I was not looking forward to CCS, but when we had our first lesson watching and analyzing the film ‘some like it hot’. I understood that CCS is not just about writing. It is also about having a critical understanding on topics. I really enjoyed all the lectures because I learnt a lot from each lecture. For example now I have a better understanding on the past subcultures and how it began the skinheads, hippies and punks.
The fashion marketing lectures were so useful. It gave me an insight on how fashion works in a business point of view. Now I’m aware of what to think of when starting a business and also when making a product.
The blog for me was challenging but also enjoyable. I didn’t think I would have enjoyed it. When I researched well and I understood my research the writing was easier to do. The things I could improve on are where I get my research, next time reading newspapers, looking at magazines and articles. I think this will help me more on my writing skills and reading skills.
Before I didn’t really like to read but going through different blogs has given me more interest in blogging and reading blogs.
Figure 19 bestmusicfest.com (1969) Woodstock.[online image] Available from: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/499758889874216234/This interview contains information about the hippie subculture. Date of interview 20th August 1969. The interviewee is Ocean Lilly. Interviewer is Abisola Akanni.
Akanni: How older are you Lilly?
Lilly: I’m 18 years old.
Akanni: where you from?
Lilly: I was born and raised in America San Francisco.
Akanni: What influenced you to become a hippie?
Lilly: Well, my parents are hippies so I was surrounded by it. I love the hippie culture.
Akanni: Why?
Lilly: I love the freedom, the passion in what we believe in. The love and peace kindness we show each other. The lifestyle!
Akanni: what do you love about the lifestyle?
Lilly: Well my family, we like nature the fresh air the smell of flowers the birds singing. So we live in a carry van. We didn’t want to live a life restricted in modern homes we wanted to be free like the wind. My parents moved out of their parents homes when they were young, bit older than me. My parents said their parents didn’t have the same point of view in life. So they ran away from home and lived with a community of people that had the same of views on life.
Akanni: what are your parents and your views of life?
Lilly: We believe in peace. We don’t believe in war. We don’t hide things from each other. We believe in sharing every aspect of life. Unlike the middle and high class society my dad says. Life is about being happy and doing thing that make you feel good.
Akanni: what you and your friends do for fun?
Lilly: We do a lot of fun things. We go on road trips, music festivals. We drink we take drugs like marijuana and LSD (Lysergic acid diethylamide). LSD makes me feel good. We like to listen to folk and rock music. My favourite singer is Joan Beaz and a group called The Beatles. Oh just remembered we went to a three days music festival called Woodstock in New York. It was good man.
Akanni: what else do you guys involve yourself in?
Lilly: we also take part in protest. Antiwar marches. We did one like a week ago, the moratorium against the war. Make love not war!
Akanni: That is amazing well done. To finish the interview describe to us what you’re wearing and the hippie style.
Lilly: I am wearing a ¾ length top with a colourful printed long maxi skirt. The hippie style is normally long hair, causal, sandals, breads and colourful clothing and prints. High-waist jeans, tie-dye t-shirts, worn work shirts, satin blouse and light weight long dress. We wear head bands and the ladies put flowers to style the hair.
Akanni: Thank you so much for coming in I’ve learnt a lot.
Lilly: no thank you for having me.
Bibliography
Books
Claudia Schnurmann, 1997. Surfers, Soulies, Skinheads and Skater: Subculture Style from the Forties to the Nineties. Edition. V&A Publications.
Dick Hebdige, 1979. Subculture: The meaning of style (new accents). New Ed edition. Rouledge.
Ted Polhemus, 1994. Streetstyle: From sidewalk to catwalk. Edition. Thames & Hudson.
New look is well known British fashion retail that started in 1969. There are over 1,000 stores around the world and over 600 shops in the UK. That is a lot! New Look is a fast fashion brand and it is known as one of the high street stores. New look is a company that sells affordable products that appeals to a wide range of consumers which puts them under mass market. Other companies that are mass market are H&M, Primark, Asda and Tesco.
New look products are affordable and good quality which is the things customers look for. The price range from the New Look website highest is £90. They have a variety of products from casual wear to smarts wear, evening wear to party wear. In the section of clothing item for example a black dress.
Figure 10 New Look(2015) Black wrap front midi dress[online] Available at: http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/dresses/black-wrap-front-midi-dress-_335272201.%5Baccessed15/01/15%5DThey have multiply options. It is clear that they have the three fashion categories fad, classic and basic. This is the case for many of their items. This keeps the customer happy becasue they know once they go to New Look they can shop for all occasions. The packaging of products for New Look is pretty simple but not bad. In my experience my items was packed in a shopping bag that had the logo brand.
In my opinon New look could improve on packaging so that the customer wolud not only leave with good quilaty items and price but also with an unique packaging, to make the customer feel special like how the designers brand do for example Ted baker .
New Look does a lot of promtions. There is a lot of offers on items up to 70%. They also have a 10% student discount. On the New Look website you can do online shopping with a deal on spending over £45 and getting free delivery around the world. They have links to their blog which promotes them and keeps us customers updated on fashion trends. It also shows images of customers wearing the New Look brand. This makes us as customers feel part and connected with the brand. It is also a good market strategy because you can see how the product looks like on a customer. Here is the link http://daily.newlook.com/blog/jan/2015/plus-size-global-sports
I decided to visit the New Look store in central London. The store was designed beautifully and has so much creativity. These are pictures I took of the store. The store had a theme to it that I have never seen which was exciting to experience. It was designed to be a walk in wardrobe hence your welcomed with stairs. All the stores surrounding New Look didn’t have the excitement, it was just standard. This is a great market strategy because it will draw customers to the store.
Figure 15 Abisola.A(2015)New look store in central LondonFigure 14 Abisola. A (2015)New look store in central London
The inside was as great as the outside. The inside was designed with details of a wardrobe. The layout, the rail where the clothes were hanging, the chair, the arrangement of the shoes and the wall designs.
Figure 18Abisola.A (2015) New look store central LondonFigure 17ABISOLA.A (2015)New look store in central LondonFigure 16Abisola. A (2015)New look store in central London
Overall New Look is a successful fashion retail brand that meets the needs for a wide range of customers, whether you’re a female or male. If you young or an adult New look has something for you.
Bibliography
Books
Malcolm Barnard, 2002. Fashion as Communication. 2 Edition. Routledge.
Bickle, M. 2011 Fashion Marketing: Theory, Principles & Practice. USA, Fairchild Books
Both of these brands are very strong in identity but distinguish each other.
DNKY fashion brand is based in New York and started in 1987. DNKY are known for the fun, fresh and freedom in designing. The brand describes themselves as a “fast fashion with an urban mind-set” (http://www.dkny.com/about-donna.html). They item of clothing are edgy, simple and bold. You can clearly see this in the 2015 advertisement, featuring the famous British model Cara Delevingne. This gives us an understanding of the Target market of this advert which is for young women. Having Delevingne in the adverts tells us that the brand caters to the youth and that they are still current and hip. The location plays a big part to the mood of the advert the empty warehouse gives an edge to the mood which reflects on the clothes, also the colour gives a serious and dangerous vibe.
Figure 8 DKNY- Designer Clothing & Fashion. DKNY. 2015[ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dkny.com/ [ Accessed 13/01/15)The body language of the models are very cool and laidback which plays along with the mood and location.
The clothing is luxury in fabric with the use of fur and leather. The colour used for the garments gives the garment a chic and sophisticated look. The lengths on some of the garments are provocative. This tells us that the brand is versatile in having clothing for different occasions. DKNY brand identity is stylish and urban.
Prada started in 1913 in Milan. Prada is high-end Italian fashion house. The brand is known for the effortless and elegant designs. The brand wants and brings classic and elegant collection to the fashion world and doesn’t focus on sexuality which is evident in the 2015 summer advertising Campaign.
Figure 9 Look Beautiful Prada Resorts 2015 ad Campaign on star fashion style- StarFashionStyle.2015.[online] Available at: http://www.starfashionstyle.com/2014/11/look-beautiful-prada-resort-2015-ad-campaign/. [Accessed 13/01/15]The garments are made at a respectful length and covers the body with a classic A-line dress. You can tell that the garments are high end and made with good quality fabric. This tells us that the brand is very sophisticated and has a smart and modern look. The brand likes to mix the old with the new. The garments have a style and elements from the sixties. The setting looks like an old and abandon secret garden which contrast with the neat and formal garments. This makes the garment standout because it is out of context.
The advert is not in colour which draws your attention to the beautiful details for the garments. The fact that the models are not posing, not in heels and have simple styling of hair and make-up and accessories, it draws you more to the garment. It’s literally about the garment. The target market for women that is fashionable, intellectual and superior. The identity of Prada is classic, elegant and traditional with a modern twist.
The brands are different in identity. DKNY being a fast fashion with an urban twist brand and Prada is more of the high-end classic and elegant brand but overall both brands are still strong in their Identity.
Bibliography
Books
Jonathan Bignell, 2002. Media Semiotics: An Introduction, Second Edition. Manchester, Manchester University Press.
De La Haye, A.(1999) Defining Dress; dress as object, meaning and identity. Manchester, Manchester University Press.
Dictionary .com says ‘The ability to be sustained, supported, upheld, or confirmed.’ It also says ‘the quality of not being harmful to the environment or depleting natural resources, and thereby supporting long-term ecological balance.’
Today I am going to carry out an investigation on how sustainable my peppercorn lace black cardigan is. The cardigan is made out of 100% polyester. Polyester is a synthetic fibre. Already this clothing does not fit into eco-fashion friendly. Many people think eco-fashion friendly is having clothing made out of natural fabrics like Linen and cotton and not oil based fabrics like polyester and Acrylic. But does it really stops harming the environment? Both natural fibres and Synthetic fibres have its pros and cons. The question to ask is which one is more harmful to the environment? And which one is sustainable?
Synthetic fibres let us talk about polyester. The fibre was made in 1951. It is well known for the easy care strong, durable, quick to dry , light, versatile and can mix with different fibres for example like cotton. The problem lies on the production. Polyester is made out of petroleum oil, uses a lot of water to cool that takes a lot of energy. We can safely say that polyester is an unsustainable and harm to the environment. The Cardigan is also Black so that means it has been dyed. Dyeing Fabric is having a big bad impacted on the environment. It is the chemicals used in the dye. It’s creating water pollution. In the countries that dye fabric for example china and India it goes into the river. People lives were at risk. Thankful There was solution to make the problem better, taking away harmful chemicals in the dye.
Peppercorn is brand started in 1995 and based in Denmark. The brand is part of a group called CNS; it’s a textiles company that does fashion wear for men and women. The brand Peppercorn is known for their good quality products and value for money. http://www.peppercorn.dk/
Peppercorn products are made from the CNS group. According to CNS group website their say “it is of paramount importance to us that the manufacturing of our products is done in strict accordance with the law as well as in a morally and ethically correct manner. Both ethical demands as well as the demands we place upon our suppliers in terms of social and environmental behaviour…”(Securing business data, foucused dedicated and responsive, CNS group. 2015[online] Available at: https://www.cnsgroup.co.uk/. [ accessed 15/12/2014])
I did further investigation put couldn’t find anything. It’s because it is a small brand. It’s not a big brand like H&M because where it would be easier to find information because H&M is in the Media.
Overall this particular item is not sustainable; probably the rest of my wardrobe isn’t which I’m not proud of. I never use to think of what happens behind the scene. Now I’m going.
Bibliography
Books
Margaret Maynard, 2004. Dress and globalisation (Studies in Design MUP) 3RD printing edition. Manchester University Press.
Sandy Black, 2008. Eco-chic: The Fashion Paradox. Edition. Black Dog Publishing.
Lucy Siegle, 2011. To Die for: Is Fashion wearing out the world?. Edition Fourth Estate(GB)
Websites
Securing business data, foucused dedicated and responsive, CNS group. 2015[online] Available at: https://www.cnsgroup.co.uk/. [ accessed 15/12/2014])
Hello I am Abisola Akanni. I’m 19 years old born and raised in England, brought up by beautiful and loving parents who are African. For my whole life I’ve been surrounded with the African culture the food, clothing, entertainment and language. What I love the most about the African culture is they love and interest for clothing and materials.
Figure 1 The Discerning stylist: Ankara print 2014. [online]Available at: http://thediscerningstylist.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ankara-print.html. [Accessed 20/11/2014]My mother has many traditional clothing full of exciting colours, pattern and textures. Her never ending wardrobe full of unique styles and fabrics from Africa got me interested in fashion. When I was young till now I enjoyed dressing up for Sunday service and parties in African attire, because it made me standout from the crowd. It made me feel special because African attires are tailored to the person desire.
Figure 3 Akanni (1993) my ParentsFigure 4 Akanni (1998) meFigure 2 Akanni (1994) my Mum
As I grew up I realized that I wasn’t academic. I liked drawing, creating things with my hands. I got to explore that more in secondary school in my textile class. I took textile as one of my option for GCSE. On one of my project I had to create an item that was inspired from a designer collection. The process was challenging but overall it was worth it. It was exciting to design something and make it real. I was inspired by Alexander McQueen summer/ spring 2007 collection the flower dress; I was amazed and fascinated on the detail and the 3D structure of the flowers. I try to make a skirt that had similar attention to detail and the 3D flower form.
Figure 5 Career Tribute to Alexander McQueen’s Design Highlights.2014.[online] Available at:http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashion-designers/alexander-mcqueen-career#slide-1%5B Accessed 20/11/2014]My interest in Fashion grew. It was the only thing I could see myself doing. So I decided to a level 3 diploma in Fashion and Clothing. This is when I had a good understanding on construction and patterning cutting a garment. The more I learnt the more excited I got. In my last year we did a FMP. My theme was Disturbed Bright. I decided to research on nature and focus on flowers. It was stressful but it was a great turn out.
Figure 6 Abisola Akanni (2014) FMP
This experience opened my eyes to another side of fashion. It made me realize that there is more to fashion than making pretty garments. It is about inventing the unthinkable.
![Figure 19 bestmusicfest.com (1969) Woodstock.[online image] Available from: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/499758889874216234/](https://abisolaakanni.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/lilly.jpg)
![Figure 12New Look (2015) Floral V neck back pleated midi dress.[ online image] Available from: http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/dresses/closet-floral-v-back-pleated-midi-dress-_338581201.[Accessed 15/01/15)](https://abisolaakanni.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dress11.jpg)
![Figure 11New Look (2015) 3/4 black Sleeve Bodycon dress[ online] Available at; http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/dresses/black-3-4-sleeve-bodycon-mini-dress-_329342501. [accessed 15/01/15]](https://abisolaakanni.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dress2.jpg)
![Figure 10 New Look(2015) Black wrap front midi dress[online] Available at: http://www.newlook.com/shop/womens/dresses/black-wrap-front-midi-dress-_335272201.[accessed15/01/15]](https://abisolaakanni.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dress3.jpg)
![Figure 13 Chocolate Frosst, 2014. Ted Baker may have become one of my favourites! [online] Available at: https://chocolatefrosst.wordpress.com/2014/08/27/ted-baker-may-have-become-one-of-my-favorites/. [ Accessed 15/01/15]](https://abisolaakanni.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/ted-baker.jpg)
![Figure 8 DKNY- Designer Clothing & Fashion. DKNY. 2015[ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dkny.com/ [ Accessed 13/01/15)](https://abisolaakanni.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dkny.jpg)
![Figure 9 Look Beautiful Prada Resorts 2015 ad Campaign on star fashion style- StarFashionStyle.2015.[online] Available at: http://www.starfashionstyle.com/2014/11/look-beautiful-prada-resort-2015-ad-campaign/. [Accessed 13/01/15]](https://abisolaakanni.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/prada1.jpg)
![Figure 1 The Discerning stylist: Ankara print 2014. [online]Available at: http://thediscerningstylist.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/ankara-print.html. [Accessed 20/11/2014]](https://abisolaakanni.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/ankara.jpg)
![Figure 5 Career Tribute to Alexander McQueen’s Design Highlights.2014.[online] Available at:http://www.harpersbazaar.com/fashion/fashion-designers/alexander-mcqueen-career#slide-1[ Accessed 20/11/2014]](https://abisolaakanni.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/dress.jpg)
abisolaakanni 