CREATIVE|DEVELOPMENT|Selfridge Research

Selfridge Heritage

In 1906, Harry Gordon Selfridge arrived in London from Chicago with his heart set on opening his dream store.He wanted to introduce the style of american shopping. In the early stages of the opening of the store you was only aloud to view items in the window and then had to remember what they was called to purchase them. Also you was always expected to buy something. Around 36 thousand pounds was spent on advertising and that works out to be around 2 million pounds now. Selfridges was the only store in the world to be named the Best Department Store in the world three times, it was built within 12 months. Selfridges today is more than just the sum of its products. It is a shopping experience that promises to surprise, amaze and amuse its customers.And, to this day, as Harry Gordon Selfridge said,‘Everyone is welcome’. 

The Masters

Champions of their craft and true fashion icons, selfridge celebrate twelve designers who have shaped the fashion landscape. 

These are:

Jean Paul Gaultier 

Oscar de la renta 

Roberto Cavalli 

Paul Smith 

Marc Jacobs

Yohji Yamamoto

Dries Van Noten 

Stella Mccartney 

Azzedine Alala

Thom Browne 

Primary research

Store windows 

 

Laura Ashley

When looking at the windows of Laura ashley i found that they were all very sophisticated and stylish, whilst feeling homely and warm. I found that like many stores they kept a theme and colour throughout the  displays. Also the windows didn't include any prices of items, clothing or furniture, i think this is done deliberately so the viewer is drawn in by the display and then goes inside to look further into the items within.   

Secondary research

Laura Ashley was a welsh fashion designer and business woman. She originally made furnishings materials in the 1950s, expanding the business into clothing design and manufacture in the 1960s. The Laura Ashley style is characterised by Romantic English designs. Often with 19th century rural feel and the use of natural fabrics. Laura Ashley 's first shop was opened in Machynlleth, Powys. 

Debenhams
When looking at Debenhams displays they were based around christmas. Comparing to Laura Ashley i found they weren't as sophisticated but they were very eye catching as you walk past. I liked the fact once again they kept the same theme and colours running throughout all the displays. As a larger department store they have to include more products in their windows and i think they have done this well as it isn't too crowded and busy but they have fitted a wide selection of items in the display. Differing to Laura Ashley they put the prices of the clothing and some items in the windows. 

Secondary Research
When looking for background information on Debenhams i found a timeline of events on their website this was http://int.debenhams.com/info/customer-services/about-us/lookbook. One of the biggest's successes for Debenhams was in the 1950s when it became the largest department store group in the UK, owning 84 companies and 110 stores. Also in the 1990s the introduction of designers at Debenhams made designer fashion available at an affordable price. The Debenhams catalogue was also introduced.

http://www.selfridges.com/content/our-heritage
http://www.selfridges.com/content/article/masters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Ashley
http://int.debenhams.com/info/customer-services/about-us/lookbook

PHOTOGRAPHIC|TECHNIQUES|&DIGITAL|DESIGN| Photographer Research

Laura Zalenga

When looking into photography with art i found a photographer named Laura Zalenga. I really enjoyed looking at her work as it had a great range to it. I visited her website ''http://laurazalenga.de/en/'' and she has different sections to it, my favourite was ''portfolio'' which is where i got the three images below. In the first image I like the way she has layered the image of the butterfly over the face of a women it gives a sense of mystery and i begin to wonder why she has done this. 

CREATIVE|DEVELOPMENT|Technology Research

Technology in fashion

When I researched technology in fashion I looked at garments that include technology within them or have been inspired by technology when designing them. I liked all these images so I put them together to show the uniqueness of all the garments. The repetitive use of light runs throughout most of these images I think this is a great idea but I wouldn't class them as wearable garments, I would class them as wearable art. 

         

CREATIVE|DEVELOPMENT|MONITORING|EVENT| Hope& Faith, Beauty and Distortion

Hope& Faith

Wikipedia definition

''Hope is an optimistic attitude of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one's life or the world at large. As a verb, its definitions include: "expect with confidence" and "to cherish a desire with anticipation".

''Among its opposites are dejection, hopelessness and despair.''

''Faith is belief that is not based on proof. It can also be defined as confidence or trust in a person, thing, deity, view, or in the doctrines or teachings of a religion, as well as confidence based on some degree of warrant. The word faith is often used as a synonym for hope, trust, or belief''

When producing these photographs I thought about the more literal concept of Hope& Faith. I immediately thought of a church and graves as Faith is a strong subject in church. I titled my photographs Hereafter this means what lies ahead, I think this brings in the thought of Hope as most people would consider hope as the feature and hoping that things may or may not happen. Also I thought about other words such as naive and innocent as Faith can be naive and when you are innocent is when you have most of it. 

''Hereafter''

               

                                           

Beauty

Wikipedia definition

''For beauty as a characteristic of a person's appearance, see Physical attractiveness. For other uses, see Beauty (disambiguation).''

''Beauty is a characteristic of a person, animal, place, object, or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure or satisfaction. Beauty is studied as part of aesthetics, sociology, social psychology, and culture. An "ideal beauty" is an entity which is admired, or possesses features widely attributed to beauty in a particular culture, for perfection.''

When I began to think about my interpretation of Beauty I straight away thought about portrait photography. I really like photographing a human subject as they all give off different vibes, expressions, personalities and the moods. In this particular series of images I thought mainly about who I wanted to photograph, I chose my 6 year old cousin Ruby Emily Berry. I didn't prepare or re-style my subject intentionally as I thought that would help to show Ruby's personality and give the image a ''rough look''. I also thought about the way I wanted to present these photographs, I chose to desaturate the images and include a small amount of noise to give the photos a older feel to them. This also helps to show the way I think about the definition of beauty as I find black and white photography very beautiful. 

''Ruby Emily Berry''

Distortion

Wikipedia Definition

''Distortion (or warping) is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic) of something, such as an object, image, sound or waveform. Distortion is usually unwanted, and so engineers strive to eliminate distortion, or minimize it. In some situations, however, distortion may be desirable. The important signal processing operation of heterodyning is based on nonlinear mixing of signals to cause intermodulation. Distortion is also used as a musical effect, particularly with electric guitars.''

Yell Saccani Research

When researching into distortion I found a photography named Yell Saccani I really like the uniqueness of her work and the distortion of all her photos. I have chosen these three images as my favourite as they have started to inspire me in my photography with fashion. I think you could include garments and more fashion based products but still get the same sort of feel to the photograph.

CREATIVE|DEVELOPMENT|Photoshoot

Social Groups

My images represent my interpretation of social groups and grouping. In this first image, I wanted to catch people off guard so the photograph was more natural. I just asked my subject's if I could take a photo of them both, I asked them both to sit on the bar or lean, they chose this themselves. The way they have composed themselves was their choice but without discussion they both stared straight into the camera which I really like about this image. 

In this second photograph I tried to capture a more casual pose that is why I made the models sit down and begin to talk. I wanted to show within the photograph that it is not posed and the subjects aren't looking straight into the camera, also I wanted to have a contrast from the first image. 

Overall I feel the first photograph worked better than the second, I think the overall lighting and composition of the photograph is much better. I also think the quality of the image is a lot better. 

PHOTOGRAPHIC|TECHNIQUES|&DIGITAL|DESIGN| Photographer Research

Nick Knight

To begin my photographer research I looked at Nick Knight, he is among the world's most famous photographers. He has won many awards for his editorial work for Vogue, Dazed & Confused, W magazine, i-D and Visionaire. He has also worked with clients including Christain Dior, Alexandra McQueen, Calvin Klein, Levi Strauss, Yohji Yamamoto and Yves Saint Laurent. His first book of photographs, skinheads, was published in 1982. He has since produced Nicknight, a 12 year retrospective, and Flora, a series of flower pictures. Knight's work has been exhibited in many institutions such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, Saatchi Gallery, the Photographers Gallery and Hayward Gallery and recently The Tate Modern.  

http://nickknight.com/main.html

                                                   http://img.shockblast.net/2011/07/ShockBlast_lady-gaga-by-nick-knight-7.png

The photograph I have chosen includes the very famous Lady Gaga I love the fact Knight has used a black and white image but then to emphasize her lips he has kept them at the original colour of red. This photograph makes me think about a lot of unanswered questions such as ''why is she naked'' ''what is she looking at'' ''why is her hair so extravagant'' and ''why has he cropped the image to just her top half'' 

Other photographs I liked..

http://pdngallery.com/20years/fashion/images/10_nick_knight.jpg

http://www.shelikes.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/nick_knight.jpg
http://hauteblooded.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/raquel-zimmermann-shot-by-nick-knight-1.jpg
http://laurenskillmanphotography.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/nick-knight-2.jpeg

Cecil Beaton 

I chose to research Cecil Beaton as my second photographer I liked the fact a big majority of his work is in black and white. He developed his career and earned money by becoming a fashion photographer in the 1920s and 30s before becoming an award-winning costume designer for stage and film productions. Beaton designed book jackets and costumes for charity afternoon performances, learning the professional craft of photography at the studio of Paul Tanqueray, until Vogue took him on regularly in 1927. He also set up his own studio and one of his earliest clients was Stephen Tennant. Beaton's photographs of Tennant and his circle are considered some of the best representations of the Bright Young people of the twenties and thirties. 

Cecil Beaton's first camera was a Kodak 3A folding camera. Over the course of him career, he employed both large format cameras, and smaller Rolleiflex cameras. Beaton was never known as a highly skilled technical photographer and intead focused on staging  a compelling model or scene and looking for the perfect shutter- release moment. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecil_Beaton

http://www.rorylewis.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/twiggy-by-barry-lategan-in-1966-the-picture-which-made-her-career.jpg

http://filmmakeriq.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Marilyn-Monroe-by-Cecil-Beaton.jpg

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/8/29/1346233873298/Cecil-Beaton-Theatre-of-W-005.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4R5x9GaiIAWF6uPQQkeO_6jv5bO_OlTN4U-d3fhS9LYozaWZ4GhUJ-kyOfU6cETO8m0S9ytYkAXbABMD2gM23ENvTgiZpA-6BthIZ9MthRaGuUUkqZ3u9_ihHCJwTSXAU9E4aDOoBRq0/s1600/Cecil+Beaton+Salvador+Dali.jpg