Polished.
Mission Statement: Polished provides a stimulating experience as well as commitment from our excellent fashion stylists to bring sophisticated clothing, completed with the nail spa experience, to the hardworking women.
Polished is a clothing line centered on combining convenience and relaxation, divided into defined colour schemes and represented by our exclusive nail polish line. Every strong hardworking woman needs time to herself; this is her chance to experience a sensational combination of a day of shopping and trip to the nail salon.
Polished is an exclusive combination of quality fashionable garments and nail polish, providing luxury, comfort, and a stress-free environment to shop and pamper the sophisticated and glamorous woman.
All our stores provide an eCatalogue for our seated customers to browse freely at each nail salon station. Multitasking, our customers can select Polished merchandise, which will be waiting for them after satisfaction at the nail spa.
Our target customer is an upper-middle class woman, between the ages of 25-40 and lives within metropolitan areas. Our customer is a sophisticated, classy, working woman who wants work-appropriate versatile pieces that can convert from the office to a fun night with friends. She is conscious of her whole image from head to toe. She wants to stay cohesive from her outfit to the beauty products she uses, involving colour palette, trends, and quality. She is fast-paced, organized, tech-savvy, and appreciative of personal leisure, knowing she must take the time for herself.
Lena Dunham models for ASOS!
A complete and utter Renaissance woman, Lena Dunham acts, writes, produces, and directs HBO’s hit show Girls—it’s no wonder she was chosen to model on the cover of ASOS magazine’s November issue.
Lena Dunham, only age 26, is “kind of a big deal.” She is an American filmmaker and actress. She wrote and directed the independent film Tiny Furniture in 2010, which won Best Narrative Feature at South by Southwest Music and Media Conference. She is currently the creator and star of the HBO series Girls, created in 2012. She was nominated for 4 Emmy Awards for her roles in acting, writing, and directing the series. Everyone from “hipsters to old ladies” tell her that she’s amazing. Someone even calls her the ‘Lebron James of life.’
For more recent Dunham news, on October 8 this year, she signed a $3.5 million deal with Random House to publish her first book, an essay collection called Not That Kind of Girl: A Young Woman Tells You What She’s Learned.
On the front cover she is wearing a gray t-shirt, houndstooth skirt, cool arm candy, and a spiked headband. The shoot took place in little Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and photographed by Danielle Levitt. This new pixie-cut-and-read-lips-combo works really well for Dunham. She proves that you don’t have to be a size four to pull off risky or eccentric trends.
“I think it’s having heroines who are imperfect on television, which hasn’t been allowed as much as it should be. Having girls who don’t look like every other girl on TV, even though I have beautiful girls on the show. It’s a mix of body types, complicated people and faces and attitudes.” –Lena Dunham on Girls appeal.
I am in love with the show Girls and I’m not surprised in the slightest that others share my obsession. Girls is so refreshing and raw. Lena Dunham has been criticized harshly for her overweight and often exposed body on screen, but she is a great young adult role model for her list of achievements and a perfect example of a “average” body type—I’m recalling the image of Dunham eating cake, naked on the toilet during the opening video of the 2012 Emmys…which shocked a lot of viewers! She is gives the term “ballsy” a whole new definition and I love it! Seeing her on the front cover of ASOS makes me smile and want to give her a high five. I cannot be more excited for season 2 to start in January!
P.S. Dunham’s twitter is amazing!
https://twitter.com/lenadunham
[ki-tee gal-er-nor].
Just this once I’m going to write a blog post not about a latest fashion update. I want to share a little background of one of my favourite freelance photographers and inspirations as a young artist.
Her name is Kitty Gallannaugh [ki-tee gal-er-nor].
She was born in London, England, in 1990, and discovered her love for photography at age six. She collected her photographs in a shoebox in her cupboard. Her hobby turned from her plastic red camera into a passion, and now a career. She graduated in 2008 from Marymount International School in London and received her full IB diploma at 17 years old. She then moved onto London College of Communication where she finished with a high distinction diploma in Arts and Design and was awarded with the “Most Improved Student” award.
“Ideas strike me all the time when I least expect them. I don’t know what brings them on, but they will always find me. I get very particular ideas in my mind and will then go on a hunt for a suitable model. A lot of the time the model and I will do the styling and make up ourselves. Other times I will then contact a wardrobe stylist and make up artist to come and help out. On the shoot we spend a couple of hours shooting and just having fun. We always end up chatting forever and giggling between shots. Sometimes we go for hot chocolate afterward and review our photographs together. I then go through them all and pick the strongest and most effective and play with them. I never do more than just tweak the colours, contrast and saturation. I find anything more than that makes them look overly done and less natural. I use soft tones, bright lights and the models make the images appealing to look at.”
Her photographs are the result of nostalgia meeting romanticism with a sense of soft surrealism. She photographs everything and anything to fill her creative hunger and support herself financially.
She inspires me to carry out my dreams wherever they take me. Perhaps one day I will also live in a 100 year-old white house with a blue door in London—sounds like fun to me!
Her website is: www.kittygallannaugh.com
Blog: http://searchingfortomorrow.com/
Anna Sui Spring 2013 RTW.
Another Spring 2013 collection that caught my personal eye, other than the incredible Gregory Parkinson, was Anna Sui’s.
Sui took her cues from French history and interior designer Madeleine Castaigne—known for her love of shades of blue, leopard-print carpets, and all things Deuxième Empire. Castaing loved the style of the Second Empire in France, the mid-19th century period that followed the chaos of the French Revolution and the Napoleonic upheaval. When people write books or make music in this style, it’s called steampunk. The Front Row of this show included: Bruce Weber, Alexa Chung, Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, and Hamish Bowles.
The denim and chambray pieces (leggings, shorts, vests, shirts, dresses) were embellished with jet beading and pearls for a Baroque feel.
Sui added anarchy inspired by 1970s New York and London punk scene—motorcycle jackets, torn fishnet tights and tops, skull cameos, red and blue plaids, jumpsuits, pointy sweetheart shoes, and even neon wigs.
What caught my eye and interest were the Marie Antoinette blues and the pairing of a floral chintz dress over cropped multi-zipped pants. The collection is very personable and wearable for teens and young adults. I can see it in any issue of Nylon mag or Teen Vogue.
Gregory Parkinson.
Gregory Parkinson’s label is one that has weathered and also thrived during this economic downturn. Gregory Parkinson always sends out a colourful mix of printed garments, patched and layered, while classic in a modern way. He always produces the most interesting combinations of prints and fabrications, easy to wear and layer in multiples. Gregory develops all his own prints and all the dying is done in house exclusively.
“The Gregory Parkinson woman loves to dress, she travels, has an elegance that is not always conventional. She dresses for herself, casually or black tie, she owns her look. Prices are considered, so she can purchase with confidence. Silhouettes are suitable for all ages and extend beyond the life of one season.”
Gregory Parkinson was born in Northern England and studied art and design education, specializing in fashion and textiles at Newcastle University. After graduation, Parkinson joined The Collection, a premier London based textile studio where he was inspired to move forward as a designer with a strong sense of colour, fabrication, and an original eye for decoration. In 1989, he relocated to Los Angeles to pursue design and worked for a large sportswear company while collaborating on projects with various stylists. He managed to put together a small collection of 15 dresses, hand dyed, spliced and layered together which became his signature style from then on. This encouraged him to open a small boutique on Beverly Blvd. His reputation grew from a small feature in W Magazine and after 2 years of custom making evening gowns, he produced his first ready-to-wear collection.
In 2010, 16 years after launching his line, he was a finalist for the Council of Fashion Designers of America/Vogue Fashion Fund Award, which help “emerging” designers grow their brands. In 2011 he was handpicked by the CFDA to be part of a group of six American designers showing in Paris, to help young designers gain more international attention. But the Fashion Fund, with its implicit stamp of approval from Vogue editor Anna Wintour, offered a platform to relaunch the Gregory Parkinson brand after he and his longtime partner Therese Tran decided to lower their prices. Now an average top retails for $200-$400, instead of up to $800. His man line is made using found, vintage, and recycled fabric.
He recently launched a new line for Anthropologie named “Gregory,” with seven styles priced from $170 to $464, including a tie-dye maxi dress, shifts, blouses miniskirts, and a cardigan, all with Parkinson’s signature eclectic colour and print. He often travels to places such as Peru, China, and Tibet—to work on knitwear for his spring runway collection, fall and holiday for Anthropologie, and find lots of colourful inspiration. Parkinson has been selling to the world’s best stores such as Barneys New York and Linda Dresner for over a decade. His consistency in the fashion industry has allowed him to develop and maintain a loyal following.
His most recent Spring 2013 collection is my absolute favourite. Each garment was made of French lace and hand-sewn by the designer himself. As Parkinson said, “I spent my summer sewing and I wanted the collection to have a celebratory feel.” The inspiration: slowing down and appreciating quality. Making the finest of materials feel personal enough to wear while entertaining at home or also for a special occasion. The dresses incorporated century-old inspirations as well. The look: Future heirlooms. Utterly charming, ikat-embroidered organza dresses diffused with multiple layers of sheet and opaque French lace in powdery pastel hues like “Turkish delight,” jewel tones and florals. Added details included Lurex appliqués. Silhouettes were flattering and feminine, with hems hitting just below the knee or a little longer. His collection had a hint of lingerie.
Gregory Parkinson is my favourite designer that I’ve come across and researched. Every collection of his is extraordinary, personable, and elegant. I would add all of his creations to my own wardrobe. I look forward to seeing his future collections.
History of Branding.
A brand is a “name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers.” Branding began as a way to tell one person’s cattle from another by means of a hot iron stamp. A modern example of a brand is Coca Cola which belongs to the Coca-Cola Company. The word “brand” is derived from Old Norse “brandr” meaning “to burn.” It refers to the practice of producers burning their mark (or brand) onto their products.
Factories established during the Industrial Revolution introduced mass-produced goods and needed to sell their products to a wider market, to customers previously familiar only with locally-produced goods. It quickly became apparent that a generic package of soap had difficulty competing with familiar, local products.
The packaged goods manufacturers needed to convince the market that the public could place just as much trust in the non-local product. Campbell soup, coca-cola, juicy fruit gum, aunt jemima, and quaker oats were among the first products to be ‘branded,’ in an effort to increase the consumer’s familiarity with their products.
By the 1940s, manufacturers began to recognize the way in which consumers were developing relationships with their brands in social/psychological/anthropolical sense.
From there, manufacturers quickly learned to build their brand’s identity and personality, such as youthfulness, fun, or luxury.
Consumers today buy “the brand” instead of the product.