F.A.C Crit

So we had to email Ian an A3 image it could be a mixture of images but had to reflect our work so that the viewer knew exactly what we were researching... Everybody seem to get the wrong idea tho a lot of us had not included any text and sue and Ian were a bit unaware we didn't know you were ment to. Anyway that aside i think my crit went ok, i found it easy to talk about my work because i was interested in it... the only think that threw me was i had already set out in my head how i wanted my final image to look but sue and Ian threw different ideas at me so im confused now as to wether they think i should not use a graffiti back ground and use a jackson pollock photoshopped back ground... ill have to think about this. We have been given an extended deadline on this project too which i kind of dont really want because i will just drag it out over easter : ( never mind 

Fashion, Art & Culture

New project! Hope i enjoy this one as much as the last... We've been having lectures on the history of fashion and politics i would say for the last 3 weeks now and i have really enjoyed these lectures i always really enjoy finding out more about the history of fashion... they also came rite up to date with relevant fashion information about current designers. Our brief is to create a photograph that will contains an artifact that is relevant to your research. I have started my research last week after we had the second lecture. When we covered post war fashion and how they used such extensive amounts of material kind of a rebellion against rationing on fabrics during the war. I have also decided to look at the art movement that was taking place at the same time as the fashion movement that was taking place. abstract expressionism vs. the Dior 'new look' I also aim to pull influence from current day graffiti artists... 

Digital Photography Elective...

I started my digital photography elective a couple of weeks ago, I am really interested in fashion photography so thought this would be a good elective to take. First week went not to plan. I was sat in the room waiting for the tutor to turn up with 4 other people but she didnt turn up after waiting 1hour so we all left. turns out she was waiting in the corridor. So the next week went a bit more to plan and we were inducted into using the digital camera. On my foundation and national certificate i had previously done black and white photography and digital photography but because im not using the digital cameras on a regular basis i tend not to be able to remember how to use them, so i thought the elective would help but im still not having much luck. anyway... I really enjoy styling for photography aswell. So i had been trying to rope somebody into modeling for me and harriet agreed so here are some pictures from harriet taken in the lighting studio. I have some more pictures taken out on location i will up load soon... But to be honest i dont really feel like this elective has been much use to me or helped me learn anything from it : ( 

Critical studies over PPD1 beings...

Now on a monday afternoon replacing critical studies is PPD1 sessions. Today we were taught by Ian, and we were put in pairs to research a particular job that was in the fashion industry. We looked at fashion Buyers. All pairs then had to present the research they had found out about the job and also a A3 mood board of images relevant to the job assigned to you. so heres what i found out about fashion buyers....

Fashion Buyers

Traditionally buyers have to be more visually creative often skilled in both garment construction and design, now thought I.T analytical and negotiation skills are considered equally important for both.

A job of a buyer varies from company to company according to the type of business e.g.

 stocking the store with well known brands of designer clothing (womenswear buyer at Selfridges)

Whereas a buyer for a multiple retail brand such as Topshop, will be responsible for overseeing the complete product development process before arranging delivery of the finished products.

Similarly the owner of a boutique or independent clothes retailer will also be involved in buying stock often from wholesales to sell in their shop.

Other facts about a fashion buyer...

They decide on the styles to be bought and negotiates production with suppliers.

A well established fashion buyer can earn between £40,000- £70,000 a year depending on the size of the company, But you will nearly always have to start at the bottom of the ladder and work your way up, interns or P.A'S will be on a basic rate of £12,000 to start with.

Different jobs within the Fashion Buyers role - 

Buyers Admin Assistant

Assistant Buyer

Junior Buyer

Buyer

Head Of Buying

Good Points about the Fashion Buying job -

*Extensive travel to worldwide destinations

*working closely with many other areas/sectors of a business for example Fashion Merchandisers, Garment technologists, Imports & Exports, Suppliers, Fashion designers in house, Retail Branch Managers.

Bad Pints about Fashion Buying job -

*Away alot, not home always moving to were you can get work, or needed to work.

*Lots of responsibility, If you choose the wrong line or items to invest a lot of money on that don't sell its on your head!

*Constantly you mind is on the job, You work will not stop in normal office hours!

Listening to other presentations heres some other information i found out about jobs within the Fashion industry 

Product Developer

A product developer would oversea the whole designing process from initial designing to the clothing actually being in the shops. side line jobs that are included in a product developers job. Marketing, Fashion forecasting, suppliers, invloved in retailing the product.

A junior salary would tend to start at between 15,000-20,000 and a fully trained and working product developer between 30,000-70,000

Processes involved with a product developer 

1. Planning a line

2. Creating the design concept

3. Developing designs

4. Planning production

5. Production

6. Distribution the line.

Fashion Photographer

This involves always being at the top of your game, being aware of new alternative ways of taking photos, new technology, new techniques etc. Its free lance work so only the photographers at the top of there game get work.

Its competitive and exciting getting to travel to often exotic places to take shoots, working in lighting studios, Shoots on show, skin tones, film and digital photography.

A junior photographer would earn between 12,000-20,000 a year and a senior photographer could earn up to 50,000 a year.

Some disadvantages to the job are irregular  and insociable hours. working outdoors with un predictable weather conditions which may deter you from being able to capture photos you want.

Advantages to the job are lots of traveling be it locally or abroad.

Other people you will have to work with if you are a photographer are stylists, hair stylists, models, companies. Free lance photographers can earn £150-£600 per day.

Fashion PR    Public relations / Personal Relations

Salary ranges from 10,000 - 50,000

Fashion PR tasks include Appeal companies to retail stores, build and maintain a favorable public image. Because they do not have to pay for publicity or media coverage.

jobs within PR Promotions Assistants- Public relations specialists to public relations co-ordinator to director of public relations

Perks of the job are free clothes,shoes,accessories and other fashion related produce.

Other jobs you may have to do is preventing bad press, or stories that may portray an image that is not suitable or damaging to a brand.

Critical Studies : (

So i had my last lesson of critical studies with marcel the other week, and i cant say im not happy to see the back of those for a while! I had my tutorial with marcel today and i have to concentrate on my essay and which question i am going to answer. Reading through the list of questions i am slightly more swayed towards the other tutors question about the history of corsets and its patriarchal history. I will however have to do more of my own research if i choose this question as marcel has not covered this topic. I still think i would rather choose this question thought! I think i will aim to outline the arguments about the corset being used as a weapon of torture and control, opening with a brief history of the corset and it origins. (which i will have to research) Good luck to me ( im not a fan of writing) 

Final Line up

Whilst doing some of my new design sheets and using alternative fabrics, i did some fabric samples with them to see if my designs could actually be made/produced from these materials. Some of the fabric samples are scanned in above. I thought they worked really well. They would look effective if actually made! 

I really enjoyed hand drawing my final designs and then C.A.D rendering them... I was really pleased with the outcome. This project helped me to learn a lot more about how to give things a more professional finnish through using C.A.D i would defiantly use this technique again and again! I also clicked another piece into place of which pathway i would like to do next year.. It may be a bit early to think about but i am swaying more towards pathway B with this project i have defiantly enjoyed it the most so far. I also feel personally i have improved on this project, the work seemed to flow a lot more easily. I would have liked to have gone further with this project and actually set about making one of my garments from the line up!

Design development- materials2

My Crit with Angie went really well, i felt like i was on track and had done a substantial amount of work. Angie pointed out that my designs were more designer and therefore not in keeping to designing for a middle mass market/ a high street brand. Neither were my fabrics suitable for a high street brand these too were also more suitable for a designer brand. I decided to take a few steps back and start researching into which high street brand i wanted to design for also taking into consideration the 15 design development/ idea sheets i had already done. I have decided to choose Topshop unique, which is a side brand of Topshop's, they use slightly more pricey fabrics compared to Topshops main line. Talking to Ian about what i should do with my designs as they did not reflect Topshop uniques brand i then took some elements of my original designs and adapted them so they were more in keeping with Topshops brand and highstreet designs. I also have chosen alternative fabrics that are more relevant to the new designs.