Game, Set, Match - Craig McDean

game, set, MATCH is an editorial for the March 2016 issue of British Vogue, photographed by Craig McDean and styled by Jane How. As part of FCP, we have started looking at this editorial as the key point of inspiration for our own photo shoot.

Craig McDean is renowned for his influential fashion images and portraiture. His career began in London as a photography assistant to Nick Knight; this then took him to onto becoming a picture editor for i-D magazine, before freelancing for The Face. Craig has photographed for well established brands, such as Christian Dior, Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Giorgio Armani, Estee Lauder and Calvin Klein; as well as this, he regularly contributed to W magazine, American/French/British (as we can see in this case)/Italian Vogue, Another Magazine and Interview. Throughout these projects and his career, he has regularly shot with models Amber Valletta, Guinevere van Seenus and Kate Moss, this lead to his 4th book 'Amber, Guinevere, and Kate Photographed by Craig McDean: 1993-2005' (2013), whereby he focuses on his relationship with the three models. Other books include 'I Love Fast Cars' (1999), 'Lifescapes' (2004) and 'Sumo' (2011). Craig has also directed the music video for Rhianna's 'Kiss It Better', was the 2008 recipient of the ICP Infinity Award and is one of the Business of Fashion 500.

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     “With models, it’s your editorial idea. You create the story, and it’s your idea of how the hair and makeup should look. It’s the transformation of the girl to a story.”

At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about this particular editorial. I originally thought that it would be styled around the idea of tennis, hence the title, therefore it didn't seem to make sense. The clothes aren't sportswear, however there are hints of high street casual "sportswear" such as Palace, Adidas and Umbro. This contrasts with some floral, more feminine pieces, such as the green, frilled dress from the Vetements Spring 2016 collection. As well as this, there is also the contrast of geometric and surrealism, therefore linking historically to surreal artists such as De Chico and Man Ray. Give the editorial a second look and it began to make sense. The phrase 'game, set, match' could link to the positioning and look of the models who look mentally strong, as if they have 'won' fashion.

(Photo sourced from Vogue.com)

Georgia.xo

Christmas in Nottingham

Look at Nottingham looking all cute and magical and christmassy! Last night it was the Christmas light switch-on and it was all very photogenic. Back home, switching the lights on isn't a huge deal, but it was proven to be very popular up here. Apparently a couple of Paralympians turned up to turn them of, as well as the Lord Mayor, the Sheriff of Nottingham and the official Robbin Hood - they looked like ants from where we were standing but Notts should be proud of themselves.

It's definitely Christmas time now and I cannot believe it's only a month away 😯

Georgia.xo

Nocturnal Animals

Interesting, sophisticated, intense, aggressive, violent, lust, intertwined and romantic. Without sounding too much like Shay Mitchell in her PLL farewell video, that's the only way I can describe Nocturnal Animals - the second film from designer Tom Ford.

The film is basically about a wealthy yet troubled art gallery owner, Susan (Amy Adams), who reads a manuscript sent from her ex-husband, which is dedicated to her. The story follows a middle-class white male, Tony, who finds himself in a struggle with a gang in Texas (starring Aaron Taylor Johnson) during a road trip with his family (Isla Fisher and Ellie Bamber). The gang take his wife and daughter, rape them and kill them, before Tony goes on a quest to find the gang and make them pay. During the film you see Susan come to terms with her troubled relationship and her lust for her ex-husband.

It was a very complex and non-linear story-line with a stellar. The beginning of the film was interesting to say the least. It doesn't leave much to the imagination, however it did create a number of enigmas. The middle then starts to make sense as the three narratives (the present, past and the book) intertwine and relate to each other in an arrangement that I think worked beautifully. However, the ending was very sudden and left very open! I suppose it left the audience in a position where they could use their own imagination and decide for themselves what happened. Personally, I'm not a fan because it reminds me of those reading tasks you had to do at primary school when you had to write an alternate ending or another chapter!

I think Amy Adams did a fantastic job at portraying a lead female protagonist who appeared to be strong and empowering on the outside - a lot like a lot of women in the creative industry - however, on the inside she was struggling and was easily influenced by the men in her life.

Tom Ford has also done a fantastic job alongside producer Robert Salerno, who also produced Tom Ford's first film 'A Single Man'. His signature dark hues and linear lines are evident in the film, and it's quite the stellar cast. Would totally recommend watching it!

Georgia.xo

Fast Fashion Vs. Fast Food | Fashion Sustainability Part 2

After watching The True Cost, we were given a brief whereby we had to research fashion ethics and environment further, by partaking in both secondary and primary research. Once we had our research we then had to come up with a ‘big idea’, which raised awareness of the issue to NTU students.

It’s actually disgusting what farmers and garment workers have to go through in order to satisfy the expectations of the employer. Garment workers, for example, work for up to 12 hours a day, for as much as $2 a day. Cheap labour at the bottom of the value chain means cheap prices for consumers at the top of the value chain. In a book I read called ‘What Am I Wearing’ by Kelsey Timmerman, garment workers express their opinion on the situation. One girl told Timmerman that they don’t want people to boycott the brands because they don’t want to lose their jobs; what they do want is less working hours for higher pay. I think that’s fair enough. Therefore, in order to solve this issue, consumers need to stop purchasing so much so often, meaning that demand decreases.

With this in mind, as well as an interview with one of my group’s flat mates who told us he is obsessed with eating organically but doesn’t care when it comes to fashion, we came up with our idea: #fastfoodvsfastfashion. We wanted our fellow students to realise that it was just as easy to live organically in other aspects of life, and that there are alternatives to spending money on high street brands. Only 1% of all cotton grown worldwide is organic, but why should that be acceptable? We made a list of comparisons between Fast Food &  Fast Fashion and An Organic Food Lifestyle & An Organic Fashion Lifestyle; from that we came up with our campaign:

The Main Event

• Place a giant, open, burger box by the student union
• Inside the top lid there will be a hanging rail with cotton t-shirts hanging off
• The branding will be our hashtag
• The box will be covered in shocking facts

Supporting elements to our campaign include:

• A second hand fair where all the local charity and vintage shops can promote themselves
• A swing label, which has a list of how the garment was made (underneath the size/barcode/price) and will be found in local shops
• A slide including photos and facts before lectures start, which students can read while they wait 
• Cups with the hashtag printed on
• The hashtag in the form of a sticker to stick onto mirrors both at home and in shop changing rooms

Georgia.xo

The True Cost | Fashion Sustainability Part 1

The true cost of the fashion industry is fairly unknown. Many don’t know that the fashion industry is the 2^nd most harming industry to the environment, after oil. I didn’t know this until I watched The True Cost – a documentary highlighting the negative elements within garment production, directed by Andrew Morgan.

“Greed and fear, power over poverty”

Watching The True Cost gave me an insight into areas of the fashion industry that we will call the ‘dark side’. For example, the Indian city of Punjab is the largest user of pesticides in India, which they use on the cotton crop. Effects of the large pesticide use include cancer and “physical retardation”, yet many people can’t afford treatment. This isn’t just a case of “don’t use so many pesticides” however, because when a farmer can’t produce the right amount of cotton, the companies can buy the land off of the farmers leaving them jobless. This results in over 250,000 farmers taking their own lives each year. That’s 1 farmer every 30 minutes. I know this is a lot to take in, but this was only the start of my journey through discovering the ‘dark side’ of the fashion industry.

It’s hard to comprehend how many deaths happen in order to make your outfit. In 2013, the Rana Plaza in Bangladesh collapsed after factory owners ignored cracks in the building pointed out by workers. 1,129 people died. They were manufacturing clothes for Primark. In the same year, factory fires killed over 100 people. Imagine that being a member of your family, or one of your friends.

Long story short, this is basically because we, the consumers, want cheaper prices, and the only way our favourite brands can satisfy our needs and make a profit at the same time is by finding cheap labour in developing countries. Workers are only paid $2 a day for a 12 hour working day. Maybe it’s time we changed our spending habits.

Georgia.xo

Kenzo X H&M Collection

At 9am this morning, we finally got the opportunity to get our hands on the latest H&M collaboration: with Kenzo. I've been looking at 'first glimpses' for a few week now and it's such a contrast to anything H&M have done before, but it works! It's bold, colourful, enriched with animal and floral prints, and really reflects the classic Japanese style of Kenzo. Many have described it as a "kaleidoscope" and I couldn't agree more! 

Although I personally haven't brought anything from the collection *yet*, the collection is relatively affordable, with prices starting at £7.99 for a pair of patterned socks, to £49.99 for various tops, to £299.99 for a patterned maxi dress. As a result, the prices aren't my main concern. Are people really ready for such a bright colour palette? Neutral and muddy tones are most popular right now and moving to such a contrasting colour scheme seems all a bit too sudden since we've been wearing black jeans and khaki tops for the past 2 years. In an article by The Guardian, a 20 year old fashion designer, Yves Alawe, was interviewed. He actually said that he had brought his budget down after seeing the colour scheme from £1,000 to £600.

"The jackets are nice but the colours are a bit much"

Saying this, people still queued up in their masses outside stores in London, New York, Paris and Sweden to get their hands on thousands of pounds worth of garments and millions more caused the website to crash.

Maybe I'm in the practical minority!! I don't know. Are you with me? Or are you as desperate to get your hands on the collection as the millions of people who camped outside in the early hours of this morning?

Georgia.xo