Customer Profile

Swing Tickets

Swing tickets communicate the brand imagery and point of sale information.




These are good examples of swing tickets because i think that they are simple yet effective. They aren't too colouful or busy which makes the brand look classy and expensive. They have the right enough of information so that the customer easily has the they need.
Swing tags are manufactured from a range of materials, including paper-board, fabric, plastics, metal and even wood  They are often accessorised with eye-letting, stringing and folding.


Swing Ticket for my brand:

For my swing ticket I wanted it to be detailed and to reflect my brand and theme. My initial idea for the swing ticket was to have it as 3 separate pieces of paper layered on top of each other. The first piece will have the name of my brand. 'Shards' then second piece will be an image of a window and the third piece will have the safety features, bar-code, price, size etc. 

Brand Identity-Trend Board

Trend Board Evaluation:

My trend board is bright and colourful and reflects the theme for my final major project. The colour palette consists of pink, orange, purple, plum and black. My theme focuses on the shape and silhouettes of windows with the patterns and colour of stained glass windows. My designs have intricate detailing and patterns but aren't too busy.   


Windows Trend board Inspiration:





Brand Identity.

Previously in this blog I researched about the brand 'Heinz.' Through my research I discovered that they have a huge brand identity through their logo. Mostly everyone recognises the Heinz logo as it is so well known and a popular brand nowadays. When advertising, Heinz don't need a really informative poster or advert, as long as they have their famous brand logo, then they know people will understand that it's their advert. Having a brand identity is key for big businesses. It means that they can have minimal advertising as long as they have a known logo, slogan or image that is used for their business a lot. 
High end designer shops like Chanel and Louboutin all have brand identities that are very different but work in the same way. Chanel have their famous linking 'CC' logo which is added to every bag so that clients know they are getting a legitimate bag from their brand. Having a logo or brand identity on garments or accessories is an easy way to promote a brand too. If a women walks around London all day with a Chanel bag it will draw a lot of attention and the logo on the bag will let everyone know that it is Chanel. Meaning that Chanel are getting the brand seen, without intending to do it. Word of mouth advertising is the biggest success as people always look to their friends and family for advise as they know that it is true and realistic. Louboutin also have a similar idea with their brand identity. The famous red sole on all Louboutin shoes is probably the most famous shoe identity. As Louboutins are very expensive shoes, when a person buys them they want people to know that they are that brand. Like Chanel, Louboutin shoes advertise every time someone wears them as they are so known for the red sole, that everyone who sees them knows straight away the. 

What is a Trend Journal?

What is a trend journal?

A trend journal is a source of information about the most important and new trends that will be shaping the future.

Trend Predictions for SS/17-18

What information is in a trend journal?

A trend journal includes:
* Colour palette
*Fabric Swatches
*Inspiration images
*Title
*Written information
*Designer information
*Theme images 
*Prints and patterns
*Textures

Trend Companies?

WGSN
Trendstop.com
Pinterest
Pattern to plan
Promostyl.com
Fashion Trendsetter
Lookbook.nu
Edelkort.com
Fashionising.com
Fashion capital

A day in the life of a trend predictor.

Typical Duties:
Use of subscription based services to help predict trends
Research cultural, economic, world trade and celebrity style trends
Use creativity to come up with new ideas
Maintain and expand relationships with contacts in the industry
Keep track of competition if working in a fashion house
Present research to the designer
Provide operational and creative support to designers

Skills and Interests:

• Show a keen interest in past and current fashion trends
• Have a thorough knowledge of the fashion industry
• Have good networking and communicational skills
• Be imaginative and creative
• Have the right I.T skills
• Be willing to do extensive research

Salary:
Trend forecasters are paid by companies, clients, designers. Anyone who they work for will pay them for doing the vital part of researching for a trend. 

Fashion & Trend Forecasting

Fashion Forecasting.

Collaborative Trend Forecast Mood Boards, Women's Spring 2017 Preview

https://www.weconnectfashion.com/articles/collaborative-trend-forecast-mood-boards-women-s-spring-2017-preview

What is a Trend Prediction?

Trend prediction is a career that focuses on the upcoming 

fashion trends and styles. They help to choose the final 

colours, fabrics, textures, materials and prints. These will be 

finalised by designers and presented on a catwalk show for 

upcoming seasons.

Difference between Fashion Forecasting and Trend Forecasting?

A fashion forecaster looks into predicting the colours, fabrics, textures, materials, prints and trims that will be popular for the upcoming seasons. This is vital information as it is needed to create the final looks and style for a catwalk show. 


A trend forecaster looks into predicting the shapes, cuts, styles and silhouettes of clothing. This is needed to create the overall look of the garments worn on the catwalk. 


What is long-term and short-term forecasting?

The process of long-term forecasting is analyzing and evaluating style. The trends can be identified by scanning a range of sources for the information that is needed. 

Short-term forecasting is about events that are happening now, in present time. It focuses on identifying what's going on in the world and then communicates this through seasonal colour palettes, fabrics and silhouettes  to a client or customer. 

Politics, Social, Ecological, Legal, Technological.

Working in a group we wrote down the key factors under politics, social, ecological, legal and technological. We looked at how these can effect fashion and what has happened lately or in the past to do with these factors. 

Global Warming and Climate Change

Making Climate Change Fashionable 

In Paris, climate change was the talk of the city. Lots of  industry's, other than energy production, are important sources of greenhouse gas emissions – agriculture, iron and metal smelting, cement production, waste treatment and…the fashion industry.
Fashion has been blamed for releasing carbon emissions and creating a bad climate in the atmosphere.

The fashion industry accounts for 10% of global carbon emissions and remains the second largest industrial polluter, second only to oil.

This isn't that surprising since it’s a £4 trillion global industry. The apparel market in the United States tops the world, contributing close to a third of the global total.

Some well known fashionistas are looking seriously at the industry’s role in environmental pollution and climate change. Zady is one of these new sustainable fashion brands and is a leading voice of the slow fashion movement that has created online resources for consumers to learn how their clothing decisions can have a large impact on the environment.

And they present some amazing facts:

-  Nearly 70 million barrels of oil are used each year to make the world’s polyester fiber, which is now the most commonly used fiber in our clothing. But it takes more than 200 years to decompose.

- More than 150 billion garments are produced annually, enough to provide 20 new garments to every person on the planet, every year.

- Americans throw away about 70 lbs of clothing per person every year.

My Views:

As a fashion student I am very interested in the fashion industry and how clothes are produced, promoted, and sold to customers and clients. I am also very into the environment and keeping things green and a healthier world to live in. I personally understand that because the fashion industry is so popular and is a necessity for day-to-day life that it is inevitable that it will create pollution and unhealthy emissions. Saying this i believe that there are ways in which the industry can cut down on the amounts of carbon emissions and pollution being emitted into the air. 

To do this I think we need to make more people aware of the problem. When we think of pollution, we envision coal power-plants, raw sewage piped into out waterways and strip-mined mountaintops. Most people don't understand or have the knowledge that in fact, the clothes we wear everyday impact the climate and environment more and more everyday. 
I personally believe that if people were more aware of how garments are made and produce emissions that are ruining the world, they would be more interested in learning about what clothes produce less harm to the environment. This way the companies that manufacture clothes that produce a lot of harm would go down in business as more people would be opting for the healthier production of clothes to the environment meaning that in the long run, wither the companies would opt for a lower emission production service or would ultimately end up closing down. 

Trickle Up, Trickle Down and Trickle Across.

Trickle Up:

The theory of 'Trickle-Up fashion' is when a style or trend that is started and worn by a lower income group of people. These everyday people make the trend popular and the specific style is copied by catwalk fashion that is more high end. 

Trickle Down:

The theory of 'Trickle-Down fashion' is the opposite of trickle up. High end designers produce trends and styles that become very popular and worn a lot. High street stores then use the designs as inspiration for their own designs. 


Trickle Across:
The theory of 'Trickle-Across fashion' is when a shop is able to appeal to a large variety of people with different price ranges and styles. It does this while still being produced on a mass basis. It suits a wide range of peoples budgets and style and appeals to lots of customers. The stores normally split into different sections where they have high street at one side and high end at the other so the customers can go over and look through the section that suits them the best. 

Minimum Wage; How it affects Fashion?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/rates-and-thresholds-for-employers-2015-to-2016

National Minimum Wage

The National Minimum Wage is the minimum pay per hour almost all workers are entitled to by law. 

The rates below are from the 1st October 2015 and are likely to change again on 1 October 2016 as they usually go up every year. 

Category of worker	Hourly rate
Aged 21 and above	£6.70
Aged 18 to 20 inclusive	£5.30
Aged under 18 (but above compulsory school leaving age)	£3.87
Apprentices aged under 19	£3.30
Apprentices aged 19 and over, but in the first year of their apprenticeship	£3.30

Previous years minimum wage 2010-2015

Year	21 and over	18 to 20	Under 18	Apprentice*
2015 (current rate)	£6.70	£5.30	£3.87	£3.30
2014	£6.50	£5.13	£3.79	£2.73
2013	£6.31	£5.03	£3.72	£2.68
2012	£6.19	£4.98	£3.68	£2.65
2011	£6.08	£4.98	£3.68	£2.60
2010	£5.93	£4.92	£3.64	£2.50

How the new Living Wage will affect retailers

UK's low wage workers are to see the national minimum wage, which currently stands at just 6.50 pounds per hour, rise to 7.20 pounds for over 25s and rising to 9 pounds by 2020.

Whilst this is great news for workers struggling on a low income trying to survive in one of the most expensive cities in the world, the fashion and retail industry has warned its sector faces a huge rise in labor costs after the government's promise to raise the national wage.

From April next year, businesses will be required to increase the wage, with some high street retailers, like Next, already issuing profit warnings. Next has stated the National Living Wage will cost the business 27 million pounds each year from 2016 until the end of the decade.

Next will see its wage bill increase to 147 million pounds

Next year's increase will cost the business just 2 million pounds but thereafter the increases will be much higher, taking the total wage bill to 147 million pounds by 2020.

The retail industry is, of course, staffed by many low-wage workers. Boutique assistants and stockroom staff are some of the lowest paid jobs in the country, despite being part of a key sector to the UK economy. The fashion industry employs nearly 3 percent of the population at just under 800,000 workers. Many of whom are on the minimum wage.

My Views:

I believe that as the minimum wage increases each year, retailers and companies start to loose out on money as they have to pay their workers a higher wage which cuts into there profits. You would think this is the case but i personally think that when the wage goes up, so does the companies price that they charge. For example, if the minimum wage goes up by 20p then a business like Topshop would increase there prices of clothes by 20p, if not more. They would do that so they don't end up loosing a profit. I also believe that they need to do this because if the minimum wage rises so does the cost of their manufacturing and producing the garments as they need to pay those workers more meaning that the average production of a garment goes up. If they kept the price of the clothes the same when the minimum wage rises each year, then they would end up loosing a large amount of their profit. This is because they would be paying their workers from each part of the cycle a higher amount but they wouldn't be getting the money from anywhere but there profits. But if there profits are rising then it doesn't matter if they cut into it a little to pay the workers more.
I believe that increasing the minimum wage each years seems like a great idea but it reality i think that increasing the wage means increasing the price of living. Workers will be paid more but  household items, clothes, groceries and leisure would also increase in price meaning that by upping the wage doesn't actually increase your overall income.

Calvin Klein

Calvin Klein is an American fashion house founded by the fashion designer Calvin Klein. The company is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan, New York City and is currently owned by PVH.

In 1968, Klein founded Calvin Klein Limited, a coat shop in the York Hotel in New York City, with $10,000. The first Calvin Klein collection was a line of "youthful, understated coats and dresses" featured at the New York City store, Bonwit Teller.

 In September 1969, Klein appeared on the cover of Vogue magazine

About the designer:

Calvin Klein was born on November 19, 1942, in Bronx, New York. He studied fashion in New York City and apprenticed for a suit manufacturer. In 1968, he opened his own company. He was initially recognized for suits and coats, but his sportswear line became popular as well. He received three Coty Awards for womenswear. His business now includes clothing, cosmetics, fragrances and home collections.

Promotion:

Celebrity endorsement:

Celebrity branding is a type of branding or advertising in which a celebrity becomes a brand ambassador and uses his or her status in society to promote or endorse a product, service or charity.

Calvin Klein is known for its celebrity endorsement, from supermodels to actors and singers. Calvin Klein normally have a massive campaign with there chosen celebrity that consists off many billboard pictures, adverts and short videos to help promote the brand. Using 

Product:

Calvin Klein; Women's Underwear Sets.





Price: Sports bra £30
Normal bras range from £32 to £53
Pants range from £18 to £31

In fiscal 2013 (ended January) Calvin Klein Licensing rang up $425 million in sales, while Calvin Klein Apparel brought in $750 million. Overall, worldwide retail sales of products sold under the Calvin Klein brands were approximately $7.6 billion fiscal 2013.


Place:
Online. They have a hugely popular online sites available to view all over the world. You can order from them at any time and get them to deliver to your house at a shipping cost, depending on where you live. 
Stores. As of today, there is only one Calvin Klein Collection store operated by CKI. However they do have hundreds of stores worldwide but these are for underwear and a few are sportswear as well. 

Couture, Global, Mail Order, Elite Chain, Mass Market, High Street and Street Fashion

High End (Designer)

Elie Saab
Elie Saab was born on the 4th of July 1964. He is a Lebanese fashion designer. His main workshop is in Lebanon, with additional workshops in Milan and Paris.
The brand of Elie Saab is very expensive with dresses ranging from 3,000, 8,000 to even 10,000.

I absolutely love Elie Saabs dresses as they are colourful, feminine and sophisticated. His work is effortless and always on trend. He continues to design garments that are worn all over the world by celebrities and rich well known people. 

High Street

H & M Hennes & Mauritz (H&M) is a Swedish multinational retail-clothing company, known for its fast-fashion clothing for men, women, teenagers and children. H & M clothes ranges from £20-£30 for dresses, £7.99-£19.99 for tops and £7.99-£24.99. I really like the clothing in H&M as they are fashionable at affordable prices. The clothes are normally inspired by high-end/designer clothes so they are always on trend with the newest styles. 

Marketing Mix- 4 P's and Pop-Up Store

4P's of Marketing.

Product- What a business offers so satisfy its customers.
Price- The amount the customer pays for a product
Promotion- The way a customer is informed about a product, how they first see the product.
Place- (Distribution) involves getting the product to the customer.

Product: Our pop up store was called 'Health Kick' a healthy eating shop that sells organic foods and drinks for breakfast lunch light dinners and snacks. Deciding on the price was difficult as we wanted it to be cheaper than going to a restaurant but not be too expensive as we have some competitors. We had to think about our products and that the ingredients need to be fresh and organic meaning that they are more expensive to buy than pre-packaged frozen foods. Our packaging wanted to reflect our product which we wanted to be environmentally friendly. We decided on brown paper bags so that it is easily disposed of and is recyclable. We also added disposable cutlery that could also be washed and re-used, using recyclable materials. We would also have the name of the brand on the bags so that it promotes the store as well. The pop up store would be placed around office blocks, gyms, leisure centers, and local stores. 

Marketing Mix

A marketing mix is a business tool used in marketing. The marketing mix is very crucial when determining a product/brands price product promotion and place. Working in a group we designed a cake with different layers. We wrote down the different ingredients used to make the cake. The ingredients work as the 4 p's and show that without each ingredient, the  cake wouldn't work. So without each of the 4 p's, marketing wouldn't work as well.

Past, Present & Future Advertising 

I focused on the brand Heinz to research their past and present advertising techniques. I started this research by searching for the first ever advertising from the brand which was in black and white. Heinz was founded in 1869 so advertising at that time was mostly posters and leaflets as technology wasn't advanced/ wasn't existing. The advertising consisted of images of the product with lots of detailing, a title, and written information about the product. As Heinz's advertising becomes more modern it actually becomes less detailed. Nowadays their advertising is very minimal and with just one image and their famous logo on a poster. I feel that this is because they are a well known brand so don't need lots of detailed information to get their brand identity across to customers. I noticed that the most recent advertising techniques include humour which is a great way to advertise. They will catch the customers eye and is more likely to stick in their mind if it made them laugh. 

I think that in the future, Heinz will have more 3D advertising. This is because technology is getting very advanced. Maybe in a couple years, they might even have interactive advertising. I believe that this would be a great way to advertise as it would make the customers remember the brand and would probably tell their friends about it.