The surge of companies responding to the climate crisis is hugely positive, each time is harder to know whether you’re being a responsible consumer or buying into greenwashing, as fashion brands try to attract sustainability-conscious millennials increasingly. Stella McCartney has strong sustainability credentials and it is one of the most sustainable luxury brands out there, while it is getting more and more into that area, from supply chain to shop floor. 

Recently, the designer chose to release a sweatshirt (one of the first 100 per cent recyclable garments made by a commercial brand) through her 14-year partnership with Adidas because it had the potential for greater accessibility. “The minute I design anything, I’m potentially creating in some kind of waste the planet doesn’t need,” she tells Vogue Business. “Maybe if I can show someone an alternative others will follow.”

Meanwhile London’s network of small, independent designer brands are leading the charge in building sustainable and responsible businesses. Sharing resources and working together are seen as keys to progress, with fashion week becoming an opportunity to exchange contacts and find solutions together. 

Bethany Williams, a UK-based menswear designer, works primarily with recycled and organic materials, but she first starts by researching a social issue. She then finds a charity that provides solutions to that particular problem, teams up with them to create her collection and donates a percentage of her profits. To date the designer has collaborated with the Vauxhall Foodbank and, most recently, the Magpie Project, which offers temporary accommodation to mothers and under-five children in Newham. 

DEFINING THE TERM ‘TREND’

Trend and fashion are two words that we often use to discuss clothing and styles. Although they can be sometimes exchangeable, these two words have distinct meanings. ‘Fashion describes the ever-changing style of clothes worn by those with cultural status. A fashion trend occurs when others mimic or emulate this clothing style.’ (Everyday Health, 2017)

Fashion is constantly changing with the introduction of new trends which lead to new styles or the reinvention of old styles, which makes them cyclical. As change is the one constant factor in fashion, a trend is ‘a new development in clothing, make-up, etc.’ as well. (The Cambridge English Dictionary online, 2019)

Today, a fashion trend starts with fashion designers, who base their collections on the inspiration they’ve gathered throughout the season. Likewise, fashion has been and continues to be a reflection of society and current events. So, trends are also influenced by celebrities -actors, musicians, royalty etc.-, cultural events, politics…

This is of course when we are talking about fashion, because you can use the word ‘trend’ for more than clothing, for example in business matters. A more general definition of trend would be ‘the general course, tendency, or drift of action, thought, etc.’ (Oxford English Dictionary online, 2016)

STREET STYLE PHOTOGRAPHY EXERCISE

For our street style photography exercise we walked around Highbury & Islington. It is a village-like neighbourhood only a couple of miles from the City. Upper Street is nearby which is home to fascinating antique and contemporary shops and markets, and small independent boutiques. (Hotblack Desiato 2018) We collected qualitative data by interviewing five people in total with questions like where they shop, how much they spend more or less, what influences and inspires them…

The main colour palette was neutral, effect of the autumn weather, but we spotted a grey colour trend (Pictures 1&3): Dark Springs offers a more interesting alternative to black, which has been returning with a bang on the recent catwalk shows. (WGSN 2019) As big a trend off the runway than on it, tailoring is seen all over the streets of London (Picture 3), as well as big, chunky trainers (Pictures 2&4) and puffer jackets.

Puffers featured again on the last fashion shows (at Fendi, Off-White and Cottweiler for men) and on the streets too (Picture 1), ’a puffer’s shape and look are powerful, but also plain and almost spartan – and there’s power in riding that line’. (Luecke n.d.) Even though people were wearing simple and basic clothes, they popped their outfits with some vibrant colours (Picture 2), prints (Picture 3) or accessories like hats (Pictures 2&3).

By the end of this task, we have seen that although some of the participants like wearing the latest trends, they prefer comfort for their daily basis. We have also learned that the environment where you live or the place where you work might affect your style. All in all, the highlight of our observations is that following a trend can be unintentional.

VISUAL THEMING WORKSHOP

For the visual theming workshop I chose the word calm, which according to Cambridge English Dictionary means peaceful, quiet, and without worry. I selected this word because it was the one that I felt more comfortable with at that moment, as the atmosphere in class was quite serene. Even so, I think it is the word that goes best with my personality, people usually perceive that from me in the beginning.

As the exercise required, I did the following collage of images and objects that relate to my concept. I tried mainly to just focus on sceneries, places and things that gave me a moment of tranquillity and were aesthetically pleasing and harmonious. So, as seen in the photomontage, I captured places like cafés, empty open spaces, comfy looking sofas etc. as well as window displays that were attractive to the eye and smooth textures. The pictures have more contrast and are generally more artistic to transmit calmness.

Above all, with this task I learned that photography, like any art, when done well can really express and show emotions. Besides, I enjoyed going out there and exploring the streets of London that I had not seen before, especially small hidden corners that were charming. All in all, I feel like this workshop helped to develop my creativity.

STORE OBSERVATION EXERCISE

For the store observation workshop we did on the 13^th of November, we visited the American brand Urban Outfitters situated on Commercial Street. Urban Outfitters is a lifestyle retailer dedicated to inspiring customers through a unique combination of product, creativity and cultural understanding. (Urban Outfitters 2019) Founded in 1970 in Pennsylvania, Urban Outfitters now operates over 200 stores in the United States, Canada and Europe, offering experiential retail environments and a well-curated mix of on-trend women’s and men’s clothes as well as different collections like Urban Renewal, UO Home and Music & Tech.

The strengths of this brand are:

• Boutiques are as stylish as the clothes and accessories displayed in them.
• Connection with its customers through social media platforms like Instagram.
• Presence in multiple sales channels: Urban Outfitters enjoys a widespread market presence through its retail stores and online channels.
• Focusing on technology development allows Urban Outfitters to enhance its operational efficiency as well as offer better service to customers.

The weaknesses of this brand are:

• Products can sometimes be expensive and sizes like XL are hard to find.
• Mixed seasons in store: both summer and winter collections.
• Limited international presence: while the company’s retail stores are located majorly in the US, it lacks international presence, which may restrain its revenue growth.

In regard to the current promotions in store, they do not have a lot of offers going on. We have noted that they have a student discount going on all year around both online and in stores. This can be because they want students as their target costumers, so offering promotions like this can be appealing to them. However, they had a bigger student discount going on when we visited the store (usually the discount is less, around 10%).

After analysing my findings, I think that these can help to improve the brand somehow, especially when it comes to promotions. Otherwise, I do not think they are going to have any effect or impact on the store.

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You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

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