dbrenn22's blog

I was inspired by our final project, there is so much thought, consideration and preparation that goes into a brand. I wanted to look into and do a little bit of research on one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie. Anthropologie is a “sister-store” to Urban Outfitter and Freepeople, all of the stores lay under the Urban name. Though each store is similar, known for their visual merchandising and current, up to date clothing each brand is very different because of the people they are trying to target. Each brand chooses a particular customer segment, and once chosen, sets out to create sustainable points of distinction with that segment” and that “the emphasis is on creativity.

Urban Outfitters : Aims to serve an 18-30 year old target market, generally includes single, affluent people who live in cities, with a funky and unique sense of style. Often classifies their ideal customers as a, fashionable hipster.

Free People : For the carefree, confident and curious young woman who appreciates our distinctive assortment of apparel, accessories and housewares; targeting an older crowd than Urban but younger than Anthropologie. The store has been described as “upscale homeless.” The target customers were away from home, but they had lots of their parents’ money to spend.

Anthropologie’s target market is :  Women between the ages of 30-40 who are both affluent and individuals who want to reflect their unique style with what they wear. She is very urban minded and considers their target customer a “friend”; along with being “well-read and well-traveled.” She’s into cooking, gardening, and wine. She has a natural curiosity about the world.

Last week I attend the Ralph Lauren Internship Presentation; representatives from the company came out to discuss all of the different opportunities they offer. Honestly, I never was for or against the brand; I always thought of them as a strong, known company but I never thought of interning for them. Right as you walked into the Student Center a film was playing, the company created a 10-15 minute video of their brand in a net-shell. From all of the different labels, to stores all over the world, to even segments of Ralph speaking about his company; it was a great way to start the presentation while getting comfortable with the company.For a person like myself, who honestly didn’t have the biggest interest in the company before walking through the front doors, it certainly opened my eyes to all of the new possibilities this brand could offer me. A smart marketing tool they used during the presentation was using past SCAD interns, they got up and talked about what they did for the company and how it not only built their portfolio but also their work ethic. Noami Fox, senior fibers major, was the last student to talk about her summer internship in the home department. She worked on a team, but in additional she got to create her own side project that she ended up presenting three times to Ralph Lauren Employees. As a marketing student, I found out they are really looking for a marketing student that is good with programs like excel, powerpoint, photo shop, and illustrator. The presentation was formatted very well, it was well thought out and I learned a lot about not only the internship opportunities, but also about their company! I was very glad I attended the presentation, how I have a better understanding about what companies are looking for in Fashion Marketing and Management students portfolios.

This week I was inspire by a linen paper I wrote for textiles class. I have been wearing linen for years and its one of my favorite fabric, yet I was surprised how little I knew about the textile. This is a little bit I learned about linen…. To be able to dye linen, you need to boil the fibers while adding ammonia; this will increase the PH which will improve the absorbent levels. Fun fact, before ammonia was readily available people had to use stale urine as a substitute. After the fiber’s PH level increases it than has to go through the mordant process, metallic salts and chemicals added to the fibers making them able to easily absorb pigments. Natural dyes don’t work well with linen, the pigments will only attach to the outer layer of the fibers due to the way its bind. Numerous people buy linen due to the fact it is natural, the dying stage adds more unneeded chemicals to the process.

Honestly, I don’t watch runway shows as much as I should. With that being said, during our 3rd project I did get to catch up on a lot of the runway shows for the spring/summer collections. I think, as a designer, it would be in their best interest that incorporate their inspiration/theme of the collection into everything involved [models, clothing, hair, makeup,music, runway, etc]. I just don’t understand when designers literally spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a collection, and present it in a way that is at the end of the day…forgettable. One of the shows that really stuck out to me was Rick Owens S/S 2013 collection, you could really tell that from start to end he thought of every last detail. Booth Moore Models described the beginning of the show as..futuristic figures with flying saucer-like hairstyles emerged out of the darkness as if from another world. During the whole show, which included an over-sized wall dripping with foam, there was always something to look at. The runway was extra wide, each made it every easy for two models to be walking at the same time. It didn’t matter if you loved or hated Owens collection, it was just obvious that the designer spent so much time developing this collection and this is what he loves to do, which I can truly appreciate!

I understand that “technically” I am classified as a fashion student, but honestly my main passion is business — I  was just somewhat scared that I would end up as a CPA wearing a 2-piece suit and carrying a briefcase to my cubical at 7am 5 days a week to attend a “normal” business school. I do respect fashion designers, especially after my classes here at SCAD, but something about advertising, branding, and entrepreneurship excites me. I know that this is a post mainly about branding, but this video is an amazing example of how you can manipulate buyers, consumers, or really anyone into seeing your vision. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZyQjr1YL0zg  [youtube -- Derren Brown subliminal advertising]

Subliminal advertising is huge, especially in the fashion marketing/business world. If enough people see your design on celebrities, in magazines, etc they will be more likely to gravitate to the product. One example of this was apple, remember the black silhouette of a guy  dancing on a vibrant colored background. The key to that advertisement was the white headphones, after it came out whenever you saw a person walking down the street with white headphones, you automatically thought of the apple ipod. Within less than a year, white headphones actually became more popular than the originally black headphones, the company apple uses white as one of their main colors today. When anyone thinks of an Apple store, a big open white modern-looking room what they think of. I think apple is an amazing company, along with having marketing geniuses — who would have guessed that the color white would be their niche?!

Sonia Rykiel, fashion designer, was born in Paris, France in 1930; she is noted for her Poorboy sweater [a snug-fitting, pullover sweater with ribbing on both the body and sleeves] creation. The designer also loved experimenting with seams, designing the “inside out sweater”, along with playing with the cuts of garments. I think Rykiel is an excellent example of an historical influencer in today’s fashion who fashion designs are getting reinterpreted. Personally, am not the biggest fan of her work but you have to give credit where credit is due; she contributed so much to the fashion industry and designers are still being influenced by her today!

[Betsey Johnson sweater]

It doesn’t matter your style, everyone has their own little black dress — the garment you have for any and all occasions [you can dress it up, or down], but when did this “little black dress” phenomenon all begin? Before the 20s, the color black was used purely for funerals but this all changed in 1926 when Chanel published a short, simple little black dress in Vogue. The magazine loved her idea and in fact called it “Chanel’s Ford”, referring to the Model T — it was easy, simple, and accessible; a perfect uniform for all women with a sense of fashion. The trend quickly spread because first and foremost it is neutral, most people can pull off and feel comfortable wearing black.  Through time the “little black dress” has been an icon for numerous celebrities including – Audrey Hepburn, Wallis Simpson, and Edith Piaf. It doesn’t stop there, over the years there has even been songs written about the dress; “Little Black Dress” – Shock Treatment, ‘Little Black Dress” -Gavin Friday, and “Little Black Dress” -Chris Young. 

I selected the designer Vivienne Westwood [initially sounded familiar -- later I came to the conclusion that I only knew her name because my roommate is obsessed with Sex in the City]; honestly I couldn’t have somewhat randomly chose a better designer for myself. Today, Westwood is known as The Mother of Punk for highlighting a subculture of history from the mid-seventies. Her mix of spontaneous energy and passion to explore and experiment has made this somewhat business-savy fashion designer an icon in the fashion industry.

Westwood is an icon who deseved all of her awards including two time winner for Fashion Designer of the Year, the Queen’s award, and the UK Fashion Export Award for Design. The designer’s works has been exhibited in The Museum of London, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum; just to name a few. Her hard work and dedication has led to great success around the world; especially in Hong Kong  , Milan, New York, and Liverpool where she has opened stores. Today, the 71 year old designer is still doing what she loves, designing.

 It is quite funny, I have never been to a wedding yet they are one of my biggest inspirations. I love the [little details], seeing that someone is actually taking the time to look at the presentation as a whole rather than just going through the check list. My favorite weddings aren’t the ones in which the couple uses their wallet, but their hands.

I know this inspiration might seem off the beaten path compared to the other students, who dreams might be to become fashion designers or to work for Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and Chanel but at the end of the day that just isn’t me. First and fore most I love business, it is my passion but I didn’t want to work on Wall Street as a CPA wearing a suit to work everyday. I have worked in consignment for the past five years and I have grown to love it . Now, I know when some people think of the word consignment they automatically picture walking into a gross store which smells like mothballs, it doesn’t have to be that way. I wan’t to take my inspiration and tie it into my future business; I want people to walk into the doors of my store and feel like for the half an hour they are shopping they have no worries; it is special, breathe-taking, just like your wedding day.

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