I originally decided to come into this project from the angle of analysing subcultures and how they use visual codes to communicate their style identity to others. However, I have now decided that subcultures such as Punks, Goths, Mods, Hippies, Ravers and Hip-Hop kids have become over exhausted style references in the fashion industry. I thought it would a lot fresher take on the concept of stylistic codes of ordinary people. However, I have still included some picture taken at London Fashion Week last October at Somerset House, but in the end I realised that I found my pictures of ordinary people a lot grittier, rawer, fresher and more interesting.
As well as using imagery, I incorporated 3D work and textiles samples into my exploration of style through visual codes to generate more starting points for design ideas.
This girl's name is Lola Chatterton, she is a stylist. I saw her at Somerset House during London Fashion Week last October and was drawn to her very distinctive sense of style and asked if I could take her photo.
The fluffy texture of her jacket and pastel colours of her outfit remind me of candy floss, marshmallows and dolly mixture sweets. Everything about this outfit brings up connotations of childhood and innocence; the extremely 'girly colours, the soft textures, the glittery backpack with the princess crown detail and the strappy, pink sandals which are worn with socks like a little girl, with the floral embroidery.
I think Lola's outfit deliberately makes her look like a Barbie doll and her rainbow highlights in her hair are inspired by my little pony, which really enforces the childlike theme of her outfit.
However, her provocative short skirt length and flash of midriff create an interesting contrast to the extreme childlike innocence of her outfit, which reminds me of Nabokov's Lolita.
I would also say that their is a strong reference to Japanese 'Kawaii' culture, where teenage girls deliberately embrace cute things which normally appeal to little girls such as Hello Kitty, Cupcakes and frilly tutus. In addition I can see that Lola is clearly influenced by the overly feminine aesthetic of the designers Meadham Kirchhoff. Particularly their S/S 12 collection which was inspired by the 90's Baby Doll movement, which was made popular by Courtney Love; The front woman of all female the grunge band Hole and Kurt Cobain's wife. The Baby Doll movement involved rebellious young women wearing dresses which were similar to little girls, juxtaposed by their provocatively short length and worn with messy 'stripper' make-up with thick, smudged black eyeliner and messy red lipstick; making a strong statement about female stereotypes. Meadham Kirchhoff's collection was a reference to this subculture in the way that it sexulaised extreme girly innocence.
Japanese 'Kawaii' fashion
In response I did a few deliberately childish drawings of objects that this outfit reminded me of, which I could potentially make into a print. I stuck down some pictures of Barbie and My Little pony to use as inspiration and collected samples which linked into the connotations of the theme. The top one with the pink stripes came from a bag of sweets, the top left is fluffy pale pink cashmere and the bottom one is a glittery woven floral fabric.
My 11 year old sister is now approaching adolescence, so decided to throw out her sweater with a princess Hello Kitty embroidered on it. I rescued it as i though it would be perfect for making a sample to link with the 'Kawaii' connotations of Lola's outfit. I sewed it onto a patch of pink gingham- a fabric which reminds of old-fashioned little girl's dresses. I added some patches of rainbow printed fabric which enhanced my theme and colour scheme, and embroidered some tacky plastic beads from my little sister's bracelet onto the bow, which is not only another childhood reference, but also adds 3D texture.
The photos on the opposite page are of my little sister. I found this Jiggly Puff Pokemon stuffed toy backpack in a charity shop and bought it for my little sister. She absolutely adores it now and I see it as a symbol of her identity and personal style. I asked if I could photograph her with it as I linked in to the whole concept of cuteness and childhood that I was exploring. I may use the silhouettes that her backpack and hoodie create to do some designs.
I felt that Lola's look was already a bit too polished and refined to make an interesting starting point, therefore I decided to focus on the grittier style of real people, who were not obviously interested in fashion and making conscious choices about what they wore. I wanted to focus on how people were suggesting their identity without even realising.
I photographed this boy in my local area because I thought his grey hooded tracksuit and Nike trainers had very strong connotations of working class youth culture.
In response to this, I drew an outline of a council estate, using a very crude minimal drawing style to represent the aggressive grittiness that it represents. I am thinking of placing it on a tracksuit to show directly through symbolism, one of the connotations of this item of clothing.
This is an example of how stylistic differences such as colour, the type of fabric used and the detailing, can give the same item of clothing very different connotations. Due to its more sophisticated darker colour, more high tech fabric and sporty detailing, this tracksuit has sportswear conniptions as opposed to working class youth culture. Another interesting thing that I have noticed about this outfit is the fact that I can instantly recognise the fact that this boy's trainers are Adidas because of the distinctive '3 stripe' detailing on the side. This shows the extreme power of branding.
In response to this I studied the typical detaling of sportswear, such as high necklines, zippers and bold prints.
On this page, I explored emaples of how the Adidas branding is so instatly recognisable, and its associations with 'chav' culture.
I thought this man's outfit was very unusual, but I thought he might be dressed this way to keep warm or was wearing the only clothes he owned. I could tell he he looked quite poor because of the way his clothes were very worn, ripped and shredded, and the plastic bag worn on his head. However, whether he was aware of it or not, I thought he had very interesting style because of his layering and blocking of complimentary colours.
In response, I looked at the connotations of plastic bags such being cheap, disposable, rubbish, trashy, ugly and causing harm to the environment.
The layering, volume and bold colours of this outfit reminded me of Comme des Garcons, the duvet coat my Maison Martin Margeilla and a voluminous, colourful, parachute like raincoat that I saw in the Isabella Blow- Fashion Galore exhibition, that she wore to London Fashion Week in the late 1990's. I included images of these pieces in my research sketchbook to use as examples of how quite everyday things can translate into high-fashion. I also included an image of Anya Hindmarch's iconic 2007 design 'I am not a plastic bag', which was originally sold for £5 in Sainsbury's, but became so popular because of its clever design and strong environmental message that it ended up retailing on eBay for £200. I was inspired by how something so low market ended up becoming a desirable fashion statement due to its popularity.
I made a college out of boldly coloured plastic bags to use as inspiration for a colour palette, shapes and textures.
Although I said earlier that I wasn't going to focus on obviously fashion conscious people, I was really drawn to the different contrasting elements of this boy's outfit. His androgynous style, simple shaped, brightly coloured coat and sharp bowl haircut reminds me of 1960's style icons like Twiggy and Mary Quant.
The neon green colour of the coat I associate with late 80's/early 90's Acid House Rave Culture. This colour is also often described as 'Lime Green' and in response to this I traced the outside shape of the lime and made it into a print which I thought could go in the coat instead to create a symbolic interpretation of this colour.
His clumpy black boots are the type of shoes normally worn by goths, so I looked at images of both Goths and Cybergoths; which combine goth style with rave culture.
The beanie and backpack I associate with 90's schoolchildren, which adds a very conflicting element to the whole outfit.
I included some samples which I thought fitted in with the the themes of this pages, which I may use in future designs.
I seem to be very drawn to the Adidas logo, gritty, aggressive style an 'Lad' culture, so I think my project might be heading in that direction. I was also inspired by this man's outfit because of the use of complimentary colours and conflicting stylistic codes. His overall outfit of tracksuit bottoms, an Adidas hoodie a trainers and a Superdry jacket are quite typical of an ordinary young man, but I think his accessorise give his outfit a sense of individuality. His heavy rings and chain necklace symbolise hip-hop style, his trilby hat is very similar to those worn by indie bands in the early 2000's such as Pete Docherty of The Libertines, and even his small hoops on one of his ears connotate 90's boy bands. I guess I like this outfit because of all its strong references to masculinity.
I saw this boy on the platform at Kings Cross Underground station. When I asked to take his photo, he told me that he was studying Womenswear at Central St. Martins. I found this interesting because I suspected this because he seemed very conscious of what was in style, as sportswear and tailored are very fashionable at the moment.
He told me his trainers were made by Reebok, but I could tell he chose them because the design is very similar to trainers by Raf Simmons. His orange top was clearly also Adidas because of the 3 stripe detailing and the logo. I think it is a cycling top, so I had a look at different cycling tops to use as design references.
The cut of his long, tailored coat creates a juxtaposition to the sportswear. This item of clothing is a very classic, timeless piece , which has been worn by City Gentlemen since the Victorian era but also now has strong connotations of 'cool' as it was adopted by subcultures such as Mod's, Skinheads and Grunge Kids in during 20th Century.
I saw these people on Brick Lane I thought I would explore their style as it is very different to what I have looked at previously and may give my project a different angle. I was interested by how just by looking at them, I knew that these people were influenced by the Hippie Culture of the 1960's and 70's because of the way they combined elements of Folk Style such as the feathers and patchwork, Indian Culture, like the flowing, paisley skirt and Rastafarian dreadlocks. These styles also have associations with drug use and being in touch with the earth/nature, which or other elements that I could explore further, in contrast to my research on plastic bags!
To gather inspiration for potential designs, I traced the silhouettes of the Indian Saris, collected paisley and batik fabric samples and made a knitwear sample inspired by the texture of dreadlocks.
This woman was also spotted on Brick Lane. I could instantly tell just by looking at what she was wearing that she was a very religious Muslim. I thought it was interesting that clothes could have such strong cultural connotations. As well as religion, the Burka is also a strong symbol of conformity , repression and de-sexualistion of women. It also brings up strong associations of the Middle East and Middle Eastern culture.
As well as looking at the shapes of the Burka, I also looked at its associations with Middle Eastern culture, including the script, art, traditions and architecture to use as inspiration.
I found this women's outfit interesting because it seemed very contemporary, despite having many old-fashion references, which may be due to the popularity of vintage style clothing.
The delicate lace collar and slightly puffy sleeves of her blouse remind me of Victorian Womenswear and Nightgowns.
Her grey, tailored, Menswear inspired suit trousers remind of 1930's women who wore suits as a subversive feminist statement. I really like the strong contrast of masculine and feminine in this outfit, as I use androgyny a lot in my work.
To generate some potential design ideas, I started drawing the shapes of Victorian lace collars and puffy sleeves, and looked at the unusual shapes which feminine body in men's clothing created.
