Dustin CoonFashion Journal

Intro To Fashion Business

ENTRY #1: Cosmetics Industry – No less than 75 words

Article: http://www.wgsn.com.emils.lib.colum.edu/content/report/News/2013/Oct_Stories/Oct_04/News_Story_Oct_0410.html

Barneys to debut renovated beauty floors – WWD

This article briefly discusses the changes being made to Barney’s cosmetics and fragrance floors in its Madison Avenue and Beverly Hills stores. Although exact changes are not announced, CEO Mark Lee says that they have taken the same approach they have with the rest of the store “which is really to create a very chic, very simple, elegant environment”. Beauty sales have been growing at double-digit rates for almost three years and the new investment aims to continue growth and to potentially accelerate it. I think that this is a great investment for Barneys; with the rest of the store already renovated it only makes sense to renew the beauty/cosmetics department. Changing the department to something more chic and elegant will surely encourage more shoppers and create a new, more attractive aesthetic for the products.

ENTRY #2: Business Magazine

Article: http://chicago.racked.com/archives/2013/08/20/updates-phase-one-of-our-saint-laurent-store-complete-1.php

Phase One of Chicago’s Saint Laurent Store Now Complete

Although a very brief article, this is huge news to the city of Chicago. A “tipster” reportedly sent in a photo of the building permit for the building that will house the new Saint Laurent store here in Chicago. In December of last year, WWD confirmed a Saint Laurent store to be coming soon to the city. I’m very familiar with the brand’s product and creative director Hedi Slimane. I think the new store will do great in the city because there are really no other designer stores aside from Barneys that carries the same silhouettes and styles that Saint Laurent does.

ENTRY #3: Fashion Trend Article From Vogue.

Article: http://www.vogue.com/vogue-daily/article/what-price-glory-searching-for-the-best-biker-jacket/#1

Date: August 22nd, 2013

Title: What Price Glory? Searching for the Best Biker Jacket

Although this article is not directly “calling out” a trend, it is very much hovering around a trend. Throughout the article we follow “K”, who appears to be very indecisive about which jacket she wants this season. When finally deciding on a classic motorcycle jacket, she sets out shopping. She visits several different stores, all of which have their own motorcycle jacket design. I found it interesting that she included the price-points of these items as well. Their first stop was Zara, where she found a jacket for $119, suspecting that it was not made of real leather. Then proceeds to visit H&M, Club Monaco, AllSaints Spitalfields, and Topshop. A leather motorcycle jacket is very much “classic” in the sense that stores will never stop carrying leather jackets/motorcycle jackets. This article is a great example of every store following the same trend but putting their own spin on the design of the garment. While the AllSaints had slouchy, wrinkled, slim-fitting leathers, the shoppers sought out Topshop to find an Aztec-inspired interpretation of the biker jacket. I think this article has a lot of insight into the consumer mind as well. While shopping, the women often questioned if the jacket was real leather or faux leather. Through working in retail I’ve noticed that shoppers will turn down an almost identical jacket because of the material of which it was constructed. Some customers will pay hundreds more for an identical jacket, just to have an authentic leather jacket.

ENTRY #4: Fashion observation of women and men’s apparel for the season. Observation based on what criteria? What were comparable used? Similarities? Differences?

Season: A/W 13

There are several trends swelling up between genders for the autumn/winter ’13 season. The majority of these trends appear to be the same between genders. Trends I have noticed particularly for women have been Tartan patterns, boxy-silhouettes, and oversized outerwear. Most of these trends I’ve spotted through WGSN runway shows, most notably the Saint Laurent, Givenchy, and Versace runway shows. Oversized outerwear is also a trend for menswear this season. In addition to these trends, suiting is also looking back to the 50’s-60’s for inspiration. Most of these trends are similar with the exception of suiting because although women do wear tailored pieces, it doesn’t have as strong of a presence in womenswear as it does in mens.

ENTRY#5: Department store – trends.

While shopping at Zara, a leading store for fast-fashion, it was almost impossible to dodge the trends circulating through the store. Five trends that dominated and crossed over into other areas of the store were 1. Tartan Patterns 2. Millitary inspired outerwear/similar pieces 3. Harem-Style Pants 4. Oversized or garments with Boxy-like silhouettes. 5. The color black. I was surprised to see that most of these trends actually carried over to the men’s floor. The men’s floor had military inspired parka’s, tartan blazers and tartan military-style jackets, harem style sweatpants/trousers and lots of boxy outerwear. The color black was a trend permeating the entire store. There were many leather jackets styled with black, dropped-crotch trousers and long t-shirts/button-downs.

ENTRY #6: Review WGSN trend reports & support/reinforce what was spotted in store.

Upon reviewing WGSN trend reports I found a few reports that really stood out to support the trends I had spotted. In Outerwear trends WGSN mentions “Easy boxy shapes, soft rounded raglan shoulderlines and knee-length proportions are the hallmarks of next winter’s easy-to-wear commuter coats.” This definitely points directly to the boxy-silhouettes that I saw in-store. Outerwear trends also mention “The perennial military trend has all but fallen off next winter’s fashion radar, but designers in Milan did opt for this buttoned-up cadet or dress-uniform look, with trim coats and reefer jackets featuring gold button trims and contrast velvet, or close-cropped fur trims such as astrakhan.” This supports many of the military inspired pieces I’ve been seeing all season. I did also see a few mentions of “tartan takeover” that supported my findings in-store. The only trends I didn’t see direct mention of were harem-pants and the color black. Black was very popular in the key colors category though and I did see harem-pants in several runway looks.

ENTRY #7: 3 Fabric SwatchesLeather- 100% Bespoke Kid Skin – Countries of Origin = Europe, Asia, North America

DENIM/COTTON- 100% Cotton – Country of origin – China/India/Bangledesh

LAMBSWOOL- 100% lambswool – Country of Origin – United Kingdom

ENTRY #9:Visual Displays

ALLSAINTS SPITALFIELDS:

This photo is from the “Biker Project” visual display that AllSaints had recently. This was a collection in which only 100 of each style - leather jacket for both men and women was made and each leather features a 1/100, 3/100, etc. written on the label of which order it was made. The visual display features the leathers hanging from the ceiling throughout the store. I thought this was an extremely innovative way to display the jackets. It both raised curiosity and made the garments seem more psychologically valuable.

TOPMAN:This visual display is very appealing in an abstract way. The whole theme for the said season featured squares and rectangles boxed around parts and sometimes the whole mannequin. Although the idea didn’t make the clothing any more appealing to

me, I thought the idea was something new/edgy and it wouldn’t have been something I would have expected from Topman.

ENTRY #10:

Show: Gossip Girl

Although this is not a completely “New” TV show hence launching in 2007 and carrying onto present time. The new season however started October 8th. The cast and styling of the show is very fashion forward and many people are influenced by the trends spotted during the seasons of the show. For the sixth season that recently started I can expect many trends to emerge. Through watching the season I’ve repeatedly observed different layering of fall hues. Cast star Serena Van der Woodsen (played by fashion icon Blake Lively) pairs a striped Burberry bag, geometric print jeans and grey boots in one episode, a perfect example of teenage fashion for the season. Trends are also displayed through cast member Blair Waldorf (played by Leighton Meester) when she is sporting fuchsia pumps, yellow tweed print and a floral bag. Another trend that could emerge from this season are bold prints in teenage fashion. From an array of stripes, geometric patterns to floral and bright prints its clear that these ideas will trickle down to teenage retailers. Gossip Girl is clearly a very fashion forward show that many teenage girls look to regarding fashion trends.

Entry #11: firstview.com

The designer I chose was Mac Millan and the collection I chose was his ready to wear runway collection for AW2007. For this particular design I was first drawn to the color. I’m usually more attracted to black clothing and believe everyone looks better in black. Not only did just the black draw my attention but, I am also obsessed with the sheer top mixed with leather pleating. Not only is there sheer and leather, but also some lace features that make the piece very aesthetically pleasing. It’s an elegant dress that can be dressed up or dressed down. The type of retailer I think might include this designer’s work in their assortment is more of a high-end department store such as Neiman Marcus or Nordstrom.

Entry #12: Fashion Responsibilities/Careers

Within the fashion industry there are many career opportunities and very appealing ones at that. A well-known and visible career in the fashion industry is a fashion designer. The roles of fashion designers around the world are truly at the center of the fashion industry. Fashion designers are responsible for creating unique, edgy clothing, or reconstructing classics in order to appeal to a wide range of customers

or a certain group of people. Without fashion designers we would be lost in a world without direction. Another career that the fashion industry offers is a buyer. A buyer is the person who makes the decisions regarding which products will be bought and ultimately displayed in a store based on their predictions of what will appeal to that store’s customers as well as future customers. Fashion buyers have a passion for shopping and pleasing others. Buyers must research the latest trends and predict future trends, then stocking the shelves in retail stores with items that are likely to bring in revenue. Another career opportunity is a product development manager. The role of a product development manager is to see that the company’s products do not become outdated or not marketable. These people work with a team of product designers and coordinate the drive to create new products according to the market analysis as well as with strategy. These people must study how others will respond to a new product by studying demographics, psychographics, and other marketing notions. The fashion industry is filled with endless opportunities.

Entry #13:Fashion Don’ts

Don’t #1: Socks With Sandals – This has always been a debate between dad’s everywhere, socks don’t belong with sandals.

Don’t #2: Guy Fieri Sunglasses – I’ve seen 75% of the population making the mistake of buying silly-colored racing glasses. Your sunglasses don’t need to match your bathing suit, a classic pair of wayfarers will do.

Don’t #3: Stupid Embellished Button-Down – If you’re not a burnt-out 80’s rockstar, you shouldn’t be caught in one of these. A classic oxford dress shirt or even a rugged denim shirt would do.

Don’t #4: Crocs – Comfortable doesn’t mean stylish. There are many other choices of footwear to keep your feet cool and comfy while looking a lot better than these rubber tires.

Entry #14:

The fashion industry is an expansive area with endless career opportunities that quite frankly almost all sound appealing to me. However I am more directly interested in being a stylist, fashion blogger, and/or buyer. In my opinion, I think a stylist would be the best fit for me. I’ve always had a passion for dressing not only myself, but also others. Friends and family often come to me for shopping-advice and assistance in helping them pick out the perfect ensemble for an occasion. I’ve always been interested in piecing together just the right clothing with the perfect touch of accessories and shoes. I have a great eye for detail and love pleasing others. Being a stylist is a service that helps people in my opinion, and I love helping people. If I can help someone look good and feel good, we’re on our way to making the world a better place where everyone is more comfortable and life is more pleasant.The second career that I know would be a good fit for me is a fashion blogger. I’m very keen when it comes to social media and I know exactly what people want to see

when it comes to fashion blogs. I feel like a teenage girl mentioning this as a career route because it seems like everyone does this nowadays. Although fashion blogging wouldn’t necessarily be my main career, it would be a great side outlet. I already have a lot of experience with running my own fashion blog and always make sure to keep up on trends and make sure that the content I’m posting is relevant. I think it would be a good fit for me because I’m constantly aware of popular fashion news and what people generally want to hear about. The last career opportunity that may be a good fit for me is an assistant buyer. I’ve always been pretty accurate when it comes to predicting trends and knowing what’s “in” at the moment. I know what I’m into and more importantly I know what the public is into and what will sell. I’m great in a business atmosphere and with my sense of style and knowledge of trends I believe I could be a successful buyer.