luxbubble

2016-09-29T15:24:00.001+01:00

Modeclix; digital craftsmanship and fashion.

An exploration of constructing garments using 3D printing poses many challenges, not least the fluidity of the ‘textiles’ created by 3D printed materials and their relationship to the body. The opportunities 3D printing presents to this process for producing garments allow for complex construction techniques that defy traditional pattern cutting to create garments that are multi-functional and customisable.

The potential allows for the construction of garments that are printed to create fluid pieces that, on paper, do not conform to a body shape, but when worn are transformed to augment the natural curves of the wearer. This project considers how traditional pattern cutting and draping can be combined with technology to redefine the perception of textiles and, ultimately, the wearer.

The first challenge, and perhaps the most exciting one, is to define and overcome the parameters that one is confronted with when trying to mimic woven and/or knitted textiles from which to make a garment. The obvious limits with this technology include the materials that can currently be processed using 3D printing technology. While there are a number of generic 3D printing processes commercially available, each capable of processing different materials, this project is focused on the Laser Sintering (LS) process and Nylon material. In this case, transforming a white powder into a textile is not dissimilar, in thinking at least, to that of spinning silk from a silkworm. Achieving similar outcomes, however, poses a greater challenge. Silk can obviously be transformed into a woven or knitted textile that is pliable, drapable and fluid. The nylon powder utilised by the LS 3D printing process, by nature, does not have the same properties as silk. It comes out of the printer in a solid state despite the capability of including movement that is defined through the use of the software.

As a prerequisite to the printing process, the printed objects are first designed, or “built,” in a digital environment using 3D modelling software where complex algorithms can be used to formulate and define the desired outcome. However, due to the limitations of the materials, the flexibility and fluidity found in natural textiles is limited, possibly non-existent. In addition, working within the limitations of a small print bed[i], constrains what can and cannot be done. For example, simulations of the textile and how it conforms to the available print space must be undertaken as the direction of each printed component must remain the same — much like working with the warp and weft of a woven piece of cloth. This adds to the complexity of the design process.

There are a number of examples that illustrate how designers have used 3D printing to create ‘garments,’ with limited success, as a result of the materials used. Most notably Iris Van Herpen and design brand Nervous System have both utilised the technology in their design work despite the challenges that they face. However, it could be said that the items they print are not particularly wearable. In the case of Iris Van Herpen, her garments are, in the main, solid with little to no movement at all. The designers at Nervous System have created a dress that achieves movement through the creation of highly complex geometry that allows them to print multiple, hinged moving parts.

Creating 3D textiles that are flexible with movement that mimics traditional cloth and is seen as integral to a garment as opposed to an embellishment is crucial to this research as it ensures that the garments are wearable but at the same time addressing both traditional methods of garment construction and existing technology and advances in the development of materials.

In the first instance, the project focuses on an interpretation of weave and knit. The initial prototypes are 3D printed as pieces of textile that have enough movement to ensure that they are fluid and represent a textile that can be used to make a garment. The focus is on movement; how the textile drapes and responds to manipulation in relation to the creation of a pattern of a garment that flows over the body of the wearer and is, at the same time, comfortable to wear.

The potential to create customisable garments is enormous. The pieces can then be dyed in an endless spectrum of colours, another area of research and investigation that moves away from current limited use of, for example, black and white. Working on a dress making stand, employing traditional methods of drape rather than flat pattern cutting techniques, emphasises the idea of working in 3D albeit in different ways; through the use of 3D CAD and the physical object. Component pieces can be assembled in ways that allow for intricate and often surprising outcomes of pattern, drape and construction.

take a look at Molly makes a dress the fashion film about the process.

1 The limitations of the print bed size are an integral part of the research despite large 3D printers being available as smaller print beds are easily accessed providing the possibility of rapid manufacture for mass production.

[i]

2016-09-29T15:24:00.000+01:00

Modeclix; digital craftsmanship and fashion.

take a look at Molly makes a dress the fashion film about the process.

[i]

Interview with Lou Dalton

2013-08-01T12:58:00.003+01:00

Lou Dalton Spring Summer 14

S
Tell us a bit about how you started out.

Lou Dalton
I left school at 16. I come from a little town
called Market Drayton in Shropshire. I wasn’t particularly interested in school and decided to leave with a handful of GCSE’s to take up an apprenticeship with a bespoke tailor which was part of a scheme called YTS, the Youth Training Scheme. It was a fantastic opportunity and I decided to
take that because I didn’t feel like school was offering me anything.

L
I didn’t have the desire to go on any further in Higher Education so I chose to take up this role.
I wasn’t really sure at that the time if I was being drawn by a yearning to be in fashion. I did
not know what it was really like because the tailor I was working for, called Arthur Pardington,
was producing shooting gear for the likes of Purdey
and Sons in London. I was exposed to everything at a very formal level and not really fashion
design related. I suppose the only way I was exposed
to a more glamorous side of fashion was when I was in a doctor’s surgery and seeing a Vogue
magazine on a table.

So I chose to do this and was not really sure how it was going to balance out. I learnt to be like
a sponge, as if it were a part of my DNA. I yearned for fashion and working for a man as talented as Arthur, being exposed to all the skills I feel are really important in fashion, i.e. design, pattern cutting and construction, at that age was incredible really.

When I started working for him, I was a YTS apprentice at the age of 16 and at that time I had two groups of friends. One of which was quite rebellious and the other group that was very much into study and pursuing what was seen as the normal route through education, GCSEs, ‘A’ Levels, Foundation, which may have been the right way to do things.

S
You’re obviously a menswear designer. Why menswear when most designers tend to veer towards women’s wear?

L
It was just because at the time I started working for Pardy Clothing it was pretty much all that was going through the door. That’s what I was being exposed to so it just felt like second nature. I was always very much a tomboy and always gravitated to that kind of thing. It was being exposed to these amazing cloths, Prince of Wales checks or shooting Tweeds and that kind of thing. It just felt so right and as you say I was a woman in a male dominated area of work but it didn’t really come into it. I felt that I can do this.

S
Tell us a little about your skills, you know the kind of skills you need for designing men’s or women’s wear.

L
It’s quite interesting because I think sometimes what people believe fashion to be is very different from the reality. The design aspect feels very minimal in comparison to creating and designing a collection and for me the practical side is key over everything. Having those skills; being able to sew from an early age, construct and understand how a garment is put together, being able to then pattern cut that, then develop that, makes you a better and stronger designer because you know the skeleton form. Instead of just sitting there and being able to design a pretty picture you can go into a factory and explain to them exactly what you want. To me that’s the core of it and having those skills I was kind of hell bent on that. In a way, I suppose, I came in from a more practical angle.

I get asked myself, how do you transfer that into design? You have this little narrative in your
mind and it’s just a process that comes like a natural form really.

S
Talk us through the process. Some people start with the cloth, others the sketch or some other form of inspiration. What is your process?

L
When I first started this, and it has evolved although I have less time now, I used to be able to go off to a gallery. You also might be walking around town or you’ll be on holiday and there will be an idea. That for me is a starting point, a concept which is integral to building a collection. Then I start to think about the colour, the fabric and obviously start researching depending on the season, whether it is Autumn Winter or Spring Summer. Then you start to build a mood board.

There’s a constant link from the aesthetic to the fabric and then we will start to think about a form and what kind of silhouette and obviously, although it’s your own aesthetic, I do a lot of research into past collections which worked for us. I also look at things which have historically sold for us and think actually I quite liked that and maybe I should touch on that again. You have
to be aware of trends and what other designers are doing. It’s important to do that, but not
necessarily emulate it because you want a point of difference that makes you stand out from
everybody else.

I think it’s also important to look at designers from the past so you can pull from that and a good
body of research is core to a good collection.

S
How do you maintain the Lou Dalton aesthetic?

L
It’s quite difficult sometimes and of late, well over the last four seasons, I chose to work with a stylist, because sometimes you’re in your own little bubble. You can get quite caught up in that and it’s very easy to do what you want to do and actually ignore what is right for your customer
or brand that you’re trying to build. Even though we’re not on the same level as Dries Van Noten or Raf Simons who also have a strong client base, we need to able to build and get folk on board, and as a consumer we need to be able to build an identity. If you go back to the drawing board and try to redesign the wheel then any client that has come on one season may drop off the next. So to me it is important that there is a thread. To make your collection seem relevant as a young brand, buyers want to support you but find it difficult unless they can see it fitting alongside the bigger brands which they are stocking.

S
You started five years ago. You’re selling internationally. Is it important that you are a British designer selling something that has that heritage?

Lou Dalton Spring Summer 14

L
I used to think it was really important but as a consumer and designer I like products that feel honest and well constructed and live up to what has been said about them. I think that the feedback we have had to date is that the product stands alone. We’re not having to force the fact that I’m British. I do think it is important, especially in Japan and equally the in the States.
I think folk want value for money and if the quality doesn’t back that up it doesn’t matter what
you do or who you are, they just start to move away from it, they’re not interested.

S
How involved are you in the complete process? Do you see everything through?

L
I was talking to my assistant the other day actually, saying that the admin side, looking after the cash flow, I find really quite frustrating because I enjoy the practical side. If times were harsh and we had to bring it all in house I could do absolutely everything. That’s because it is part of my DNA. I know if a factory is trying to pull the wool over my eyes then I’m there straight away.
At the end of the day you’re bartering constantly to get a good price and quality and unfortunately some designers don’t care and just want to get the product out there. If I want longevity in the industry I have to back it up.

S
Tell us a bit about your Knitwear? I know a lot of it is made in England.

L
It is. It’s all made in the UK. Originally folk used to touch on it and say Lou Dalton Knitwear designer but actually I’m not. I just have a good understanding of knit and what I like. I think the taste level is more to do with it. I used to work for a Japanese company called United Arrows and I was asked to produce a range of knitwear for them in Shetland and Scotland. It was great actually. They did all the ground work and I just had to go visit them and tell them what we wanted. I built up this portfolio of certain factories and a great relationship with them. When I
did start Lou Dalton I was able to tap into that resource. Then I work with a lady in the South of
England who is phenomenal. She’ll then do all the swatches after I have briefed her. This is
the design development because I can’t actually physically knit. That’s how I work.

Lou Dalton Spring Summer 14

S
A lot of labels have started to introduce bespoke or limited edition labels. Is that something you might do?

L
There are two more stores in London which we would like to sell to but we don’t. For one
in particular the collection is not right for them but their proposal to us was to create a
special, something exclusive to them; a T-Shirt line or something like that. It’s important because it’s one way we might be able to do something that doesn’t compromise the Lou Dalton aesthetic.

S
Is it important to be able to use social media?

L
It is important. We get a lot of coverage on Blogs, there are a lot of bloggers out there. A lot of backstage footage is so instant and it’s great that it reaches so many people, so fast. I have great PR and they will get me to answer questions and then it will be fired out to the blogger and they’ll put it up. I would rather be on the sewing machine or doing the more practical things I suppose.

S
Tell me a little bit about the preparation for Fashion Week.

L
It sounds all so glamorous but the core of what we do is to get clothes on people’s backs, to get that chap on the street to buy what we do, and that whole process behind that is to produce a collection that a store will come and buy. We have just completed that, so obviously the collection for wholesale isn’t quite ready for fashion week because there are a few bells and whistles that you want to add to draw press to get a little bit of attention. When I wholesale a collection I don’t produce twenty one pairs of trousers, it’s more like eight, so we have to produce additional pieces. That’s the first thing we do. A collection comes back from Paris and I sit down with my stylist and work out the finishing touches. Then we’ll start considering boys who we’re going to have model. This is important because getting the aesthetic across in a couple of minutes is really quite tough. If you have the wrong chap it can make a massive difference. We get a lot of support. The British Fashion Council have been extremely supportive and so have Top Man. When I first started it felt quite daunting but now I say bring it on and we’ll have a go.

S
How different is the collection you show to the collection you sell?

L
Not too different. I know there are various designers out there, huge brands, who have separate collections but we’re not a big enough machine to do that. I can’t afford to do it, I have a very tight budget and I quite often say to the stylist you can have one special jacket because it’s all I can allow. It’s more accessories that we add than garments really.

S
Tell us a bit about one of your earlier collections

L
I always try to have a thread running through. One of my last collections had a sense of military. The concept was basically this. I grew up in Shropshire and I spent a lot of time at my
grandmothers’ farm and during the Second World War there were a lot of farm estates in the UK. There were Military bases built in and around them and my Grandmother’s farm was like that. The long and the short of it was that a G.I. comes over and falls in love with a land girl and he doesn’t want to go back and he goes AWOL. It was about her disguising the fact that this boy is living there and she is pulling from her father’s wardrobe. So it was a kind of oversized military feel.

S
How do you select the colours?

L
Once again I work with a mill in the north and we are sponsored by this mill. I go up every season and I go through their archive and collection and quite often, along with the concept in mind, that will become the foundation to the colour palette. Very often it’s about gut instinct and what feels right for Lou Dalton.

Lou Dalton Spring Summer 14

Lou Dalton’s website is www.loudalton.com and she can be found on Twitter @TheLouDalton
Photographs by www.catwalking.com
.

Interview with Stephen Jones

2013-07-17T10:33:00.000+01:00

Stephen Jones is undoubtedly one of the most prolific milliners today. He has collaborated with some of the biggest names in fashion including Dior, Vivienne Westwood, L'Wren Scott and Louis Vuitton. His work has been featured in an exhibition by the V & A - Hats: an Anthology by Stephen Jones - that has recently completed a 'world tour'.

Stephen talks to me about luxury:

No Entry

Stephen (SJ): For me, luxury can appear in many ways. It’s only sometimes that it’s an object. You could have a luxurious experience, like a luxurious meal. But, as people say, ‘beauty is in the eye of the beholder’, so is luxury in the eye of the beholder. In the early 21^st century people tend to think that it’s a crocodile handbag and it can be that, but normally it’s everything else. Luxury is a very convenient thing to hang something on. I think it sort of the level of affluence and sophistication in society. If you think in terms of post-war, for example, if you had a vacuum cleaner, that was a modern home improvement and that was considered the great luxury of the day, as part of for example a space-age kitchen. And that was sort of the whole idea of an American convenience. Whether it was a convenient fridge or a washing machine, the woman was normally there in front of her Kelvinator washing machine with a ball gown, long gloves and a tiara. So that was absolute luxury. That was convenience. And then came fashion, and suddenly, the new added value word was ‘fashionable’. And along with that was the idea of a fashionable food or a fashionable description. So for example at Marks and Spencer’s you would never have six cakes, you would have a medley of cakes or that kind of thing.

Luxury nowadays is maybe more true luxury than it was, but it’s still just really a marketing tool. I think that people’s appreciation of luxury is so personal. For one person, luxury may be getting half an hour off work earlier. Within all the luxury brands, really the only one that comes from fashion is Dior. All the others came from saddlery, or leather goods, or whatever. That in fact is slightly a problem for Dior but also its saving, because they haven’t got a thousand different handbags to fall back on. The thing about Dior was novelty. The fact that you had it was just extraordinary luxury and a fantastic, wonderful thing, but you had to have a new one every season. Dior also invented that. But that’s not enough in today’s market.

SB: How would you define luxury?

SJ: I think something which has had time. If we are talking about an object then time, design, and whatever has been spent on it to make it an evocation of the human condition. Probably aspiring to be making something beautiful and qualitative. Luxury is in the idea contained within the object. I think it is completely about the experience. For example Dior haute couture, the fitters will go and see the client at home; even if it's only on the other side of the road. There will be the directrice of haute couture; the fitter, there may be a sowing lady as well. So it's completely about the experience for the client. The whole thing is about how you want to look, what flatters you, the message you want to send. Couture is just the same experience as they have within Savile Row, of having a bespoke suit made.

SB: Does the experience differ from that of Bond Street for example?

SJ: Well, the experience in Bond Street can be absolutely fantastic as well, like going to a jeweller, or going to a designer boutique; you will really be looked after. However, that product will not be changed for you, whereas luxury is having the thing adapted to your needs really, or to your wishes, to your taste.

SB: If you are buying haute couture, do you meet the designer, for example, and is that important?

SJ: If you are buying Dior haute couture, it depends who you are. You might meet the designer, absolutely, and certainly the designer will be doing the sketches and supervising it, but whether he can actually be there and be particularly hands on is another question... most designers don’t see the clients, and never have done, because actually within the couture houses, the vendeuse, the sales lady, is the one who really rules in that situation and they will have their own clients, and they will have commission from sales from their clients as well.

SB: Do you think it's important to have contact with the maker if you are buying into this idea of luxury rather than a luxury brand?

Vapour Trails

SJ: Oh yes, absolutely. Whether it's having a Porsche done for you in the colour that you want. Normally when we buy a product, the product exists and if we like it we buy it, and if we don’t like it, we don’t buy it. Actually, often even if we don’t like it we still do buy it because it's convenient. But the thing about true luxury therefore, and slightly in conclusion, is that it's halfway your thing and its halfway the person making it for you. And the interesting point is how far you go and how far they go. So it is a creative process, but with somebody in mind. And that exists in all levels. For example if a woman goes to a hairdresser she has got something that is done specifically for her. That’s why people will spend a fortune going to a hairdresser and give a giant tip, because it is that personal service.

SB: Is luxury about re-invention?

SJ: It can be. If you look at a lot of those luxury brands, what they do is they use their heritage. All of them, in particular people like Gucci. They will use their archives. I think every designer does. It's so funny, because you think that during the early sixties every designer or whatever was trying to do something space-age. Now they are desperately trying to look into their archives. They are incredibly proud of that. Burberry has existed since 1856; Dior has existed since 1947. The history of the company is more important than the newness of the object.

SB: What about the celebrity and luxury?

SJ: Interestingly here, for those people who are buying real luxury objects, if a celebrity is wearing it, they don’t want to have it. Often what they are about is discretion not celebrity. It's a private luxury, something to enjoy at home with your family or with your friends. I know some very wealthy people and they go out of their way to make sure that they are not photographed.

SB: What role has history played in that luxury is understood today?

SJ: Well, the ingredients in luxury; there’s craftsmanship, and there is authenticity, and so this whole idea that this thing has been passed down from father to son, and because of that it's a good thing. It's a connection to a time which was maybe slower or more time was spent in the creation of a beautiful object. If you look at companies like Burberry or Brioni, particularly menswear of course, and the Savile Row book, The Perfect Gentleman: The Pursuit of Timeless Elegance & Style in London, by James Sherwood, it is about their history. Today luxury is not about the fact that they are going to make an outfit for the man on the moon, but it's all about ‘heritage brands’, which is a particularly British thing and of course related to history.

SB: What does authenticity mean then, within the context of luxury?

SJ: It means that, within a luxury product, authenticity means that it's made using a traditional technique, which is perceived as being high class, and having soul within it.

SB: Do you think celebrity has a role to play in defining luxury?

SJ: : Yes because if Daphne Guinness is walking around with her new Dior handbag there are a whole lot of people out there who will go and buy it because they think she is a tastemaker. They will go and buy what she has. It is very similar now as it always has been. If you look at printed archives from the 1920s or the 1930s, it's always the Marchioness of Cholmondeley wearing a Vionnet ball gown, or it will say something like ‘She will always go to the White House in Piccadilly to buy her fine bed linens.’

SB: What about celebrity endorsement?

SJ: Celebrities are paid for celebrity endorsement; they have been here for a very long time. I think, what happened is that in the last century there was this sense of decorum about it, which happened probably in the fifties, sixties and seventies, but that all got blown away by the revolution in media in the eighties really, when suddenly you knew that Raquel Welch advertised Timotei Shampoo. She was getting paid for it, whereas before when the Marchioness of Cholmondeley was saying how divine Simpson’s was, it wasn't a hard sell. And then suddenly, of course now we know that everything is paid for.

SB: Any funny stories you may wish to share?

SJ: There was a wonderful story about Mr. John who was a famous milliner in New York in the early sixties. He draped a turban on a famous client. It was like a scarf and he draped it all up and he fastened it with a big pin; a big brooch on the front. He handed the client a bill, and it was $100, and this was in 1963 or something; $100 was a fortune at that time. And the client said ‘ I am not paying that,’ and made a real stink, and there were other clients there, and they were all listening. He was really embarrassed, and he just undid and he said ‘Madam, the fabric is for free, You make it!’

I Was A Rich Mans Plaything

Electrobloom - Blooming Marvelous

2011-08-05T19:14:00.001+01:00

I know I normally write about how luxury brands are destroying what luxury is really about.

This post is a slight departure for me. It is about exploring different approaches to manufacture utilizing emerging technologies, minimizing wasteful production and as Electrobloom suggests 'making things especially for you'. Such a cool concept!

These pieces were made for me!

In a previous post I wrote about mass customization - Prada and Louis Vuitton are all on the case - but what they offer, unless you have something specially made, is component parts that are already made and assembled to order. What is different about Electrobloom is that every piece of amazing jewellery is made to order by Shapeways using some of the most advanced manufacturing methods around. I tested it out - I ordered loads of stuff out of pure indecision - and because I really loved it all. I bought a couple of bangles for myself - I think they are simple and cool enough to be worn by guys and girls - and some fantastic 'blooms' as a gift. They arrived within 4 days!!! And I must say they are amazing.

I really think that this is the future of retail.

Conglomerates Kill Luxury

2011-07-29T17:08:00.007+01:00

News that PPR are looking to buy Brioni strikes a sour note. What were once considered world class purveyors of luxury goods have mostly become consumed by the luxury brand conglomerates in France. LVMH, Richemont, PPR etc dominate retail with the intention of global domination.

Before LVMH, Richemont and PPR came along Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Cartier and even Hermes were in essence makers of the finest goods money could buy. Hermes is, much to their understandable annoyance, sadly, slowly being absorbed by LVMH. What we are left with is more product, less real expertise and a myriad of stuff that are fashion led seasonal offerings with a splash of tat. Hermes sell playing cards, Louis Vuitton selling city guides and a Dior (not Christian Dior anymore) website dedicated to make-up.

I do feel that the continued expansion of luxury brands does nothing other than diminish the integrity of the product in order to satisfy the shareholders demand for increased dividends and ultimately, probably, bigger yachts and more plastic surgery.

Product diversification diminishes the inherent value of producing luxury products. As I have said before luxury is not something that can be mass produced or consumed. It feels a bit like a comic book film where world domination is the aim - hopefully in this case the villains won't succeed - although I must admit that it is unlikely unless more heroes join the battle for real luxury .

Where to with Luxury

2011-07-03T17:30:00.004+01:00

The Millward Brown brand report has an interesting section on Luxury – well it’s not luxury at all rather an interesting section on luxury brands.

According to the report the current market of the top 10 luxury brands have a combined brand value of nearly 65.5 billion Dollars - I wonder does this really imply that they are manufacturing luxury goods or simply, as I have said before, mass producing tat to be consumed by the masses.

Millward Brown suggest that 'in general, Moët & Chandon, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, and the other luxury brands ranked high in brand contribution emphasized heritage and craftsmanship and limited distribution in the “mass luxury” market'. I do understand how a luxury brand can emphasize heritage because heritage adds value but how they can emphasize craftsmanship and limited distribution when their products are mass produced is confusing. But how can a brand limit distribution when their combined brand value exceeds 65.5 billion Dollars and they retail their goods around the world? Surely this is a contradiction in terms. They also go on about ethics and how consumers are no longer consuming conspicuously but are concerned with the origins of the product and how craftsmanship is once again becoming important. Are luxury brands really concerned with ethics, sustainability and the origins of their materials? I may not be looking hard enough but I have yet to find a luxury brand that has a Walmart type sustainability index. If Walmart can do it...

The report also says that ‘in a world of mass-produced consumer goods, bespoke attention to individuality became the ultimate luxury’ – HELLO – why else would consumers start to move away from luxury brands? They are starting to realise that the goods are not luxury at all. The marketers are now starting to realise that they cannot dupe all of the people all of the time and it is now time to change their tactics. So the answer to them is to try to recreate the ‘salon’ or ‘workshop’ atmosphere through advertising and in store – enhance the shopping experience through a false sense of security – pretend that they are addressing the needs, wants and desires of the shopper. Millward Brown discuss the Gucci model where ‘areas of some of its stores are turned into small workshops...’ Is this really luxury?

Millward Brown also note that luxury brand value is down 13% overall, they say that 'while the brand value of the luxury sector still lagged its pre-recession level, customers came back as evidenced by Burberry’s 86 percent leap and the brand appreciation of Cartier, Estée Lauder and Hermès.' Since when was Estée Lauder a luxury brand? This further emphasizes the confusion in the market. How are brands defined as luxury? And who decides?

The glory days of Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Chanel, Dior (not Christian Dior – that says it all) and even Hermes producing true luxury products are gone. That is not to say that don’t produce nicely made stuff – it’s just not luxury stuff. In my mind, cynical as I am, luxury brands are about money, making it for themselves and their shareholders.

Luxury, I am sure, will be re-claimed by the gifted craftsmen who embrace innovation, know how to ‘make’ and have an incessant desire to learn, teach and produce the most wonderful things.

Customizing Luxury?

2011-06-24T16:18:00.004+01:00

Increasingly technology is being used to encourage the consumption of goods. Over the past couple of years quite a few companies are selling what they define as customisable products. And yes, one might say that in the scheme of things they are. Nike and Levis have been doing it for many years, and more recently luxury brands such as Prada and Louis Vuitton are also cashing in. In an article titled Finding the Luxury in Mass Customisation on http://www.businessoffashion.com (BOF) the author who is not named suggests that 'the rise of a new mode of production called “mass customisation” promises to restore individuality to the product design process'. The author does go on to say that 'these brands offer only light aesthetic customisation'. I am still however not convinced. Although there may be an element of restoring individuality, the companies that currently offer the service still simply provide a product with variations on a theme. At Prada for example you can choose the SS 11 Lace-Up where colour variations are offered - i.e. a different coloured sole of a shoe or different coloured wing tip toe detail. Louis Vuitton do something similar but take it a step further; the customer can select from the product range and choose to have their luggage monogrammed (the monogram is hand painted, so an element of skill is involved) or made up in different materials and colour ways. What is still unclear, to me at least, is how this offers to restore individuality. There may be many options to choose from but they are still the same branded product. Loosing the companies aesthetic would dilute the brand which I am sure is not the intention. The consumer is still left with a very distinct branded product.

BOF do acknowledge the role of the craftsman and their relationship with their client. There is the suggestion that 'an ongoing connection that becomes smarter as the two interact with each other, collaborating to meet the consumer’s needs over time.' However they go on to say that 'luxury is not just about perfectly serving the needs of the client'. If it is not then what is it? Surely the customers needs must be at the forefront of the mind of the craftsman. How else do you build a relationship, a lasting one at that?

I believe that the importance of the role of the maker is not really considered or exploited in today's luxury brand market. It would be impossible for the producers of luxury branded product to meet their clients. Firstly because the consumers are not based in the same place that the product is made and secondly because the maker works on a production line. It would be interesting to have to client going from table to table to meet the person cutting the material, putting in the zip or doing the sewing. Although I am not sure that that would be a luxurious experience.

The customisation tools that exist at the moment are simple and straight forward and maintain the brand position but also reflect the customers own inability to decide when confronted with multiple customisation options. Simple is best as this avoids confusion. Crucial to the notion of mass customisation is that the customer still wants their product to be recognised as belonging to a specific brand.

I am not sure I agree with BOF when they suggest that ' it’s customisation platforms that have the ability to anticipate, and not just cater to, personal tastes in order to surprise consumers, as well as carry out their will, that may present the most potential for luxury fashion brands.' After all real luxury is concerned with satisfying the consumer in a very specific way and it could be argued that contact with the maker is crucial to maintaining the luxury ethos, something that a luxury brand is not really able to do.

What will be interesting is when craftsmen fully adopt technologies to enhance their product offer. The internet will act as a portal not simply to make colour or material changes to existing product but allow the customer to communicate with the maker through social media and even face to face with telephonic services such as SKYPE. The skills of the craftsmen will be continually tested as new technologies and technologically driven materials emerge giving them more freedom to explore, explain and satisfy an increasingly demanding and changing luxury market. The ultimate luxury!

Luxury goods- how can 'luxury' be defined?

2011-06-12T17:52:00.006+01:00

I have been following and commenting on a discussion started by Suzannah Cranwell on Luxury & Lifestyle Professionals on linkedin. Loads of people have commented. What has emerged is, I believe, a distinct lack of understanding of what luxury really is in a contemporary global consumer market. A common thread that I do agree with is that the commentators agree that luxury is about rarity, materials, quality, craftsmanship and

connoisseurship. But within some of the comments there seems to be a link to luxury brands. In my view luxury brands do not manufacture luxury goods. Hermes, Chanel, Vuitton and the like manufacture mass produced product that is targeted to a global consumer market. That, in my opinion, is not luxury . There is no denying that luxury brands produce, in the main, better quality products but they are luxury brands and definitely not luxury goods. Luxury brands are about economics and keeping the shareholders happy. Perhaps that is how luxury is defined today. Comments welcome:)

Where does everything go?

2011-02-08T14:14:00.002+00:00

It struck me walking through Harrods, Selfridges, Liberty, Browns, Matches etc. how much stuff they still have on sale. Tonnes of it and all reduced. The savvy shopper doesn’t buy full price anymore when most of the stuff on sale is reduced at some point during the year. All the schmutter money can buy, all reduced and most still unsold is on sale should you want it. But what do the stores do with the stuff once the sales are over? There is talk that some of it is burnt in order to protect the brand. Odd when you think about it because in my mind brand protection is not about pilling high and selling low. It is completely the opposite. There must be mountains, or indeed landfill sites of luxury brand goods somewhere in the world- and I don’t mean at the discount villages on the outskirts of the major cities. And as China now becomes the focus of luxury brand retailers with an estimated growth in profits to something like $14.6 billion by 2015 more stuff will be produced. In reality it does not matter where the stuff goes all that really matters is that we begin to understand that the more that is produced the less of a luxury it really is.

‘Sale’ into a luxury brand

2011-01-04T13:31:00.002+00:00

And so the luxury story continues. Come to think of it, it is not really a luxury story at all rather a luxury brand fairytale. The whole fashion cycle is becoming so boring. The stuff is more expensive than ever. I can’t believe anyone would pay full price for any of it and as the sales start earlier and earlier there is no real need. And so the sales begin.

Not content with selling their wares in airport shopping malls or discount outlets you can buy discounted luxury brands online. Forget paying full price at Net A Porter or the brands own websites. Don’t even bother going to the stores. Try all year round discounted goods at brandalley, cocosa or secretstyle. If you fancy a pair of Gucci or Dior shoes, a Fendy bag or Stephen Webster jewellery, they have it all. Despite Gucci telling us through their advertising that all the goods are beautifully made by men in white coats in a hazy workshop, the reality is that the goods are still mass produced, probably somewhere other than in Italy, and are not luxury at all. The days of the consumer respecting the artisan are long gone. Talented designers, makers and innovators are replaced by formulas that guarantee sales.

What is frustrating is that the consumer is none the wiser. What do they care if their jacket, jumper, skirt or bag is one of thousands. What they do care about is that it has a logo. To them the logo says luxury. And in reality that is all that matters, to the consumer and the retailer.

What strikes me as odd is that the luxury brand retailers spend millions of Dollars trying to protect the brand image but care little for where the product is actually sold. Why sell a £1000.00 handbag on a website that also sells Calvin Klein swimming trunks for a fiver? Even worse why sell a £1000.00 bag on a website that sells a Woodland Leather (who are they?) jacket for £150.00? What about protecting a brand when it needs it most? Shifting product is the aim of the game. To be honest a sale is a sale no matter where it happens so long as the product sells.

Murano Glass - Carlo Moretti

2010-12-30T23:50:00.013+00:00

Another piece from my glass collection

Finally Selfridges have come to their senses and started selling some decent Murano glass having removed it from the shelves a couple of years ago. Now, once again, you can buy Carlo Moretti and Cenedese in the glass department. Stupidly Harrods has redesigned their glass hall and now focus on the most garish pieces money can buy. They no longer sell Carlo Moretti or Cenedese. All a bit odd how the Buyers decide what to buy or not to buy in this case. One year they all sell it, the next no one sells it, then one sells it again when the other doesn’t. The only decent stuff Harrods now have is by the Czech glass maker Moser. And Moser is amazing, beautifully crafted, superb polishing all in amazing colours with the most fantastic engraving money can buy, should that be your thing. I have pieces by all of the above but thought I would share the Troncono ‘Conical Trunk’ which I bought at Harrods (before they stopped selling Moretti obviously).

On the Carlo Moretti website it says that it is a limited edition of 300. Weird, because I have number 82 / 333.

The vase is described as being ‘clear crystal with vertical stripes in turquoise and lapis lazuli with two horizontal bands in red’. Although I have just noticed, my vase has three stripes! perhaps it is a different edition. In any event, what I really like about this vase is that it feels kind of rustic and looks great with a cheap bunch of flowers. Who says luxury is all about money?

http://www.moser-glass.com

http://www.carlomoretti.com/

http://www.cenedesegino.it

Selfridge's Shoe Gallery

2010-10-31T13:42:00.008+00:00

Shoes are big business so off I went to Selfridges to see their new Shoe Gallery. This was my second visit. I went to have a look last weekend and it was heaving. Way too many people to enjoy what is I guess meant to be a pleasurable shopping experience – even though I am not in the market for women’s shoes. So second time lucky I thought. Maybe if I went earlier in the morning it would be less busy. But sadly it wasn't, there were still throngs of people.

The idea of a gallery, in my mind anyway, is somewhere where things are shown off and displayed to their best potential. Things in galleries are prized, special and to some considered artworks. So the Selfridges Shoe Gallery is not quite a gallery in the traditional sense; not really a gallery at all. More a space where designers and luxury brands either have concessions; Christian Louboutin, Chanel, Gucci, Fendi, Repetto etc or shelf space; LK Bennett, Paul Smith, Kurt Geiger etc. But reading the Selfridges blurb about the Shoe Gallery one would imagine being transported to another dimension where Jamie Fobert has not only created shoe galleries but 'apartments' as well. What happened to plain old English. It's a shoe department in a shop! I shouldn’t be too harsh because I do like Selfridges. But I hate the pretence.

Now onto the shoes. I took a look at two ‘iconic brands’ Louboutin and Lanvin. There is no doubt that they are beautifully designed shoes. But, and there is always a but with me, they are not so beautifully made. For the prices they charge I would expect close to perfectly made shoes. Turn over a Louboutin and what is striking is the lack of symmetry of the soles.

The Lanvin ballet pumps fare no better.

Firstly they are not made in their country of origin, France, a must I believe for luxury brand manufacture unless the expertise is to be found elsewhere. But there is no expertise exhibited in the manufacture of the Lanvin shoes, well none that I could see. The stitching is all over the place. They look like they have been put together by people in a hurry. And this brings me back to this whole notion of the luxury brand. I still question the use of the word luxury to describe any of these products unless the luxury is being able to afford £300.00 + for a pair of shoes.

But price is not ultimately what luxury is about.

Do we really need to queue outside Louis Vuitton?

2010-10-05T15:37:00.001+01:00

Fashion weeks have now come and gone, New York, London, Milan and Paris and it got me thinking about the sales. I don’t know why because they are least two months away. In any event I started to think, again, about luxury brands. As I always do. And the thought that sprung to mind was.... Why do you have to queue outside Louis Vuitton?

Surely luxury is about exclusivity. When you think about it Luxury is about exclusivity but luxury brands are not. Increasingly the products produced and indeed consumed are available anywhere and everywhere. No longer are Bond Street, Madison Avenue, Rue Saint-Honoré to name a few the shopping destinations for exclusive goods they are simply destinations where conglomerates maintain a ‘Flagship’ presence. If you want to buy Dior or Chanel you could venture to an outlet store.

So what is exclusive about these so called luxury products? It’s not really the price if you can buy them at reduced prices, nor is the actual goods considering they are mass produced and sold all over the world.Yet people flock to the stores throughout the year and especially during the sales and stand in line patiently waiting to buy something that is so readily available.The idea of exclusivity is, well quite odd. Luxury brands are now building larger and larger stores, appealing to the spectacle of shopping. These cathedrals of consumption do nothing more than encourage people to spend money on more and more things that are desired rather than needed; desire created through hype and rhetoric and nothing much else. You could join the throngs that visit the newish 15,000 square foot Louis Vuitton store on Bond Street, be pushed and shoved to see the spectacle that may be an art instillation, rather like a travelling freak show. Exclusive? I am not sure. Or you could simply wait and queue for discounts during the Louis Vuitton sale.

Luxury Glass Makers of the World

2010-09-14T14:04:00.009+01:00

I have been collecting amazing pieces of glass for about fifteen years now. What fascinates me is the skill of the blowers. From a base of silica that is mixed with a flux that is then melted the almost fluorescent colours rise. It has to be said that some of the finest pieces I have are from Murano, some I have bought on the Island myself, some have been given to me (lucky me:)).

It is interesting, going back to my first blog about luxury and department stores, the more I think about it the more obvious it is becoming. Department stores like Selfridges and Harrods used to sell quite a lot of Murano glass by Salviati, Cenedese and Carlo Moretti. No longer, as these department stores loose their luxury lustre and focus on luxury brand diversification it is left to the smaller specialist stores like Vessel in London to showcase the work of the craftsmen. To be honest, a smaller specialist store is probably a better outlet for such amazing pieces of glass. For those who are interested I thought I would share one of my favorite pieces. The blue, orange, black and white stripes of this Salviati vase are put together using the Canna (cane) method and mouth blown into a wooden mold. This is what Salviati say on their website 'the Canna is a piece of either transparent or opaque glass that has been drawn out into a long stick (or cane). Segments of canes of various lengths and colors are laid out on a flat surface in a decorative pattern and are heated in the furnace'. For some reason the elongated vase reminds me of Brancusi's Bird in Space.

www.salviati.com

www.cenedesegino.it

www.carlomoretti.com

www.vesselgallery.com

what is luxury?

2010-09-02T15:34:00.001+01:00

Department stores are amazing places. These cathedrals of consumption cater to anyone who loves to shop. You can find almost anything you want, from a pack of chewing gum to a diamond necklace. Both could be considered to be luxury items depending on whose buying them.

But my interest is in luxury goods that I like to define through materials, manufacture an educated view and the skill of the maker. I also often think, that when buying a luxury good, access to the maker, the design process and being able to participate in what would undoubtedly be an amazing learning experience is an integral part to acquiring a luxury product. The question I ask myself is... Is a department store a place to buy luxury goods, where what they sell is generally mass produced and mass consumed?

My intention is to look at design, materials to try to identify differences between luxury branded products and luxury goods. A challenge to say the least!