Fashion

Fashion

fash-ion
'faSHen'

Noun: A popular trend, especially in styles of dress, ornament or behaviour.
Verb: Make into a particular form.
Synonyms: 
Noun: mode - style - manner - way - vogue - form - shape
Verb: shape - mold - mould - form - model - make

Fashion is a general term for a popular style or practice, especially in

• clothing 
• footwear
• accessories
• makeup
• body piercing
• or furniture

Fashion refers to a distinctive and often habitual trend in the style in which a person dresses or to prevailing styles in behaviour. Fashion also refers to the newest creations of textile designers. The more technical term costume has become so linked to the term "fashion" that the use of the former has been relegated to special senses like fancy dress or masquerade wear, while "fashion" means clothing more generally, including the study of it. Although aspects of fashion can be feminine or masculine, some trends are androgynous. (Androgyny refers to the combination of masculine and feminine characteristics)

http://moderneraphotography.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/androgynous-fashion.jpg

Popular fashions are close to impossible to trace. No one can tell how the short skirts and boots worn by teenagers in England in 1960 made it to the runways of Paris, or how blue jeans became so popular in the U.S., or how hip-hop made it from the streets of the Bronx to the Haute Couture fashion shows of London and Milan.

It's easy to see what's popular by watching sit-coms on television: the bare mid-riffs and athletic clothes of 90210, the baggy pants of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. But the direction of fashion relies on "plugged-in" individuals to react to events, and trends in music, art and books.

High fashion is the style of a small group of men and women with a certain taste and authority in the fashion world. People of wealth and position, buyers for major department stores, editors and writers for fashion magazines are all part of Haute Couture ("High Fashion" in French). Some of these expensive and often artistic fashions may triumph and become the fashion for the larger majority. Most stay on the runway.

I would say I do not follow fashion trends religiously, but I am aware of them. I think what attracts me to fashion, is the glamour, the luxury and the high-end nature of it all. Fashion is forever changing and creates new opportunities on a daily basis. Seasons also over even more change and a chance to reinvent. Fashion sometimes pushes the boundaries but it also has a very traditional side e.g. Vivienne Westwood, pushed the boundaries in the 70's when she came to public attention, when she made clothes for Malcom McLaren's boutique on King's Road. This line of clothing became known as 'SEX'

http://woodstockwardrobe.files.wordpress.com/2012/04/vivienne-westwood.jpeg

Even now Vivienne Westwood continues to push fashion. Just recently her catwalk show attempted to show her views on climate change...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2421271/London-Fashion-Week-Vivienne-Westwood-attempts-eco-fashion-help-Lily-Cole.html 

Vivienne Westwood likes to push what fashion is and isn't afraid to broadcast her political views. 

 I would also say my main area of interest within fashion is womens wear, including accessories, footwear, hair and beauty. I like anything from luxury brands like chanel, to high street ranges like topshop. And I would love to work with any.

Fashion Retailers in the UK

A Adams Childrenswear Aerosoul Agent Provocateur  Alexon Group AllSaints Animal  Ann Summers Aquascutum Arcadia Group Asda ASOS.com Avenue 32 B B & M Bellville Sassoon Ben Sherman Sara Berman Biba Blue Inc Ozwald Boateng Bonmarché Boxfresh Bravissimo  British Home Stores Budwals Burton  C Cad and the Dandy Chester Barrie CuteCircuit D D2  Dents Derek Rose Dorothy Perkins Duchamp  Dunn & Co. E Edinburgh Woollen Mill Ethel Austin Evans Timothy Everest F Faith  Nicole Farhi Fifty Shilling Tailors Figleaves

Finisterre  Freemans French Connection  G Gieves & Hawkes Granny Takes a Trip Grattan plc Greenwoods H Hackett London Harding Howell and Company's Grand Fashionable Magazine High and Mighty (clothing) House of Fraser I Internacionale Retail J Jack Wills Jaeger (clothing) Jane Norman JD Sports Jigsaw (clothing retailer) JJB Sports John Collier (clothing retailer) JoJo Maman Bébé Jones Bootmaker Joseph (fashion brand) K Kitbag Krisp Clothing L Lambretta  Lembrassa Lipsy London Long Tall Sally Clothing M M and M Direct Marks & Spencer Matalan Matches Fashion Merc Clothing Miss Selfridge MK One Monsoon Accessorize Moss Bros Group Mr Freedom  N N. Corah & Sons New Look  Next plc Norton & Sons

O Outfit  P Peacocks  People Tree Ltd. Phase Eight Henry Poole & Co Pretty Eccentric Primark R Raja Fashions Austin Reed (retailer) Republic (retailer) Richard Shops Rigby & Peller River Island Rokit Rubicon Retail S Sainsbury's Sears plc Edward Sexton Sock Shop John Stephen Sweaty Betty Syswear T T.J. Maxx Ted Baker Tesco Tesco Venture Brands The Officers Club Thomas Pink Tie Rack Top Gear (retailer) Topman Topshop Turnbull & Asser U Ultimo  USC  V Viyella W Wall Luxury Essentials Wallis  What Katie Did  White Stuff Clothing Wolsey Wynsors World of Shoes

I would say there are a few certain stores I particularly like and will go look around, or visit online. I also follow a few on Instagram as well as some designers. I feel that this app brings up imagery that inspires me and its also the most current. 

The fashion industry consists of four levels: the production of raw materials, principally fibers and textiles but also leather and fur; the production of fashion goods by designers, manufacturers, contractors, and others; retail sales; and various forms of advertising and promotion. These levels consist of many separate but interdependent sectors, all of which are devoted to the goal of satisfying consumer demand for apparel under conditions that enable participants in the industry to operate at a profit.

And this last level is the one I personally am the most interested in. Promotion and advertising, therefore media. As well as this I also have a real interest in editorial work, ( based upon fashion).

The media plays a significant role when it comes to fashion. For instance, an important part of fashion is fashion journalism. Editorial critique, guidelines and commentary can be found in magazines and newspapers, on television, fashion websites and social networks, and in fashion blogs. In recent years, fashion blogging and YouTube videos have become a major outlet for spreading trends and fashion tips. Through these media outlets readers and viewers all over the world can learn about fashion, making it very accessible.

At the beginning of the 20th century, fashion magazines began to include photographs of various fashion designs and became even more influential than in the past. In cities throughout the world these magazines were greatly sought-after and had a profound effect on public taste in clothing. Talented illustrators drew exquisite fashion plates for the publications which covered the most recent developments in fashion and beauty. Perhaps the most famous of these magazines was La Gazette du Bon Tonwhich was founded in 1912 by Lucien Vogel and regularly published until 1925 (with the exception of the war years).

Vogue, founded in the United States in 1892, has been the longest-lasting and most successful of the hundreds of fashion magazines that have come and gone. Increasing affluence after World War II and, most importantly, the advent of cheap color printing in the 1960s led to a huge boost in its sales and heavy coverage of fashion in mainstream women's magazines, followed by men's magazines in the 1990s. One such example of Vogue's popularity is the younger version, Teen Vogue, which covers clothing and trends that are targeted more toward the "fashionista on a budget". Haute couture designers followed the trend by starting ready-to-wear and perfume lines which are heavily advertised in the magazines and now dwarf their original couture businesses. A recent development within fashion print media is the rise of text-based and critical magazines which aim to prove that fashion is not superficial by creating a dialogue between fashion academia and the industry. Examples of this trend are: Fashion Theory (1997) and Vestoj (2009). Television coverage began in the 1950s with small fashion features. In the 1960s and 1970s, fashion segments on various entertainment shows became more frequent, and by the 1980s, dedicated fashion shows such as Fashion-television started to appear. FashionTV was the pioneer in this undertaking and has since grown to become the leader in both Fashion Television and New Media Channels. Despite television and increasing internet coverage, including fashion blogs, press coverage remains the most important form of publicity in the eyes of the fashion industry.

I do particularly like Elle magazine, and I have done for quite a few years now. I like looking at the many pages of advertising. I also like the layout of the pages. The type, and the images themselves. As well as this I like the content and find it interesting. However I feel that the magazine has a wealthier target market, but this is aspirational to many people, and its amazing to look at.

I also read lower end magazines that are more gossip based, but I would like to steer away from this within my own work. A magazine I find more relatable and a compromise between the two is cosmopolitan. I also like the way this magazine empowers women, as such. And that it shows high street fashion and trends. This magazine also has a lot of advertisements, and its a bit more light-hearted/ fun than Elle, but I like both.

And because I like this kind of thing I would say I have a particular interest in editorial work and I always find inspiring spreads in magazines and online.

http://designspiration.net/image/170397716958/

http://studiobaer.com/fashion/

http://www.fromupnorth.com/42-absolutely-stunning-magazine-covers-566/

(There are also more covers on this page that I really like )

http://domoa.tumblr.com/post/35898864677

http://designspiration.net

However my interest in editorial does not just end at fashion. But it is a main focus point of mine.

However, over the past several years, fashion websites have developed that merge traditional editorial writing with user-generated content. Online magazines like iFashion Network and Runway Magazine, led by Nole Marin from America's Next Top Model, have begun to dominate the market with digital copies for computers, iPhones, andiPads. Example platforms include Apple and Android for such applications.

I would also like to develop into this platform as I feel that online content is becoming more and more popular. The designs of these websites are crisp and modern. Stylish and eye-catching.

A few days after the 2010 Fall Fashion Week in New York City came to a close, The New Islander's Fashion Editor, Genevieve Tax, criticized the fashion industry for running on a seasonal schedule of its own, largely at the expense of real-world consumers. "Because designers release their fall collections in the spring and their spring collections in the fall, fashion magazines such as Vogue always and only look forward to the upcoming season, promoting parkas come September while issuing reviews on shorts in January", she writes. "Savvy shoppers, consequently, have been conditioned to be extremely, perhaps impractically, farsighted with their buying."

Retail research agency Conlumino predicts that Britain's £44bn fashion market will grow a further 3.4 per cent this year. It predicts 11 per cent of sales will be derived from the online channel by the end of 2013, compared to 8 per cent at present.

According to Greenlight's latest Fashion Retail Sector Report, the fashion retailer with the most visible fashion site for menswear, womenswear and accessories is ASOS.

ASOS, the online fashion store, was visible to over 1.7 million searches and achieved a 61 per cent share of voice.

Showing that online shopping has become very popular and accessible.