Tag: Designing

Contemporary Fashion: The Minimalist’s Coverbook

Models walk the runway at the 3.1 Phillip Lim Fashion Show during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Fall 2015 at Skylight Clarkson SQ. on February 16, 2015 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.

Introduction

The sense of fashion never goes out-of-date for a true fashionista. Among the Millions of fashion lingos in today’s market , one that often dominantly buzzes around, is the term “Contemporary Fashion”.Meant to describe labels with a designer aesthetic and more accessible price points and we use the term “accessible” loosely, with most pieces averaging out around $500 , the term means big bucks where the fashion industry’s concerned, having become one of the biggest areas people spend their money in the last few years.

What Contemporary Fashion Is

Contemporary apparel is clothing that is accessible, in price and in terms of the way people wear it. The contemporary category often contains more modern-style clothes compared to the higher end luxury market. The voice of the contemporary industry is a bit more modern and a tad younger. Contemporary brands appeal to both the luxury shopper and the new breed of aspirational shopper.  This tier has become a go-to for women who can no longer justify shelling out huge amounts of cash on designer garb. It is also appealing to people bored of regular fashion and who are prepared to spend that little bit extra for something that will last.

A great contemporary brand is one with a unique look and feel. Garments and accessories will have interesting construction details and a good-quality finish. The collections are in line with seasonal trends but also incorporate signature items that consumers immediately recognize and associate with the designer brand.

A Harpen Fashion Show

Is It Futurist: The Sustainability Question

In fashion, the term ‘futuristic’ is often used to describe avant-garde clothing designs. It could refer to several things, such as the clothing’s method of production, the materials used, or the garment’s design. Futurism can even refer to the 20th century Italian art movement, and indeed, this movement addressed the problem of designing fashion for the 20th century. We would learn much by examining Futurist fashions in order to understand its legacy in relation to contemporary fashion designers viewed as futuristic today. This paper will review this legacy by looking at five specific examples—Italian Futurists and their contribution to classless and genderless fashion; French designer Yves Saint Laurent’s iconic minidress inspired by the De Stijl art movement; fashion designed specifically for women with active lifestyles; technological advancement and space exploration seen in the designs of André Courrèges and Pierre Cardin; and advancements in textile manufacturing during the late 20th and early 21st century in relation to Karl Lagerfeld, Donatella Versace, and Hussein Chalayan. This leads to the primary analysis of Iris van Herpen and other contemporary designers including Noa Raviv and Neri Oxman. Their designs will be discussed in relation to the problem of labelling fashion as futuristic.

A Paris Georgia Apparel

Challenges of Contemporary Fashion

The contemporary brands fashion market is clearly brimming with a high level of competition. The up-and-coming contemporary designers are forced to continuously compete with older, established luxury brands in the targeting of the younger generation of consumers. The contemporary market began out of consumers’ need and want to own versatile clothing that could be worn on a daily basis.  Stylish consumers were hungry for locating a head-to-toe outfit that luxury brands create, but could be sold at a more reasonable tag.

Simone Racha Catwalk Show at London Fashion Week

Scopes of Contemporary Fashion

Due to the fact that contemporary brands appeal to several groups of consumers, this industry will continue to see global opportunities. Fashion editors and industry insiders agree that contemporary brands have stolen the limelight and are helping to bridge the gap between luxury brands and main street.

Not only will contemporary labels allow you to up your designer arsenal without forcing you to exist on an exclusively Kraft Dinner diet, but the pieces are also constructed with everyday wear in mind (no couture-like assembly required). Not to mention that contemporary lines still boast that oh-so-coveted designer aesthetic and quality craftsmanship—perfect if you’re looking to break away from the usual suspects in fast fashion retail.

Famous Contemporary Fashion Designers and Their Works

Carven: Founded in 1945 in Paris, Carven has enjoyed a resurgence since the hiring of designer Guillaume Henry in 2009, who transformed the house from old-school couturier into the cool girl’s label du jour.

Carven Spring 2014 ready-to-wear collection
Carven Fall-Winter 2015-16 collection

N°21:  Started in 2010 in Milan by designer Alessandro Dell’Acqua, the brand offers a smorgasbord of whimsical designs that can be effortless.

N°21 Spring- Summer 2018 collection
N°21 Spring-Summer 2021 collection

Jonathan Simkhai: Starting from NYC His first womenswear collection was shown in 2010, where Simkhai debuted his take on dressing for today’s cosmopolitan woman. A master at tailoring oversized pieces to flatter the female form, his designs run the gamut from exaggerated boxer shorts to basketball jerseys.

Simkhai Fall 2017 collection
Simkhai Fall 2020 ready-to-wear collection

Sandro : Launched by husband-and-wife duo Didier and Evelyne Chétrite, Sandro is a well-known and popular brand in the contemporary market.  Since its launch in 1984 (in the Marais district of Paris), the label has gathered a cult following with women charmed by its insouciant, season less separates and rock’n’roll aesthetic. Sandro has stores worldwide in places such as New York and Japan, and a flagship store based in Covent Garden, central London.

A Sandro Store
Sandro Spring-Summer 2021 Menswear Collection

Conclusion

Consumers want to feel like they own something special and unique. They want exclusive quality labels that are not mass produced, yet are still affordable.  It is important to keep in mind that this category is less expensive then higher tiers such as Haute Couture, but the prices are clearly higher than budget collections.The changing demographic of fashion consumers and the rise of contemporary brands. To stay in the game, luxury fashion marketers must compete on a global scale.

Graphic design

Graphic design is the process of visual communication and problem solving through the use of type, space and image. The field is considered a subset of visual communication and communication design but sometimes the term ‘graphic design’ is used interchangeably with these due to overlapping skills involved. Graphic designers use various methods to create and combine words, symbols and images to create a visual arts and page layout techniques to produce a final result. Graphic design often refers to both the process (designing) by which the communication is created and the products (design) which are generated. Common uses of graphic design include identity, publications, print advertisements, posters, billboards, website graphics and elements, signs and product packaging. For example a product package might include a logo for other artwork organised text and pure design elements sketches images shapes and colour which unified the piece. Composition is one of the most important features of graphic design specially when using pre existing materials or diverse elements.

•Skills

A graphic design project me in work to stylisation and presentation of existing text and either pre existing imagery or images developed by the graphic designer. Artistic pieces can be incorporated in both traditional and digital forms which involves the use of visual arts typography and page layout techniques for publications and marketing for example a newspaper story begins with the journalist and photo journalist and then becomes the graphic designer job to organise the page into a reasonable layout and determine if any other graphic element should be required. In a magazine article or advertisement often the graphic designer or art director will commission photographers or illustrators to create original pieces just to be incorporated into the design layout or the designer may utilise stock imagery or photography. Contemporary design practice has been extended to the modern computer. Nearly all popular and ‘industry standard’ software programs used for graphic design since the early 1990’s are products of Adobe systems incorporated. They are Adobe Photoshop (a raster based program for photo editing), Adobe illustrator (a vector based program for drawing), Adobe InDesign ( a page layout program) and Adobe Dreamweaver (for webpage design).

Another major page layout tool is QuarkXPress (a product of Quark Inc. a separate company from Adobe). Both QuarkXPress and Adobe InDesign are often used in the final stage of the electronic design process. Raster images maybe edited in Adobe Photoshop, logos and illustrations in Adobe illustrator and the final product may be assembled in one of the major page layout programs. Most graphic designers entering the field since 1990 are expected to be proficient in at least one or two of these programs.

my work

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•Occupation

Graphic design career paths cover all ends of the creative spectrum and often overlap. Employment within graphic design in walls workers performing specialised tasks such as design services publishing advertising and public relations. The main job responsibility of a graphic designer is the arrangement of visual elements in some type of media. The main job titles within the industry can vary and are often country specific. They can include graphic designer, are director, creative director former animator and the entry level production artist. Depending on the industry served commerce responsibilities may have different titles such as DTP associate and graphic artist But despite changes in the title graphic design principles remain consistent who start the responsibilities may come from early to specialised skills such as illustrations photography animation or interactive design. Today’s graduate in graphic design students are normally exposed to all these areas of graphic design and I guided to become familiar with all of them as well in order to be competitive. Graphic designers will face strong competition when applying for positions for organizations look for candidates with convincing talents and college level education post of field requirements consist of having strong portfolio and bachelors degree first of graphic designers can work in a variety of environments while many will work in companies devoted specifically to the industry such as design consultancies or branding agencies, others may work in publishing, marketing for other communication companies. Increasingly, special sense the introduction of personal computers to the industry commerce many graphic designers have found themselves working in non design oriented organizations as in house designers. Graphic designers may also work as freelance designers, working on their own terms, prices, ideas etc. A graphic designer reports to the art director, creative director or senior media creative. As a designer becomes more senior, he/she may spend less time designing media and more time leading and directing other designers on broader creative activities such as brand development and corporate identity development. Senior designers are often expected to interact more directly with clients, for example taking and interpreting briefs.

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