It’s that time of the year again, festival season has commenced. Weekend two of Coachella has wrapped up and all the celebrities, stars, models, artists have shown off their style and looks for two weekends in a row. Festival style can be anything that you desire, it really gives people the chance to dress as stylish and crazy as they’d like. Some trends this year for Coachella included camouflage prints, knee high cowboy boots, crazy animal prints, crochet tops and dresses, matching sets, fringe, and much more. Coachella is easily one of the most popular social and entertainment events of the year, attracting hundreds of thousands of celebrities and influencers across the world.

This year, the popular known clothing website, Revolve, hosted their own festival in Palm Springs during Coachella. All the top models, fashion influencers, and bloggers were invited to show off their style while posting Instagrams and enjoying the festivities of the weekend. The Revolve festival offered many free products from their fashion lines along with open bars, live music, pools, and extremely large flower arrangements for pictures, of course. Model attendees included Kendall Jenner, Romme Strijd, Emily Ratatowski, and many more, all of which showed up in their stunning Revolve Clothing outfits. Many people that attend Coachella plan their outfits months in advance, planning everything from their hair styles to accessories. The eye-catching fashion that surrounds the Coachella music festival never disappoints.

In class we read the article, “M(Art)Worlds: Consumer Perceptions of How Luxury Brand Stores Become Art Institutions,” specifically focusing on the Louis Vuitton luxury stores. In one section of the article, Luxemosphere: contemporary interior design, extravagance, and playfulness, it talked about the interior of Louis Vuitton stores and how they put so much thought and effort to make it as luxurious and high end as possible. For example, it explained how each shoe has a light box behind it so it makes the product look more beautiful, appealing and grand.

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One thing Louis Vuitton likes to do is make their stores feel and look like a museum. One customer, Alicia, talked about how they display items in the store that are not for sale, only for display. They explained, “Viewers like Alicia not only notice the features of the store, they also experience pleasure in such details as where two ele- ments meet: for example, the museum quality/archival objects displayed with the objects for sale in glass boxes (pg. 352).” Another customer talked about how the store looks like it belongs to a home of a collector of rare arts and artifacts. They make everything in the store appear so glamorous which allows customers to know they are getting the best for what they’re paying for.

I really enjoyed this article because it make me realize these high end brand stores aren’t just a fancy store, they put so much thought and effort into making it the most amazing experience for their customers. It made me appreciate designer label stores so much more because you’re actually getting they quality and experience that you’re paying for. Customers really get pleasure when walking into a Louis Vuitton store because it’s like walking through a museum.

This week we watched a documentary on the unfair working conditions in Cambodia. The documentary “Sweatshop Deadly Fashion,” was extremely emotional and really showed the behind the scenes of where clothes come from and how they’re made. The Norwegian documentary examined the lives of sweatshop workers through the eyes of three, wealthy Norwegian citizens. Each of them shop at large clothing brands and love to buy clothes. After this film, you could see that each of their perspectives will be forever altered after experiencing the lives of these workers. It was sometimes hard to watch some of the scenes because it would just make me feel angered and distressed because I feel like there’s nothing I can do to help. It really mad me sad watching these people work in such awful working conditions. It made me want to immediately stop shopping at those big clothing chains such as H&M. I was shocked by how much these people were getting paid especially when you compare what they’re making compared to how much they actually sell the clothes for.

They mentioned in the film that there are much worse sweatshops, some would not even allow anyone to come in and film. One thing that really was hard to watch was when one of the Norwegian girls was interviewing a worker and she explained how her mother died while she was still breastfeeding her. The mother had died from hunger because the family could not afford food. I just kept asking myself WHY aren’t these big clothing brands helping their employees, we all know they can afford to pay them enough so that they can live by it. These workers can’t even live on the salary they are being paid. The only thing I feel like I can do is stop shopping at these brands that provide horrible working conditions for their employees because if everyone stops shopping there, they’ll lose money.

Designer labels who stay true to original designs I think would include Versace, Chanel, Alexander McQueen, just to name a few. These designer labels all have original designs and themes they have stuck with. For example, Versace is known for it’s architectural look in their designs. I can’t say any other designers have designs similar to Versace.

Some important organizing skills brands use when developing their line is knowing their audience. It is importance to have a good understanding of demographics of the brands target market. This would include their interests, their likes and dislikes, and so on. A good brand knows their audience and doesn’t try to appeal to everyone by ignoring their target market.

Another important skill for line development would be exposure. It is important that when a brand is creating a new line, it needs to be recognized and be able to reach consumers through many different ways whether that is fashion shows, media, news, magazines etc.

Many brands also focus on communicating their design concepts which is a successful strategy to use in the fashion industry. One brand example that really communicates their design concepts is Nike. Nike commercials and ads are known for starting with a story and emotion to connect with their consumers. According to referralcandy.com, “There have been competitors and imitators, but with 48% of the American athletic footwear market (and 96% of the basketball footwear markets) nobody even comes close to Nike.” That alone just shows how successful they are at communicating their design concept. Nike ads have an overwhelming impact on consumers which has made their brand extremely successful.

Another brand that has become successful because of their design concept is Rent the Runway. Rent the Runway has turned into a multi-million dollar business by coming up with an amazing concept that allows women to rent expensive dresses for a low cost.

https://www.referralcandy.com/blog/fashion-marketing-examples/

While we may not think about or notice it as much as we should, fabric plays a very important role in our lives. You wear it ever day, it’s all around you, in your classrooms, offices, in your home. Being a woman who loves clothes and fashion I always think about fabric choices as a consumer. Before I buy any article of clothing I check the price and I check the material it is made of. I also compare the fabric to the price to make sure I’m not paying too much for what I’m buying. I love buying athletic wear because it’s the easiest thing to throw on before class and it also compliments my body well and sometimes even motivates me to take a trip to the gym. 

It’s interesting to see the change in uses of fabric over the years. More celebrities are wearing faux fur and vegan leather because of the possible backlash they would receive from the media if they were to wear real animal fur or leather. Some designers only use safe products that are better for the environment. For example, Stella McCartney is known for her Falabella bag which is made of vegetarian leather. On her website she state, “We are excited for the future of cruelty-free leathers. One opportunity we are currently exploring is lab-grown leather. What may have seemed impossible just a few years ago is quickly becoming a reality. As a modern business, we want to bring these incredible feats of design to the fashion industry and pave the way to a more progressive approach to materials,” (McCartney). While her bags are still very expensive for not being made of authentic leather, McCartney believes she has created a great alternative product that is better for everyone.

Sources:

https://www.stellamccartney.com/experience/en/sustainability/materials-and-innovation/vegetarian-leather/

Color plays a very important role when it comes to the fashion industry. Colors do many things when it comes to clothing. Certain colors can make people feel a certain way, it can make people look a certain shape, and even sometimes define a persons personality. Designers and fashion influencers all put a lot of thought into what colors they’re going to wear or what colors they’re going to incorporate into their clothing lines.There are different colors people wear for every season, every party, every career. Some colors make people feel more confident, other colors can make people feel more professional. Fashion color choices can tell a lot about a person. Most fashion designers incorporate color in order to achieve a harmonious garment design. Balance, proportion, emphasis, unity, and rhythm all rely on color. glamour.com wrote an article on color science and how colors are proven to make you feel happy, stress-free, seductive, and more. “Dark green, navy, charcoal, aubergine, or chocolate brown are all good color options to command power, whether at a work meeting or trying to convince someone to see your side of the story,” according to glamour.com.

Two important definitions in color include hue and value. Hue is the name given to a color such as red, yellow, green, or violet. It distinguishes one color from another. Value is the lightness or darkness of a color. The values of colors range on a graduation scale.

Pantone Inc is an internationally accepted authority responsible for creating the color standards system. Pantone’s color for this year of 2019 is “Living Coral.”

Sources:

https://www.glamour.com/story/color-meaning-fashion-clothing

The documentary, “Dior and I,” gave an inside look at the creativity and emotions within the fashion industry. In my opinion, Dior and I is a much bigger and much more intense version of the show, “Project Runway.” This documentary was extremely captivating and allowed me to see all the behind the scenes work that is put into fashion and the making of designer clothing. “Dior and I” brought a closer look into the making and designs in Christian Dior fashion house. The film focuses on Raf Simmons, a Belgian fashion designer, and his relationships with the staff in the Dior studio. Raf was very specific on what he wanted and how he wanted it done. He was extremely strict with the staff and made it clear he needed everything to be ready on time, no matter what. I noticed it was a complicated process because some of the staff had their own priorities and clients to deal with.

In the end, the fashion show was a huge success. The designs turned out beautifully and showed that all Raf’s hard work as well as the Dior’s staff hard work, had paid off. One of the most interesting things I found while watching this documentary was that the staff were all sewing each individual clothing piece by hand instead of using a sewing machine. It showed the amount of tediousness and diligent work that is put into high fashion. I was also intrigued when the staff started to talk about how they believe the ghost of Christian Dior haunts the Paris fashion house and the security guards can feel a spirit when they close up at night. I really enjoyed watching “Dior and I,” it was fascinating and revealed many of the pressure-filled components that make up the world of fashion.

Thanks for joining me!

Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton