ALEXANDER MCQUEEN - OUTSTANDING SHOES

THE FASHION INDUSTRY IN ONE TAKE

"only dead fish swim with the tide"

The fashion and textile industry is undoubtably a huge market, creating many job opportunities, therefore   creating money and helping the economy a great deal. It is estimated that it contributes to nearly £21 billion of the UKs economy, with over 12,000 clothing businesses and employing around 156,000 workers, approximately 20.000 of these people are working as designers. 

The high speed of the industry means that there is always radical change, the consumer tastes are constantly adapting due to the new trends each season. This change also means that globalisation continues to develop and there is always increasing focus on consumerism, with advertisements and temptations to purchase around us every day.

There are three clothing sectors, these being value (eg. Tesco, Primark), middle market (eg. Topshop, Zara) and Premium (eg. Paul Smith, Vivienne Westwood). The premium markets have the strongest growth and it is estimated that by 2014 this market will be worth £8.6 billion, an increase of £1.9 billion from todays values. Although shopping with value retailers has increased, having doubled during the past decade. Research shows that this will grow from £9.9 billion to £12 billion during the up coming three years.

The chinese wage inflation means there is a rise of commodities, which has an impact on VAT and increased fuel prices. As a result shoppers will start to spend less money on clothing etc... as concerns for their jobs and personal finances increase.

Besides the negatives and positives of the industry it is in no way thought that the creativeness within the UK is a problem as the reputation is of a high standard being known for world class designers. 

I can imagine that working freelance is a challenging job, many would wonder how it would work due to pricing etc...

The main things to remember are

- develop your own identity and handwriting style

- keep all sketchbooks

- continually develop portfolio

- copyright work

- standard rate for a graduate is £300 per piece

- prices are negotiable

- ask for a deposit

- send an invoice

INFORMATION EXCHANGE

Attending the information exchange was extremely useful, the chance to look at others work is always inspiring, and finding out information on where I could be going on placement in a few years is motivating.

Talking to Elizabeth Rong a student who interned at Alexander McQueen, I found that her time there was entirely unpaid, and having used the majority of her time tidying the studio she felt that she wasn't actually developing a great deal. Elizabeth spent her mornings mounting information and the rest of the day making sure everyone had what they needed. Although the experience wasn't considered the most useful it was however influential as it will now be on her CV and work in her favour for future jobs.
General advice given was that her organisation seemed to be the thing which impressed them most, keeping all documents in a wallet and presenting them professionally. Suggesting that having a friend to share the experiences with is beneficial because of the amount of pressure you are under as an intern. This placement was found by simply applying when the position was available.

Laura Millward was another student who interned for a valued name within the industry, this was Rankin where she spent time assisting the stylist on photo shoots, she would be called back when needed.
Interning also for River Island as a designer Laura gained more experience and was given the opportunity to work on the Chelsea girl collection. It is also motivating to know that she has the stability of a job at the company ready for when she finishes studying, her work there was partly paid and based in London, however having family contacts helped to get her the placement.

Holly Jones is a student who worked as an intern at Topshop and quickly realised that design wasn't the area for her. Moving on to many styling jobs Holly worked alongside award winning stylist Susie Coughtrie as a freelance stylist, thoroughly enjoying the experience. Working on music videos, photo shoots and even being asked to feature as an extra this experience was something I found myself interested in.

ALEXANDER MCQUEEN ON BRITISH FASHION

"British fashion is self confident and fearless. It refuses to bow to commerce, thus generating a constant flow of new ideas whilst drawing in British heritage"

TOM BINNS JEWELLERY

REUSING FASHION

Responsible designers don't have to be boring!

GARY HARVEY

Using 30 copies of the financial times Gary Harvey makes his statement about the finance behind a garments and the fact that sometimes things are worn once or twice and then deemed out of fashion. 

DESIGNERS AND ETHICAL ISSUES...THE RESPONSIBLE DESIGNER

As as designer it is my responsibility, along with many others to ensure that ethical ways are moving forward, a pro active designer would notice the importance of responsible design. Ethics are a major issue within all areas of design, and fashion seems to be at the forefront where the standards and morals should always be considered, for example, children in labour shouldn't suffer due to our consumerism and greed. We live in a world where materialism and greed is multiplied, we want cheap clothing and often don't consider that the way it has been made is perhaps not in agreement with our morals.

There are many issues which can fashion can affect, such as fur debates, and size zero models... it is therefore important that we stand by our own morals and make the right decisions for our own beliefs.

It is suggested that there is a lifecycle to the textiles we create, this begins with the raw material which is then produced into fibre and manufactured onto garments. These garments are then put into retail stores from which we buy wear and then when we refuse to wear them any more they are recycled. It is important that we recycle and take care of our planet where we can. To up-cycle is to extend the life cycle of the fibre, 'junkystyling' is a company which does this well by reusing garments and creating new garments using the old fabrics. 

Junky Styling S/S'11 Women

There are many other companies and designers interested in sustainability

- Katherine Hamnett

- 'Labour behind the label'

- 'People tree'

- 'Fair trade'