30/07/2010

Wrangler Europe Site

Wrangling it in.
The original Wrangler Blue Bell website was definitely something new when it came out about 6 months ago, but it wasn't something that other brands picked up on. Perhaps they weren't too keen on the idea of removing the clothing rather than trying to put it on customers. So Wrangler learned from their own, and created a new interactive flash website, with what seems to be more of a story.
Perhaps I'm enjoying this because I'm watching it late at night, and so the dark screen is really worth it (I'll have to take a look at it in the morning and see whether it has the same effect a second time round) but it just seems to be so effective that the clothes look better quality than even competitors such as Diesel and Lee.
You can download individual frames, publish them on your facebook or your twitter page, but this isn't exactly very useful - you're not getting anything out of posting a picture except a nice image of a rugged looking man for your friends to look at... like I said, not very useful.

23/07/2010

Hermès J'aime mon carré

How To Hermès.
Hermès has decided that it's not enough to have a renowned name for themselves - it's time to get new customers and promotion is the key. J'aime mon carré, or 'I love my scarf' to the non French speaking Brits, will be a new collection launched in September on their under construction website.

Hermès will also launch a fanzine and hold promotional events in order to gain loyalty from a younger market - and so the prints will be bold, colourful and not necessarily as classic as their other collections.

The label has recruited British photographer Matt Irwin and stylist Francesca Burns to create the fanzine project with four women wearing their favourite scarves in New York, Paris, London and Tokyo.

The brand is also going to offer a 'How To' section on their website, showing women how to tie knots and wear the scarves. What's interesting about this, is it was very privileged information that was only gifted once a Hermès had been purchased in the form of a tiny little book. Hermès is one of few brands that is currently standing out because they've pulled down their exclusive barriers and are welcoming a new type of customer. Remember Liberty's selling Hermès scarves? Instead of holding them on display behind closed doors, they encouraged the customers to hold the scarves, and offered workshops on how to tie them. Perhaps they realised that going digital and promoting their new innovative 'touch me try me' attitude would pay off.

15/07/2010

Prada Film

Prada Blues

The Fall/Winter 2010 advertising campaign can be viewed here on Prada.com. Music 'Fever' performed by Katey Judd and badly dubbed by the models of the campaign...

08/07/2010

Elie Saab Couture

History Repeating
Find me a woman who wouldn't feel like a goddess in Elie Saab Couture - it's not possible. Although every season of his couture has strong similarities to the last, you can't deny that Saab is just good at what he does - make enviable clothing that will forever be in fashion.

Elie Saab's Autumn Winter collections have always seemed to be more sophisticated to me than his Spring, mainly due to him constantly bringing in hundreds of brightly coloured dyes in his fabrics and never really having a theme like he does with his Fall collections. He seems to pick just 5 base colours and creates patterns through twists and miles of fabric, then embroider embellishments that weigh 10kgs all over.

The dress above is my personal favourite of this collection because if done by another designer could have looked like a dyed old vintage wedding dress, but Elie Saab makes it sexy beyond belief, despite it being a colour not best suited for every woman.





07/07/2010

Burberry's Profits



Bravo Burberry.
Angela Ahrendts, CEO of Burberry told Vogue.com, "The period 2009 - 2010 was a great year for Burberry - we delivered record profits in what was a challenging economic climate thanks to a truly gifted team. The success of Burberry is built not only on product and marketing excellence but on operational excellence too. Together these set us apart this year."

Burberry's innovative take on the digital world and clever marketing tactics could be the key factor in the British brand's recent success. Figures increased 7% from £1,202 million in 2009 to £1,280 million within the last year with revenue increasing by 19%.

Burberry's tactics both within the company through it's performance and between the brand and it's current and potential customers seem to be right on the money - and it seems to be down to humility. Their realisation of how a high quality brand should be functioning at this time rather than operating the way brands always have, has forwarded them above any British brand currently on the market - but it will be a while before all of the public catches on to the reinvented 'chavvy to savvy brand'.

Chanel Couture

A Russian Roar
Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel Couture show took place once again in the Grand Palais in Paris, decorated by a majestic lion holding a pearl, out of which came fur trimmed or glittering Prussian beauties. The lion theme continued through to the end, with Lagerfeld's muse Baptiste Giabiconi wearing a lion head as the finale.




Vintage style

05/07/2010

Couture Fashion Week

Dior Floral Bouquet.
Christian Dior Couture designed by John Galliano was an upside down floral bouquet with what looked like plastic wrap as headdresses, and carnation style layers and prints.






As Couture fashion week kicks off there has been an increase in requests for the high quality products, especially from Russia, China and the Middle East. The demand increase has been a welcome sign of relief for many couture brands after the unfortunate collapse of Christian Lacroix who showed his last collection of Autumn Winter 2009/10.

02/07/2010

Website

Rebranded.

The website www.firuzefrench.com has been updated to suit my new branding. Take a look and let me know what you think.


I'll also post photos of my branding a little later.

Click here to view site

Update:
Photos of the send out to specific companies.