Monthly Archives: November 2017

Statement of Intent:

Posted on by

The production and consumption of children’s fashion causes harm to children on many levels, in many different aspects of society. I have begun the research for my Final Major Project by visualising my dissertation which is entitled “You are what you wear: How does children’s clothing restricts their career ambitions?”. Concentrating on creating a campaign against stereotypical gendered/ sexist children’s clothing, I have collaborated with John Lewis, the first major UK store to remove boy’s and girl’s labels from children’s clothing in a bid to reduce gender stereotypes.

The process that I have undertaken to do this is: create a 360 degree campaign including aspects such as; content creation, social media, website, marketing, co-branding, networking, PR stunts, collaborating with bloggers, organising events and sales opportunities. My dissertation as well as my 360 degree campaign has highlighted to me my interest in gender and in particular a new gender neutral generation that could be emerging. I see this developing into a 360 degree campaign for a new gender neutral campaign range in a high street shop such as Monki, And other stories or Zara for my final major project. I will be moving away from children’s clothing and focussing on adults clothing, with a target market of 20-30 years old.

The research that I have undertaken to visualise my dissertation and prepare for my final major project has influenced both what format my final major project is going to take as well as the topic I am going to be covering. The research has overall been very helpful, however, I was unable to find out answers to questions such as “where do children get their fashion inspiration from?” because I could not find any fashion buyers who were willing to answer my questions, this means that carrying my project forwards, I am going to be researching into my own age group (20-30 years old), as research is more accessible and ethical.

My final major project is going to be a 360 degree campaign concentrating on a new gender neutral clothing range for a well established high street fashion store. The campaigns target market will be between 20-30, therefore will be mainly projected through social media, editorials in magazines, word of mouth, adverts in store, bloggers, events, speeches and presentations. My aims and objectives for this final major project is to make a step towards a gender neutral generation where non-binary gender is widely accepted by everybody.

In order to achieve my aims for my final major project I need to ensure that my campaign is marketed as successfully as possible to its target market. The new range needs to be stylish and attractive to all males and females in order for it to sell and therefore catch on to other high street stores, which will help towards my project aim. I hope to gain skills such as management skills, photography skills, marketing skills, layout and typography skills, which I will need in order to progress into my social media marketing career. I hope that this final major project will showcase all of the skills that I have learnt throughout my university career.

I have taken visual inspiration from a Vogue article “Generation Gender Neutral” for my Final Major Project. Suzy Menkes begins her article by saying:

“Two figures are silhouetted on the street at dusk: floppy hair, loose, elongated sweaters cropped at the knees, skinny pants, sneakers. Two guys hanging out? Girl-meets-boy? A dynamic female duo? Who knows? Because you can’t judge the sex of millennials by their clothes.”

This quote sums up the angle I am taking on the style of my campaign, as well as the photography by Steven Meisel (Fig 1, Fig 2, Fig 3, Fig 4).       

Timeline:

Dec 5 Briefing FMP

Write brief for FMP

Continue with researching into the gender neutral generation

Begin making a media pack for the campaign including: the budget, who is involved, mission, vision, aesthetic plans, photography and styling plans, illustration plans, models

Create social media platforms for the campaign

Jan 9 Formative Crits

Mood board

Designs for the clothes range

Buy the clothing/ do the styling for models

Cast models

Photoshoot number 1

Edit photos for numerous purposes (editorial/ advertorial/ social media)

Feb 6 Informal Crits/presentations

Photoshoot number 2 and 3

Edit photos for numerous purposes (editorial/ advertorial/ social media)

Plan events

Invite bloggers

Feb 27 -Mar 13 Formative Presentations depending on specialism

Design final editorials

Write campaign press release

March 23 -April 15 Easter

Assemble final media pack

Print out final photoshoots, clothing designs, mood boards and social media ready for Brighton show and GFW

April 17 Crits Requirement requests for graduate show

April 24 Forms in for Brighton Graduate show

May 7 Nominees go forward for GFW – work should be finished this week

May 14 Paint and ready room for Brighton Show

Work up at the end of the week

Bibliography

Abrams, Rachel. “Barbie Adds Curvy And Tall To Body Shapes.” Nytimes.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.

Benokraitis, Nijole V, John J Macionis, and Peter Urmetzer. Seeing Ourselves. Toronto: Pearson Education, 2013. Print.

Benokraitis, Nijole V. SOC 4. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2016. Print.

Brooks, Karen. Consuming Innocence. St Lucia: University of Qeensland Press, 2008. Print.

Brown, Christia. “The Way We Talk About Gender Can Make A Big Difference.” Psychology Today. N.p., 2014. Web. 23 Oct. 2017.

“Generation Gender Neutral.” Vogue.co.uk. N.p., 2017. Web. 23 Nov. 2017.

Grusec, Joan E, and Hugh Lytton. Social Development. New York, NY: Springer New York, 1988. Print.

Henley, Jon. “The Power Of Pink.” the Guardian. N.p., 2009. Web. 23 Oct. 2017.

Kohnstamm, Geldolph. Parental Descriptions Of Child Personality: Developmental Antecedents Of The Big Five?. 1st ed. Mahwah: L. Erlbaum Associates, 1998. Print.

Lasnier, Guy. “Play With Barbie Dolls Affects Career Aspirations For Girls.” UC Santa Cruz News. N.p., 2017. Web. 5 Nov. 2017.

Maccoby, Eleanor E. The Two Sexes. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2003. Print.

Nakata, Sana. Childhood Citizenship, Governance And Policy. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2015. Print.

Park, Jyllian. “Analysis Of Barbie’s “Imagine The Possibilities” Ad Campaign.” prezi.com. N.p., 2017. Web. 31 Oct. 2017.

Sherman, Aurora M., and Eileen L. Zurbriggen. ““Boys Can Be Anything”: Effect Of Barbie Play On Girls’ Career Cognitions.” Sex Roles 70.5-6 (2014): 195-208. Web.

Sherman, Aurora. “Playing With Barbie Dolls Could Limit Girls’ Career Choices, Study Shows | News And Research Communications | Oregon State University.” Oregonstate.edu. N.p., 2017. Web. 31 Oct. 2017.

Wade, Lisa. “Androcentrism: It’S Okay To Be A Boy, But Being A Girl… – Sociological Images.” Thesocietypages.org. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.

Wilkinson, Louise Cherry, and Cora B Marrett. Gender Influences In Classroom Interaction. Burlington: Elsevier Science, 1985. Print.

Williams, Rachel. “Too Much, Too Young? Retailers Still Selling Over-Sexualised Clothing To Kids.” the Guardian. N.p., 2017. Web. 15 Nov. 2017.

PINK STINKS Theres more than one way to be a girl…

Posted on by

Trying to reverse the seemingly unstoppable tide of pink was another way, they felt, of challenging what they saw as rampant and unacceptable gender stereotyping, from earliest childhood.

Abi Moore, a feminist freelance television producer argues how:

It sells children a lie, that theres only one way to be a proper girl – and it sets them on a journey at a very, very early age. Its a sign post, telling them that beauty is more valued than brains, it limits horizons, and restricts ambitions.

This explains the somewhat negative impacts (especially towards girls) of limiting children to pink for girls and blue for boys. Children begin to construct their gender and the activities they limit themselves to take part in, based on the clothing, toys and trends that each gender is subject too. Which therefore limits girls career ambitions.

North: Fashioning Identity

Posted on by

North: Fashioning Identity, an exhibition examining representations of the north of England and Northerners in photography, fashion and art. At this exhibiton I concentrated on the way the children were dressed and also the way the children were photographed. The first thing that I noticed is that the boys are wearing sports clothing and also sports brands and are photographed in gangs or pairs looking as though they are just handing around on the streets up to no good. There’s been a lot of talk recently about cultural appropriation in fashion, fuelled in part by the seismic shift in menswear to embrace urban sportswear and ‘Lad’ culture, both ignored or derided previously for their social stigma.

Things are different today. The axis has spun, as it seems to do every so often, and those previously at the bottom now find themselves at the top. Now everybody loves the Working Class. ‘Roadman’, a word I first remember hearing in the early 00s (but much like ‘Rude Boy’ it had probably been around a lot longer) to describe a street-level dealer, is now being quoted by trusted media outlets as ‘on-trend’.

In the 21st century the view that “boys wear anything” and girls care about fashion and get dressed well is outdated and boys like to be seen in the latest sports wear and develop their identity based on them. Brands are a capitalist symbol that discloses a persons wealth value.

“You are what you wear: How the clothes children wear between 0 and 10 restricts their career ambitions.”

Posted on by 
Let Clothes Be Clothes

We’re calling on retailers in the UK to support
choice and end the use of gender stereotypes in
the design and marketing of children’s clothes.
Join us in asking, why not #makeitunisex

Join the Resistance! #TheGreatClothesSwap
It’s called #TheGreatClothesSwap and it’s really simple: lets mix up the displays a little bit.

Here are our list of do’s and don’ts –

Do – Make a statement! Juxtapose the pretty in pink with the genius in grey, lets make it clear just how little choice parents really have when clothes are sold “for girls” or “for boys.”

Don’t – Cause a mess! We’re not talking about moving huge displays and we’re not doing the staff any favours if they have to move back 100’s of clothes.

Do – Take a photo of your activism and tag us #Letclothesbeclothes and of course the campaign #TheGreatClothesSwap so we can share your art!

Don’t – Don’t don’t don’t damage anything! We’re activists, not bullies, so respect for other peoples property at all times please, obvs.

Do – Get the kids involved! Get creative with outfits from all sides!

Don’t – Intimidate or argue with staff! Its unlikely there will be any upset, but if you’re asked to stop then please do.

Do – Email, tweet (and tag us @letclothesbe), post or otherwise contact and send those photos to the store in question! Make sure they know what you changed and why.

We can’t wait to see your photos!

Denim For Decades Evaluation

Posted on by

Evidently as sustainable fashion is such a vast topic it was impossible to cover the whole field in depth in just one short project, so this evaluation aims to point out the gaps in my research. Since I already knew what I wanted my final outcome to be, I concentrated on research which reflected this. I decided early on in my project that I wanted to create a product to sell in a fast fashion store. I chose to collaborate with Tk Maxx because as a brand their concept of selling clothes at a discounted price from past seasons is eco-friendly. However, TK Maxx have received bad press for not having any sustainable policies in place within their company.

Firstly, the main gap in my research was that I didn’t find out facts and figures on sustainable fashion before I began creating my campaign media pack. I feel that this could have been useful as shock tactics. It also would have been beneficial if I were able to take photos of the poor conditions in the sweat shops wear many clothes are made and also interview the people who worked there, unfortunately this was not accessible for me.

Secondly, I feel that my research was more broad than deep. It would have been more beneficial to look deeply into one campaign than briefly into several. I will ensure that in ‘Part 2’ I visit exhibitions and have extremely deep research into particular areas. I feel that this will enable me to think more in a more abstract way about my dissertation.

However, I am really pleased with the many new skills I have taught myself this project. Firstly, way I have used my blog this project as a tool to note down any research that I do, as well as a full sketchbook of research. I also feel that I have been able to learn a lot of new skills on indesign, illustrator and photoshop during this project. I was able to do this by presenting my media pack on inDesign. Also, I styled and photographed the bag that i sewed out of recycled denim, using the photo studio for the first time.

Press Release

Posted on by

In January 2018 Denim for Decades, in partnership with Tk Maxx, will be releasing a 100% sustainable shopping bag. We ask the public to think more deeply about the life of their clothes by doing something as simple as donating your old denim to Tk Maxx, we want to give your old denim a second chance of a new life, as a bag that you can purchase in your local TK Maxx branch and use time and time again.

Denim For Decades is a project that sets out to challenge our perceptions of value. We will be collaborating with Tk Maxx to ask: how can we kick start a move from being a fashion throw away culture to a fashion preservation culture?