Professional Practice - Getting a Job!!!

I have been amending and updating my Blog so that it contains a digital portfolio of all my work, during a tutorial it was mentioned to me that a few of my pieces were portrait whilst most were landscape, and that I should choose which way round I wanted my portfolio to be and amend all boards to reflect that decision.

I have now amended all my work so that it is Landscape and I am really happy with it.

I have set up my Linkedin page, which includes my CV and a link to this blog. All of these things were quite time consuming but let me tell you, worth it. Although I have had little activity for either pages, I am proud of my work and I am happy for the world to see it, hopefully all the hard work will pay off and I will get my first design job soon!

I have still to send off my CV and I have decided that initially I am going to send it off to:

Tesco
ASOS
Debenhams
George
The Arcadia Group

I have also decided that based on the fact that I have person needs for a fully paid job and that I have quite an extensive employment history within the fashion industry, I am going to send the work, CV and covering letter off in the hope that I get some interest for a fully paid position, whether that be full or part-time. It will if nothing else prepare me for my job seeking once my degree is completed, and hopefully my work will be remembered at that time and a job will be available for me to interview for.

I am quite optimistic that my previous employment history will definitely be a useful tool when scouting for a job, my understanding of a products life-cycle can only be an advantage, but in addition, my experience working to deadlines and preparing creative presentations for clients can only place me in good stead for my future.

All Saints - Trend Analysis cont...

Next step was to take a look at designer trends that would influence the All Saints design process.
I have taken a look at, Diesel, Topshop Unique, Vivienne Westwood and Phillip Lim, to name but a few.

I looked at Skirts, Jackets (leather and cotton mix), dresses and tops.

Dresses:


There was a lot of draping on the catwalk, from Westwood and Topshop. This seems a strong look and should be included within the design process.
The fabrics seem either soft cottons or fine jerseys.
I think I will use jersey, as this hugs the from with ease and comfort. All Saints are more about comfort than structure.




Jackets:
Bernard Chandran, showed the nipped in waists and a very natural, effortless look

With Leather jackets, the fabrics look thinner and the styles look either nipped in at the waist or boyfriends jacket styling.
Whilst Helmut Lang showed a mix of colour and fabrics. Using panels to exaggerate colour.
But we also had a lot of asymmetric styles, including Salvatore Ferragamo with muted tones in lux leather.



We also had Vivienne Westwood show jackets with volume and folds, draping and layering, with nipped in waists and uneven hemlines.
She also had wide shoulders, with a soft structured look.
Colours were muted, earthy tones, with a worn-in look to leathers



Skirts:

Yamamoto

Long and short, with worn edges and panelling. Short skirts had gathers, layers, panels and volume. Uneven hemlines and comfort.

Colours were muted tones and natural moods. Atsuro gave us panelling with a difference, the denim long maxi skirt had frayed edges, in a very light worn blue. Topshop showed us how to wear a smart skirt, and make it look comfortable but elegant, with a wrap, asymmetric, uneven hem-lined white skirt, whilst Titel showed panelling to the max, in shades of black through greys and played with grain-lines and symmetry.

Tops:
 Long shirt like tops, with pockets and panels, and an ease and non-restrictive look. Soft silks and natural linens and soft cottons.

All Pictures are from www.stylesite.com

All Saints - Trend analysis

I started looking at the All Saints website, which has a few new season items for the Spring Summer range, although more pieces would be added as the season closes in, I would think.

Colour:
Colour is muted tones, with a few pieces in light greys and off whites. A few colours are used to lift the muted tones with a little teal and silver, aqua and dirty pinks being used within prints and embellishments.

Silhouettes:
Whilst most garments are sympathetic to the female form, there is always a simplicity and an androgynous feel to the items, which reflects my interview findings, that items that do well will often be subject to minor alterations in order to be able to sell within the alternative section, men's wear of women's wear.
Asymmetric lines and draping is also apparent, with boxy lines used for jackets and outerwear.

Lines:
Tops: nothing too fancy, very casual looking items that could be dressed up with some styling knowledge, or confidence. Graphic prints seem very important to the All Saints signature and it would be silly if this was over looked within my collection.
Dresses: jersey, draping and print. The draping is kept to a minimum and the fabrics seem rich and soft.
Skirts: Leather seems to be the fabric of the moment, however I believe that as summer creeps in this will change. Mini skirts and pencil skirt, but this reflects the autumn winter trends.
Leather: Jackets are made with men and women in mind with a few pieces that are more feminine or masculine. Leather tops, and trouser as well as skirts with very expensive looking and feeling leather.
Jackets: Boxy, classic and simple styles. Some draping and clean lines.

With the interview and the store visit, along with the research online at their All Sites site, I have managed to put together a Customer Profile.

I then looked online for SS13 trends.

Stylesite is an amazing tool to look into future trends and I started with colour trends for SS13.
I looked through all the trends and felt that the muted tones where the most appropriate feel for All Saints and from the three main colour moods, it is my thought that NEUTRAL is most sympathetic to All Saints.
After continued research, I think that FAUX BLACKS would be an accent colour that would be included within the brand for SS13


I then continued with prints for spring summer, as this seemed to be important to All Saints. After looking through all the print ideas I rested on The Beauty Within. After visiting the store it was obvious that All Saints liked the grungy rock chick look, and this included many images of skulls, which seemed to be reflected within this print mood. I have decided to create a print that can be used throughout the range but mostly for their graphic t shirts range.

To Do:
1. Create a print for designs
1. Start design development

All Saints Interview

I have managed to carry out an interview with a  employee from All Saints head office.

How do they design?

They have a very intellectual approach to employing their design team, they make sure that all areas are covered and that they have an expert in each area, whether that be hand drawing or CAD drawing, embellishment or Tailored Wear. An example of this is that at that time the Head Designer thought little of his drawing skills, they were not what he would call where his expertise lie, but he made sure that he had people around him that he could rely on to do his sketching for him.

They make sure that their mens wear and women's wear compliment each other and that the teams work closely with each other so as not to miss any key design crossovers, if something works well for the mens wear collection and shows growth in sales then a women's equivalent will be designed, having the same design but with more focus on the female form, nipped in wast and shaping for the bust.

How important is a design silhouette to All Saints?

Its important to to All Saints to be very aware of trends and fashions, but equally it is important to design for the form, All Saints carry a lot of their design process out whilst draping on the stand, many of the silhouettes are creating from this format. Most of the designer work in 3D and not Flat.

How do All Saints see their image?

All Saints like to have a close affiliation with the music industry, this is massively important to them, they have sponsored The Kooks and Johnny Borrell from Razorlight, they have held numerous Basement gigs in their stores and sponsor the William's F1 team, including their brand logo on the F1 cars and the F1 boiler-suits, with the thought that Lewis Hamilton has upgraded the F1 image to a more rock and roll status.

Who do All Saints see as their competitors?

Mostly they see themselves as upper high-street, very upper high-street with their competitors being Ted Baker and Topshop, they do not like being compared to French Connection although their pricing is similar.

What do they see as their target market?

They like to see themselves within the 20-30yr old Fashion conscious, music lover. Someone who has a good job, someone who is quirky and has an individual style that maybe other high street stores don't cater to. they like to think that the All Saints shopper uses theirs stores for the bulk of their wardrobe and that he or she likes to dress top to tail in All Saints, they like going to gigs and like to think of themselves as a little more important than the rest of society, being invited to secret gigs, getting backstage passes and maybe living a bit of the rock star lifestyle.

What is the buying ratio for sizes?

Sizes 4 to 14, with maybe one or two jean pieces straying into size 16's. The buying ration is weighted towards size 8 with a ratio that simulates from size 4, 2-3-3-2-1, with a ethos of design wide and buy shallow, putting an emphasis on trend and design not on profit, which sympathises with a fashion conscious shopper as a design led business.

What are their signature designs?

They like to produce a lot of embellishment, on dresses, on T-shirts, on leather on anything and everything, they do not like colour, they like muted tones, greys, black with a small amount of muted, duller shade of colour.

They are very proud of their leather, and have been known to sell with low margins, using the very best quality jackets. If you get yourself one good leather jacket then make it an All Saints one as they are of the best quality and they stay true to their retail points.

They also like the relaxed look, and have a vast array of T-shirts, all vintage looking with a print that is on trend.

Finally they have a growing Tailored collection, with a nod to the Italian tailoring and with an attention to the skilled techniques of tailoring, detail, detail, detail. and for all these signature areas design is the key, fabrics would be lux, detail would not be overlooked or removed for cost reasons. Design is the reason for the product and should not be compromised

Do they follow a 'Type' when it comes to employing sales staff?

Sort of, they like a quirky team, they like them to look as though they shop in All Saints but with a character of their very own, an individual look. They like the rock star look, employing staff that have bright red hair, or tattoos all over or piercing, people that may ordinarily in other job may be asked to tone done those aspect of their image.

So the key things I should remember when designing are, female form, embellishment, lux, trend and what is being shown on the catwalk but with an All Saints twist. Vintage look with a Rock Star feel. Focus on design and draping and not on colour.

I need to take a look at trends for SS13 and then look at the key pieces that All Saints actually place in store, then I can start designing

All Saints - Visit

I have now visited Brent Cross and Lakeside All Saints stores and the only real difference is the store fronts, and that is only really slight, but Lakeside have no Singer sewing machines in the store window and only display one in the store which is being utilised as a clothing rail, where as the Brent Cross store had more Singer sewing machine

Shop Window

The shop windows seem to be split, one either side of the doorway and one side showing Men's Wear fashions and other displaying Women's wear. At present due to the season we are in both windows are highlighting the fact that it is Sale season.

The Women's wear showed an outfit which included a leather biker jacket and a little black dress with a twist.

Inside the store you where welcomed with a large doorway and a very clean and sharp looking display, which delicately advertised their sale. Even during peak sale season, they do not appear to want to allow the sales signs to dominate their branding.

When you first enter the store you also become aware of space, mood lighting and nothing is bright, the walls are, although mostly painted white brickwork, they are warn and weathered, helping to create a vintage basement feel. The mannequins are cream and a little worn looking helping to give a slightly vintage feel about the store, quality over new.

The sizing, although we are currently in Sales season so selling stock that is left over from the AW12 season, appears to be weighted towards size 6 and 8, with a few sizes venturing towards the size 6 and 4, but small amounts at the top end of 12 with very few at 14 and none that I could find any higher.

The swing tag is heavy and worn looking, with a feeling of vintage and antique with a modern twist. They are made from thick card and have leather and metal detail and secured by string attaching to garment. 

The sales that where made were placed in large vintage looking off white bags with only the name Ass Saints print on the side

The clothes inside the store range from evening wear, through office wear and include everyday wear and casual. You could essentially buy your entire wardrobe from All Saint, if you could afford to.

The sales staff all look as though fashion is important to them but it looks easy and a bit rock star meets Glastonbury. They all look a little quirky and as if they have a style of their very own.

They look as though they have a design philosophy of grungy designer wear, with an attention to detail and a strong eye on trend and fashion, looking at Topshop and Vivienne Westwood. They seem to relish in their vintage looking rock T-shirts and they have a very strong leather collection including many leather jackets. These appeared to be their signature pieces, along with draped dresses and masses of detailed embellishment.

All Saints - Brief received

We have received our brief for the All Saints project, we need to visit All Saints, research the brand, design about 6 outfits that would complement their SS13 collection.

I have started by looking at All Saints online profile, they have a website that is focused on their Spitalfields branch, they have what appears to be very fashion and design focused items but they lack colour and maintain a very black, brown and muted tones palette.

I need to try and speak to someone that works for All Saints, maybe get myself and interview with someone and I need to visit a few branches of the store.

To Do:

1. Visit Brent Cross and Lakeside All Saints Stores
2. Try and acquire an interview with an employee
3. Research All Saints history and ethos
4. Research All Saints profile and image
5. Research All Saints online store for design and collection and fabric compositions

CV and Linkedin

I have updated my CV and have amended some of the parts so that it shows my career path in what I think is it best light. I have included the link to my blog page which is also my online portfolio page and will be my link to Linkedin.
I have set up my Linkedin page and have completed it in full. This now included all my skills and all my work experience and education. It also have links to projects that I have completed and am proud of, which show the skills I believe are important to the type of work I wish to gain and the level of the market I wish to join.
Now I need to improve my connections, which is proving difficult as all the contacts I have made within my time working in the fashion industry do not appear to have Linkedin status, sadly, but I will try and gain connections regardless, positive mental attitude and all.

Blog - Updated
CV - Updated
Linkedin - Achieved and complete

Updating Blogger

I have spent a great length of time updating the apprearance of my Blog so that it has an image I can be proud of. I have cleaned it up so that it is not so busy and looks easy to reasd and easy to navigate, I have added a design pportfolio and a dress making portfolio so help with gaining job interviews and help with the two areas of the industry I have an interest in, design and making.
I am a lot happier with the outcome and although I still need to add a link to my linkedin page, once its set up, I feel it is now somehting I am happy showing others.

Things to do: Up date my CV and set up my Linkedin account

Linkedin/CV Seminar

I attended a seminar about improving your Job Opportunities by getting your CV up to date and joining the technology revolution. Linkedin, it would appear is the new online networking system that allows you to connect with like minded professional, keep up to date with companies you have interest in and to elevate your career opportunities by broadcasting your CV to other professionals.
I became aware of the importance of making sure that you maintain a professional online appearance through all social and professional networks and that you need to be aware of how your image is being presented online.
As I have no online CV I thought it would be a priority to get Linkedin, in order to do this I will need to update my CV and then use that as a tool to get my Linkedin account up and running.

Online Profile Seminar

We were invited to attend a seminar that would improve our online profile knowledge, this seminar included ideas about creating your own website and also how to improve your online presence.
I found it all very interesting and very motivating. I enjoyed learning about how to create your own www. address and the benefits of this and how to use the blogger page as a website. I also learnt the importance of using the blog as a way of introducing viewers to you as a Designer. How to layout the page and tips on how people navigate around websites.
Although I already have a Blog, I decided it would be necessary for me to revisit the themes of my page, the layout and the navigation.
To do: redesign my blogger pages so that a possible viewer would spend more time on the site and would be able to find what they were looking for with ease