are proof.

The interview itself was just as interesting. Listening back to it now, you can actually hear me eating the pasta and pesto that Jack provided. It’s recogniseably unorthodox for an interviewer to eat on the job, but this was no typical interview.

I will be posting the end product on here soon so watch this space!

Thanks for reading!

[willbird-fcnu-blog]

This is a Gif I created to show the changes I have made to a shot from my Magazine module photoshoot. Using Photoshop, I retouched this image to produce a more editorial and magazine-worthy result.

[indiametson-fcnu-blog]

London Fashion Week Festival 2017 - Photographer Experience

Back in February I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to photograph at LFWF. Photography has always been a hobby of mine and something that I find to be good practise for those who are looking to get into the fashion industry.

Backstage pass in hand and my beloved Canon camera in another, I was ready  to get hands on into this incredible industry experience. Entering the prep room I saw a group of around 15 other students who looked just as excited yet slightly nervous as I probably did, and we soon got chatting about what courses we did and where we were from. Soon there was a call for photographers to get set and we were led into the photography pit that is positioned at the end of the catwalk, then the lights dimmed and all you could hear was the endless clicks of camera lenses capturing the gorgeous garments as they came flooding down the catwalk.

At the end of the first show we were given a guide round backstage where we could see all the collections lined up and being steamed with a tailor on her hands and knees making last minute changes. As well as, hair and makeup working away creating stunning looks for the models. Our guide was Mike Marsland, a London based photographer who specialises in entertainment and luxury brand photography. He has worked events such as the 2016 BAFTAs which allowed him to take images of Adele, Cara Delevingne, Brad Pitt and many more famous faces. The main tip he had for us was to get comfortable with our cameras, to try use them everyday and practise taking pictures of anything and everything until we find our unique style.

Below I’ve picked out and uploaded some of the favourites out of my images from the catwalk, my main advice for catwalk photography is to take as many shots as you can. This is important as obviously due to the models moving down the catwalk you’ll find that a few of the shots will be blurred so therefore taking numerous images will ensure that you capture some stills. Although, saying this you’ll find some of the images if you’re lucky enough will show the models movement and give some life to the photograph.

[on-time-apparel-blog]

Time to edit down...

Editing was one of the hardest processes, getting our film down to just 1 minute! We had to take the essentials scenes and ensure they flowed well between the transitions. Once we had selected exactly which scenes we wanted, we then edited them by cropping, audio change, filters and speed. For example, we wanted to add a natural look to our film so we kept the filters quite natural. As well, the film has quite an upbeat, lighthearted mood so adding in some slow-motion scenes or sped up ones adds a touch of humour! In addition, with the editing we added in the text layer to the scenes. This allowed us to create labels explaining where each item was from, we feel this will be of use to the audience watching and save them having to look up links, they can automatically identify where to buy any of the garments that they like!

So close to finishing now, keep checking to see the final film! 

[joypearson-fcnu-blog]

"GO BEYOND THE COVER" Campaign with Zombie Boy by Fashion Channel

This video is showing two difference side of “zombie boy”. It is a really intense video as the way he spends majority of the video staring right into the camera. Which can make you feel uncomfortable but very engaging. 

I think he feels uncomfortable without his tattoos showing. He doesn't feel like himself and you can feel his confidence improve more and mire as more tattoos are uncovered. This video makes Zombie Boy vulnerable, by covering up who he really is. 

[katiewallace-fcnu-blog]

PREFAB77 - Values & Mission

Brand Values

When viewing Prefab77 work it is obvious that there is a strong sense of rebellion, this shines through with the use of punk rock imagery. They also tend to make use of political and social figures in their work which helps to express the brands clear passion for politics and social justice.

Mission Promise

The brands mission is to challenge current social and political issues through their art. The work will also have a strong passion for music and culture running throughout. Prefab77 promises to create quality, hand crafted pieces of work that will satisfy consumers with the same values and beliefs that align with the brand.