Revised Colour Palette

I have started to design for my final collection. One of the most important elements when designing is to get your colour scheme right as it needs to relate to your target audience, theme, and market level. When choosing my colours I need to consider the catwalk. What is going to stand out?

Below is a image of my chosen colours at the start of my unit...

Looking at my colours they all collaborate well. However I then decided I needed a strong colour that is going to stand out on the catwalk. Below is a Roman colour palette I have put together on the basis of the Roman garments I have looked at.

The rich purple as shown in the toga above is something I am going to bring into my final collection I think this would be ideal for the catwalk because it is a bright shade!

Final Evaluation for my trouser design ...

I understood the brief and appreciated what was required of me. My first thoughts when given the brief were that I was looking forward to creating my own trouser design and choosing an innovative fabric.

I did not enjoy investigating health and safety but I appreciate this has to be done as part of the brief. I enjoyed investigating a variety of fabrics I gained a great deal of knowledge from this process as I learnt about the different effects fabrics can give. To enquire the information needed for the brief I sent for fabric samples from the internet and over the phone and sourced them locally. I researched on the internet and the library for inspiration for my design, bringing forward my ideas from my sustainability brief.

My final design was inspired by my colour palette from my previous brief, a combination of greys and pinks. These colours looked subtle and contrasted each other well. My design initially was to have three layers of fabric but I found this was far too bulky so reduced my final design to just the two layers of fabric. The underneath layer was slightly heavier in weight than the top layer. My initial design was to create French seams on both layers but this created difficulty. My manufacturing experience meant that even though I sampled the transition from the French seam to no seam to create a split in the side trouser, I had great difficulty in achieving a good finish. I then made a decision, because the under fabric was a heavier weight, to make a feature of the French seams and exposed them on the outside of the trousers. This gave more structure to the trouser and contrasted with the flimsy top fabric. I decided to sew the full inside leg and leave the side seams open on the top fabric. When I attached the waistband I felt that the darts did not enhance the overall look, so I made the decision to add a slight gather. I used a wide range of fabrics within the flower embellishment, some heavyweight and some lightweight. This resulted in the petals in the flower draping in different ways. I felt this effect really worked and was successful. The structure of the waistband and the softness and fluidity of the trousers were linked by the embellishments. Although I had to revise my designs I felt the outcome was satisfactory.

If I was asked to do this brief again I would take forward the manufacturing techniques I have learnt from this brief and produce a garment to industry standard. I did not produce a fastening for the trousers but will complete this now. My problem was I simply ran out of time. In future I will manage my time more effectively and allow time for unforeseen problems. From this assignment I learnt that to manufacture a garment from a design is difficult. As I gain experience I will also improve my manufacturing skills. I enjoyed the design process, but I will take forward to the next brief that for my ability I will chose easier fabrics to work with, simple and yet bold shapes, with manufacturing processes that I am comfortable with and able to complete within the deadline stated.

Although my initial thoughts were that I would enjoy the brief, I missed some time through illness and had difficulty catching up. I arranged to style my trousers in a photo shoot which I have posted on my blog and placed in my portfolio. I was pleased with the end result. I feel with some modifications my trousers could be manufactured for a high end high street market. I considered my market level when arranging my photo-shoot.

Market Research

Karen Millen Customer profile pages!

Market Research

I have recently had my Uni interview for Uclan. I had to create a Fashion show invitation on behalf of a current fashion designer or brand. I decided to use Karen Millen as this brand is the type of market level I am currently researching into for my FMP, so I decided to use this opportunity to link it into my studies.

Karen Millen is a high end high street brand creating high quality garments. They produce structured designs for confident women. This is the look I want to promote to my potential customer. KM gives a designer approach to the high street. For my current brief I have been asked to create a A4 written piece on my market level.

For Uclan I have already created customer pages for Karen Millen this will help me with my market level. On Tuesday I am taking a trip to Chester to do some market research on the quality of garments, trend, cut and price!

Below is a image of the model I styled in my Karen Millen photo shoot!

Once I had styled my model in the style of KM. I created my invitation (below images) The flowers on the front of the invitation inspired by Giambattista Valli 2012 spring summer collection!I cut price tag templates out and mounted glossy images on to card. I added grey stitching around the glossy photographs as it matched the text. For the finishing touches I bought ribbon and matched it with the KM logo it was important the interviewer could see how I promoting the brand in my invitation colour is a important thing to consider.

Chester - The Grosvenor Museum

Recently I took a trip to Chester Museum, as I have decided to base my self-directed project on Roman History. I have been doing lots of research and Chester is a key place to look into. Chester is known for it being so well crafted by the Romans. The Museum holds a impressive collection of Roman tombstones, along with fascinating displays that build a picture of Roman Chester.

Pattern work in older buildings floor is so impressive. The different shapes in this design are something I could bring into one of my designs.
Roman Armour is something I have been looking into, I love all the different layers and repetition. Romans had many garments that fit different purposes I am going to use this idea in some of my final designs.



Below a picture of Roman Chester!


Footwear is something I am going to be looking more into after reading about it in chester!


Recen

Karen Millen Styling Shoot

Styling my final trousers

Karen Millen Advertising

Recentley I have been styling garments in the style of Karen Millen. I have began looking at different poses the models give...

- I have had to look at what message does the pose give to the consumer?

- What background has the photographer used?

- How much light has been used?

- What make up?

- What hairstyle?

- What lifestyle does this person have?

- What mood do I want to portray?

- What colours am I going to contrast whilst styling my garment?

- Weather I am going to add acceseries?

La SENZA administration really?!

La SENZA providing women with stunning bikini designs, bras to fit all shapes and sizes. Knickers that you couldn’t find anywhere else and most of all, the brand provided quality. The store offered free fittings and there over all image targeted a wide market so really where could it of all gone wrong?

Marketing underwear and bikinis at a £50 price tag is always a big dip into anyone’s pocket in this economic climate. This is where I think they have gone wrong I blame the fall in sales to the market level they are advertising to. From the likes of Danielle Lineker and Emma Heming they have both been models who have promoted the brand (both in their early twenties) The big question is can young girls really afford these prices? I am sure they would much rather go the Primark and pay half the price a month later. Primark is a big competitor as it copies many of La SENZA’s bikinis for a lot more competitive prices is also to blame for the stores downfall. The La SENZA store blames the fall in sales on trading conditions as this is having an adverse effect on the company.

Everything is a struggle in the retail recession and stores need to do more to be boosting sales, lowering prices would surely sell more. La SENZA had very little offers on and it’s only for the people who can afford the price tag. By marketing their underwear at different ages some for elder women who can afford the higher prices and some for the young this would help boost there sales dramatically. Many young girls love the label La SENZA but there not bringing enough of them through the doors. By offering things like student discount this provides affordability for students and gets the products off the shelves.

However the packaging and promotion deals did do this store wonders the simple design of bag but all underwear comes gift wrapped gives the consumer satisfaction once they have bought the product as they are buying into the brand. It’s not a store that needs a lot doing to boost its profits just more affordability more experienced staff to help dig it out of these problematic times.

Last year La SENZA had a turnover of around £140million is a massive turn around. They are currently owned by private equity group Lion Capital this means its not the end of the road for La SENZA. Accountants are currently continuing to work with the company, which has 146 stores and 18 concessions in the UK this acts as a safeguard for its future and employees. Dragon Theo Paphitis previous owner of the chain, received its fortunes and then sold his stakes in to the company Lion Chapel for 100m.

"It's sad because it's a company that I used to consider was my baby back in the early 2000s and it's sad to see it go off the High Street," former owner Theo Paphitis told BBC Radio 5 live.

"But it's a sign of the times I suppose."

The retail sector has seen a number of high-profile chains suffer at the hands of a consumer-spending squeeze in the UK. Unfortunately La SENZA is one of these stores. Now with fewer shops and hopefully the store markets new ideas and promotions we can all still be wearing the La SENZA label!

Pictures of my finished trousers...

Print for uni...

I am going to be using this in my porfolio for uni. It says something about my brand, the graphics are very simplistic this conveys elegance in my design work. My target market is the higher end of the high street this is similar to my target market this year. I feel my design fits into this catagory. By using simple graphics this creates a simple look by puts the inital focus on the dress design alot of higher end high street stores use this technique.