The Beginning is Near

Now that these past 4 months of the final major project are coming to an end, in just a few days I will be unleashed into the 'real world', and although currently in employment the thought of not knowing where I may be in 12 months time is a scary feeling.
Reflecting on the past 3 years of my education is a intimidating thought. Having challenged myself through every aspect and conquered so many things I would never have believed to achieved when I set foot into my halls or walked into my first lecture on my first day of university.

But although this is a time to say goodbye to some faces I have spent every day with for the past 3 years, I know I have created some relationships that will last well into the future and belief that we are all on a road to succeeding in our life and career. I have so many thoughts and desires, for the next year of my life including travelling and exploring somewhere new, further internships in London and simply enjoying the search to find what career I wish to embark on. But beyond that is a mystery, but an exciting one none the least.

Although an extremely grainy image, I think it sums up how I feel about my final project hand in on Friday 16th May, it will mark the beginning to the next stage of my life.

Image: Elephant Journal

Warehouse

Today I saw a Warehouse advertisement for their Spring/Summer collection. The advert appealed to me so much being the simplistic style that I like and the products looked fantastic on the model so I decided to have a look at their website and find out for myself what else they were offering for the upcoming season. I have never really shopped at Warehouse due to my perceptions of it not offering the right sizing for my petite frame and the price points being slightly over what I could afford, but taking a look around their website I found some lovely pieces that really impressed me. In my opinion it the products are still more aimed at women in their mid to late 20s and 30s but as they do offer their lowest size as a 6 some of my favourite pieces I found would tempt me to go into a store whilst shopping for my upcoming summer.

All images taken from Warehouse website

Image: Authors Own

A Petite Spring/Summer 2014

The summer is fast approaching so I have collaborated all of my favourite petite items for the coming months. As always I think Topshop have taken this summers trends and transported them into every day wearable clothing but New Look and Dorothy Perkins have surprised me this year with some key on trend pieces which I will be investing in. 

Here are my Petite key pieces for the summer months...

Pastels is one of my favourites and i'm so happy its has been set as a trend for this summer. The colours encapsulate the season so well bringing summery vibes to a rainy day which will most likely occur on more than one occasion here in the UK during the summer season.

Florals for summer? Not exactly ground breaking but none the less perfect for adding some femininity to an outfit and evoking those summery days whether its abroad on holiday or relaxing in your garden at home.

Tribal print seems to be around every summer, but you cannot exactly blame this as repetition as throwing on a tribal print always makes me feel that little be more like an eclectic traveller. I will definitely be investing in a tribal piece to take away with me on my holiday.

The tropical trend is a nice change for this summer with the introduction of bright and loud prints. My personal favourites are the bodycon dresses from Topshop and Miss Selfridge bringing just the right amount of colour and print to make a statement but not go jungle crazy.

All images were taken from the retailer website stated

Jennifer Avello

I have just come across images by Jennifer Avello, a fashion and beauty photographer who has photographed for the likes of Vogue, Topshop, Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and Cosmopolitan. Her imagery contrasts between strong fashion forward photography to more emotive pieces for trend pages in leading fashion magazines showing the depth of her range and images that she can create whilst on set. From looking through her website I instantly liked her imagery and how she captures the strong and powerful presence of women, sometimes with the added quirky twists of womens' postures to add some edge to the composition. The focus is very much on the product in many cases which shines through drawing your attention to the detailing. Having read magazines and seen many images like these it is great to finally find someone who is behind the creatives of the final images that are used as well as seeing other work the Avello creates for well established names.

Here are some of my favourite images...

Work by Jennifer Avello

Images: Jennifer Avello

William Rast

This week in Drapers I saw an article promoting Justin Timberlakes' clothing range, William Rast. Although a huge fan of the singer, I never knew he had a clothing range for men and women which he started back in 2005 with his friend Trace Ayala. But as I began to read the article I realised why this was. Originally, the price point was in the £100s with jeans costing around £240 a pair and the line is only just launching in the UK, so when shopping online or in store I would have never have come across this brand due to the price point being out of my range and the location.
However, this Autumn William Rast is launching in the UK and completely changing its' ways by bringing the price point down by up to 60% to appeal to the younger consumer, the article stating around 18 to 35s are now there target range. Tshirts now start at £10, £20 for shirts and £40 for jackets which is in line with many high street retailers.

This shows that not all high quality products need to cost, in my case, way out of what I can afford and now in the modern day how a brand can effectively reverse its production ways to appeal to a wider group of customers.

The William Rast website describes the brand as the 'denim culture brand for new America' The overall feel of with hints of biker inspiration. The line is a very layered wintery look with my personal favourite the grey tweed look coat in Image 4.

Watch: #whoiswilliamrast London Takeover


William Rast Lookbook

Images: William Rast

GFW

This year I will be attending Graduate Fashion Week in London. Showcasing work by over 1,000 students this opportunity is fantastic to start creating contacts and generally be part of an event which celebrates the success and achievements of students from all over the UK. This also gives me the chance to view other students work in both business and design offering inspiration and knowledge of possible competitors of work opportunities as well as an overview of the talent that the industry will witness over the coming years. 

This year the event is being held at The Old Truman Brewery in Shoreditch, a place I have posted about before that represents innovation. 

Image: GFW

Saks Update

Following on from a previous post this year, Marigay McKee is progressing in her role as President of Saks. The are currently collaborating with Erin Walsh for their spring/summer 2014 campaign as Erin provides style tips and tricks for the coming summer season both online and in store. Youtube videos of style guides by Erin featuring clothing that Saks sells represents an up to date company who is in line with current consumer trends as video blogging has taken off recent years. 

Watch: Erin Walsh Styles Floral Gallery

The other feature I wanted to highlight was their Spring/Summer 2014 campaign. As I am not a Saks target customer, it may be too critical to analyse the imagery they have produced for the most recent campaign which sees each imagery dedicated to a select designer in a colourful but simplistic style. The imagery does evoke a higher end feel and extremely stylised and having to represent so many different brands which the same campaign, this type of style of photography allows each brand to speak for itself through its' product which ultimately will help drive sales through Saks, as each image speaks to a different consumer. However, in some way I wish there was something else to it, in todays world of so many magical tricks that technology can do, in my opinion it almost seems like a second thought.

Images: My Face Hunter