Moschino advertising campaign, spring/summer 1990, drawing Franco Moschino.

I first started off by looking at this advertising poster made by the brand Moschino due to the powerful message that it possesses. I think that the juxtaposition between the monochrome, in contrast with the bright red, connoting passion and danger, works effectively in conveying Moschino’s anti-capitalism meaning. Franco Moschino’s objective behind this campaign in the 90s was to expose the constrictions made by high-end fashion institutions and encourage the ‘people’ to experiment freely with what fashion means to them. It shows how much power mainstream fashion institutions can have within the industry. I think however that this is a very ironic statement made by such a large fashion house who is known for leading the way within high end fashion, which before the 90s, followed many of the same ideologies as other large fashion houses that this poster could be referring to.

Ashish, Spring/Summer 2016 Catwalk show.

From focusing on this topic, I thought that I would look into what boundaries are being tested to date within the fashion industry. One fashion brand I found of which has recently caught media attention is Ashish, who made its audience question gender fluidity back in 2016.
Above is one image that I found from their catwalk show which shows two male models, walking hand in hand down the runway in heels and wearing ‘feminine’ outfits. This gender fluid approach challenges the traditional ideologies presented to us about the fashion industry as a whole. I think that this approach allows the designer to be more playful within their designs, something in which I want to take away when thinking about who my own designs are for.

Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons.

One exhibition that is relevant to my two previous research finds is the Iris and B.Gerald Canton Exhibition at the Met. The exhibition focuses on the work of Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garcons which features 120 womenswear designs which blur the lines between what is wearable fashion, pushing boundaries similarly to how Ashish uses gender fluidity to push their design ideologies further.

Frisa, Maria Luisa (2004) Excess, Milano: Edizioni Charta.

HuffPost UK (2015), Ashish Bring Gender Fluidity To The LFW Catwalk. Available from:http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/22/london-fashion-week-ashish-male-models_n_8177612.html [Accessed 1 November].

Rei Kawakubo for Comme des Garcons (founded 1969), Body Meets Dress – Dress Meets Body, Spring/Summer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This module has been a real learning curve for me as writing hasn’t always been one of my strongest areas. The weekly lectures that we had entailed: slideshows and group discussions, all in which were very engaging. I was introduced into a new way of processing information and having time to reflect and write my response, this was then uploaded to an online platform. The online blog was something that first daunted on me as I was unsure how I felt about everyone being able to see what I’d written and the opinions I’d put across. I believe this has made me feel more confident about my work and not to worry as much.

I was first introduced to Harvard referencing and although it’s such a simple skill, I never knew what it was before and I now realise how much of a necessity it is and the importance behind it. Furthermore, the module as a whole has massively helped with my researching techniques and not to always rely on the Internet. I feel like I can confidently use the library to the best of my abilities unlike before. This is highlighted throughout my work in all off the pathways and it definitely makes my work more personal to me and not something just found off Pinterest which x amount of people could be looking at.

Task 7/8 faced me with some challenges, as I found the chapter we was given was quite complex and confusing. I had to re-read it multiple times in order for me to be able to break it down and re-word it so I could understand it. Even then, I felt my outcome wasn’t completely right. In addition, the time in we were given for all the tasks to be was vast but I’m glad I kept on top of them and had each task completed before the next lecture. Over the past 2 weeks, I re-visited the blog and went back through the previous tasks and was able to identify some mistakes and was able to change them and I can really see a difference in my writing over a short amount of time.

I thoroughly enjoyed task 9/10 and being able to reflect on the ethical issues within fashion advertisements. Beforehand, this was something I didn’t pay great attention to and it’s seen in our everyday lives so I should’ve been more aware of it. After this task and researching into it, I’ve realised how much it actually affects me and how passionate I feel about certain points.

To conclude, the only thing I would like to see on the next module is, having a recap of the previous task each week so I could outline where I may be going wrong and can improve for my next task.

Nevertheless I think I’ve learnt more techniques than I expected to just in the first module and I will definitely be taking these forward into future practises, I look forward to the next module and what it has to give.

Within this chapter taken from Fashion as Communication by Malcolm Barnard it discusses the meaning of the word fashion and what it takes for a garment to be considered ‘fashion’. It starts off with the Etymology of the meaning of the word to help gain a better understanding of the subject and then graduates towards ‘social hieroglyphics’ and about how we judge people on what they wear and how we choose to be perceived.

Barnard states that ‘Fashion and clothing, that is, may be the most significant ways in which social relations between people are constructed, experienced and understood’ (Barnard 1996) which taking into account many different factors is partly true as people are well known to judge someone’s personality on what they wear as we ourselves mostly reflect how we would like to be perceived through our clothes/appearance. James Laver makes a similar point which backs this up as he believes ‘the purpose of clothes for women has been to make them more sexually attractive and the purpose of men’s clothes has been to enhance their social status’ (Laver 1969). Laver discusses how throughout time we as humans have predominantly chosen our partners by the clothes they wear as it reflects their wealth, class, and persona which have all been important deciding factors throughout history.

It also goes on to discuss how fashion can only exist in the world if there are two things ‘The first of these tendencies is the need for union and the second is the need for isolation’ (Simmel 1971) this suggest that in order for fashion to exist we have to want to socialise and be a part of a group but don’t want to all be the same as we like to express our individuality through our choice of clothing and accessories. ‘We want to look like our friends but not to be clones’ (Wilson 1992a;34).

Some may agree with Barnard that ‘while all clothing is an adornment, not all clothing is fashion’ (Barnard 1996) whilst some may argue that ‘Not all fashion is an item of dress; as noted, some fashion involves changing the colour or shape of the body’ (Barnard 1996). For me I feel that fashion is everything changeable about a person as it reflects who you are as a being or who you wish to be perceived as due to your choices of how you wear, style or change something about your appearance.

To conclude, I believe in many ways that the views Barnard puts across within his book have merit and I agree that we as a society dress and carry ourselves in a way of putting across who we are as a person or who we would like to be perceived as and that fashion is more than just the garments we chose to wear but the many changeable aspects about ourselves to make us unique and individual.

Bibliography:

Laver, J. (1969) Modesty in Dress, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co.

Simmel, G. (1971) Individuality and Social Forms: University of Chicago Press.

Barnard, M. (1996) Fashion as Communication: Routledge, London.

Throughout this module I have enjoyed many of the lectures and debates that have been discussed in class. The tasks themselves were engaging and I developed many skills, for example learning how to Harvard reference. However other tasks I found were more challenging and really tested my abilities.

Many of the tasks included gathering secondary information to support a source or to provide developed knowledge of the subject. The library provided many great books that helped me find the right and necessary information I needed. Websites online including articles also gave me supporting evidence which helped me develop my research skills. I mainly learnt these skills in our very first task, Online Resources and our 5/6 task Visual Research.

The task I enjoyed the most was task 9/10 Ethics. The discussion in class was very useful to see both points of view when looking at photographs; this is something I rarely do as I haven’t been given the opportunity to have a big debate before. The task itself was engaging and I felt very passionate when writing my point of view. I mostly enjoyed defending women in these photographs and explaining how unhealthy it is for viewers to see these images and think it is okay to portray women in such ways. Analysing the image I also found interesting as I prefer analysing photos to a piece of text. I believe photos can spark imagination and show many hidden elements so breaking down a photograph for me is really exciting and interesting. Finding the supporting text was not too difficult as I learned how to use the internet wisely in previous tasks.

I really struggle with written tasks especially when it comes to analysing texts. I find the way the sentences are written really hard to understand and breakdown, therefore I struggled a great deal in task 7/8 reflective writing. I had to read the text many times to fully understand what was being said. I then decided to print out the text I had chosen to analyse as I could physically write notes beside the text to help me when writing the summary. This was really beneficial for me as it helped a lot to write my own notes that I could understand. Actually writing the task I also found difficult. I find it hard to concentrate when I don’t fully understand the text, however I slowly began to understand what the text was saying which made it easier. I also find that I repeat myself too much when writing tasks. I find that once I make a point I keep going back which is unnecessary. In the future I need to be more mindful of cutting down repetition especially because of strict word count.

From this module I have found that I have developed my research skills massively and started to think about debates in more depth. I am pleased with the time I have had to complete my tasks as I don’t like leaving them to the last minute as this causes too much stress. The information I have learnt here will definitely help me in future projects and tasks.

After taking part in every task I have learn a lot over this semester: my skills, gaining knowledge across all areas and what I need to work on. I found task 7 and 8 particularly hard because writing about my opinions as well as what I have read and learnt was difficult to get into words whereas I really enjoyed looking at different photographs of different areas and referencing them. I learnt a lot from everything I have looked at and believe everything will help me in the future of my studies and impact my creative areas as well as my writing.

I have found each task interesting and allowed me to explore aspects of my course, opening my mind to new ideas. The module involved researching and analysing texts/ imagery and then uploading onto a blog to collect my findings which showed my skills growing.

Task 1/2 involved researching on a range of platforms to inform and build on one another. This is something I found challenging to do previously but being able to use the library and online resources successfully helped me establish a better research process than before. Building these skills has transferred successfully into my projects, with the library being the first stage of my research which has been beneficial to the quality of my work and expanding my knowledge on different areas.

Task 3/4 incorporated the multi-platform research style from the previous task so I had the basic skills for this task. The task helped me find different fashion concepts which I had previously not explored. Most of my work in the past has been inspired by Asian culture and dress (like Task1/2), so being able broaden my knowledge is very beneficial to my work and practice. I incorporated this new knowledge into my project work and have a better database of research for my designs to develop from.

Task 5/6 was to explore the work of a designer and their inspirations. This task was extremely interesting as my knowledge of designers is limited and exploring one in depth really helped this. I read multiple articles and interviews with Gareth Pugh to discover his inspirations and with that I found new resources and concepts which I could work with in future projects. I used this task in my own work by using Gareth Pugh as inspiration for my fashion design project. His inspiration from photography and films has also given me new locations to get ideas from.

Task 7/8 was the most challenging for me as it involved reflecting on academic writing. I understood the writing and the meaning despite the more advanced language. When it came to reflecting I found it more difficult to have a starting point to begin my response. I followed the advice from the lecture by writing and leaving to come back a few days later. This method was very helpful as I got to reflect and analyse my own writing and then improve it. My writing became more coherent and I related my references to it with more accuracy.

Task 9/10 involved discussing ethical issues and deeper meaning within a fashion ad photograph. This task was interesting as it involved more serious issues within fashion that the other tasks hadn’t involved which helped improve my analysis of the various meanings and symbols within the image. Analysing the faults and neglect for ethics within areas of fashion, has inspired me to be more vigilant in the creating and photographing of my work.

In conclusion, these tasks have allowed me to build new skills within researching and expanding my knowledge and analytical skills for both imagery and text. Building these skills and being able to critique ethical issues has made me more informed as a practitioner and designer. The most important skill I can take from this module is how to research on multiple platforms to enrich and inform my work more successfully.

The advert I chose was one produced for Duncan Quinn who is a luxury British tailor designer. In this advert you can see Duncan himself praying over the top of a vulnerably dressed women in her underwear delicately placed over the front of a car. Duncan can be seen in one of his suits dressed smartly whereas the lady is down to very little making me believe that Duncan sees himself as the bigger character within the ad. He is using a prop that looks like a hand that makes me believe there is a sense of control over her from Duncan’s point of view.

This advert is trying to show off the British suits that Duncan produces but I believe it does completely different. It makes women look vulnerable and does not empower young ladies of society to understand that women and men are at equal society statuses. Underwear is seen as something that should be experienced in a loving and caring environment but in this sense she is being made to show herself off in a provocative nature for him but with his control assisting it. I do not like this advert and I believe it shouldn’t be allowed as an advert for something British as well as him showing his suits to the nation. Women are constantly used as objects through the industry making peoples approach and ideas of women different then what is correct. So many cases come out in the news about cases where women are being abused and controlled within a sexual nature and these adverts do not help the women who are experiencing the actual ain and heart break that it does. The female model in creating imagery that is not correct alongside a tailored item.

For this task I gained an understanding of the etymology of the word ‘Fashion’ by reading part of ‘The etymology and the definition of fashion and clothing’ from the book ‘fashion as communication’ After reading this chapter I understood that it was trying to explain the meaning behind the word ‘fashion’ coming from the latin ‘factio’. The introduction of the chapter allowed me to understand and gain a better knowledge of what I was about to learn and how fashion can be seen and taken in different ways. Associating words come into acknowledgement when thinking about this idea which this chapter agrees with, mentioning words like ‘style’ ‘adornment’ allowing the audience and reader to look into ‘fashion’ in a different way allowing different opinion and thoughts to be provoked.

Analysing through the chapter I came across a statement that I found interesting as well as something that made me question my approach towards fashion and how I see it. This section was ‘Fashion and Anti Fashion’ which explained how fashion makes changes and a huge impact on cultural statuses and social environments. This made me think about how people have and had a fixed way of styling themselves and the way they should be expected to be seen and adorned with the proper attire linking in with how they should be perceived. For example the Native Americans were always known for their tribal outfits and the way that paid their respects to culture through their clothing and ways of life. Anti Fashion is a term used when various styles of dress are worn to represent the fashion of the day. These styles may represent people’s attitudes and may come around due to people’s political outlooks which forces fashion to become a secondary priority to everything else in someone’s life. Many designers have taken on ‘Anti fashion’ as its guidelines and expressed it in different ways. During the early 20th Century Gabrielle Chanel produced a collection called a “poor girls” women’s style where rich women were able to look and by clothes that made them appear like the regular women whilst still being able to wear clothes allowing people to still see and understand the quality. Prince Charles has been described as anti fashion in the fact that he reflects different style through tradition.

Looking into anti fashion and the way people approach it made me think more about the way I appreciate my individual style and continued to read on coming across a phrase ‘a garment is not an item of fashion until someone uses it to indicate their actual or ideal place in a social structure’. This comment made me think about the way that people see fashion as a way of showing off a status and allowing everyone that see that person to understand their location in the social structure. I have seen this myself in my life allowing me to have a fist hand understanding of how fashion impacts the way we approach a person and how we see them but also ourselves in the social structure of today.

Bibliography
[1] Bardnard, M (2002) Fashion As Communication, London: Routledge

Whilst completing the ‘Research and Communication Skills’ tasks, I have learnt about a variety of topics within the Fashion and Textiles industry as well as how to use different sources to help with my essay writing.

A few of the tasks involved me going to the library and finding other sources to help broaden my knowledge and back up my work. I generally found these quite challenging at times especially the ‘Reflective Writing’ task. This task required me to go out and find two other sources to critique the main article I read. I found myself wandering round the library, looking at nearly every section as I didn’t know exactly where to find relevant books. In the end, I used books I had bought with me as they related to the course and I had read them however, I had trouble locating the quotes I wanted to use so spent a lot of time flicking through the books to find them. I also found it difficult to find contrasting opinions within the different sources as most of them said similar things. A new technique I learnt was Harvard referencing, which I initially found confusing and quite time consuming as I had to keep checking which order the information went in as well as how to use it within my writing when using quotes. Another task which required multiple sources was ‘Online Resources’. This was the first task we got set where we had to find a source from a book and one online that related. I ended up restarting this task as the first time I found an image in a book from the V&A and then proceeded to find more information online from the V&A’s website which I thought wasn’t a wise use of the internet as I was technically looking at the same information. For the second time, I chose a random book and flicked through it until I found an image I liked which I found more enjoyable. However, when it came to finding an online source, I found very limited information about the image so found it hard to write about and reach the required word count. Even though the ‘Academic Integrity’ task involved me finding sources, I found it a lot easier to complete compared to the others. I think the lower word count helped a lot as I had struggled with the previous task to reach it. When completing these tasks in the future, I will make sure to plan and make notes especially when finding quotes so I don’t waste time looking through the books multiple times.

The tasks that required me to analyse an image and give my opinion I found a lot easier to complete. I enjoyed writing the ‘Ethics’ task as I found the topic really interesting so found the chosen image easy to analyse. I found finding an academic quote for this task surprisingly easy as I knew where to look for one and as it was talking about the same issue it didn’t take me too long. For the ‘Visual Research’ task, finding a designer’s inspiration was quite easy however, when I came to analyse one of the images, I found that a lot harder than I thought as I didn’t want to analyse it incorrectly. I also couldn’t find a lot of information about the artist or the painting which made it even harder for me.

Overall, I have enjoyed this module and I feel the ‘Reflective Writing’ task helped me a lot as it has taught me useful ways of finding different sources as well as ways to improve my writing. The diverse range of topics I have learnt has expanded my knowledge and understanding of the industry.