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

The Tim Walker Effect

Whilst trying to gather some inspiration, I began looking at photographer Tim Walker. Although he is so well known, I have never had the time to sit and appreciate his artistic flare and how he evokes this through his unique photography. The style to his photography creates an magical fantasy world with dramatic twists which bring a modern edge to create images that impact and create a reaction the moment you look at them. The dedication of the production he creates and puts on just to capture the one image which encapsulates the feeling he is trying to produce is incredible and none like anyone I have seen before. And even when he strips everything back to the basics of a landscape or plain background, the artistic flare still shines through showing the talent behind the camera and that it is not always just based on an amazing set. The use of animals is a clear theme which runs through many of Walkers' images, in many cases creating inspiration for the rest of the imagery, which I feel just adds to the dream world state even more so through his use of a quirky choices of which animals he desires to use.

Here are a few of my favourite images that I discovered...

 Jennifer Lawrence, W Magazine, 2012

Image: Design Scene

Karen Elson, Love Magazine, 2013

The Karen Elson photo for Love Magazine, is my favourite. The posture of the model and and pose of the lion next to each other are absolutely amazing, so inquisitively gazing at something and creating a some what real life situation of 'lounging around' with a an actual situation that wouldn't happen makes the photograph so interesting, I can't keep my eyes of it.

Image: Aga Loves Today

Kate Moss & Doodley the Owl, British Vogue, 2013

Image: Comunidade Moda

Agness Dean, Simon & Kiki, British Vogue, 2011

This photo, although simple, shows complete contrast between two worlds thrown together for the sake of an image. The two differing characters of the humans from a past time of the woman possibly with a modern day figure of a tribesman creates so many situations that may be occurring in this photo.

Image: From My Glasses