New Brief

FINALLY I have a new brief! For the past few weeks my life has been very Oasis Oasis Oasis, so its nice to have a new focus! Simon Ackerman, the photographer I worked with on the sandbanks Top Yachts shoot, has asked me to work on a new project with him. This shoot is going to be held in the studio, and focused on high fashion. We are also going to incorporate some beauty shots with theatrical make up, and accessories.
The first thing that popped into my head when I thought "High Fashion" was Greg Kadel.

Oasis

Okay so I don't blog much about my work life (my work life being my part time job at Oasis in Bournemouth - which to be fair is becoming increasingly more full time, as I am currently working 5-6 days a week) but I am starting to get into the swing of it, and am starting to enjoy myself and learn new things. I have been doing a lot of visual merchandising lately, dressing the mannequins for the window and arranging the different capsule collections in store, which I have had a lot of positive feedback from, so thats encouraging! Yesterday a really lovely french lady came and chatted to me while I was on fitting rooms, just about fashion in general and fabrics, and occasion wear, and she complimented me on what I was wearing. It was really refreshing, and inspiring, and reminded me of why I love retail! I was a bit slow to fiot in at the start, but now I love the brand, I can speak passionately about anything in the shop, and I am turning into a good salesperson! Who knew... the quiet little girl from Sandhurst, who couldn't even speak up in class! :)

Graduate Fashion Week

Today I went up to Earls Court in London to assist with the Bournemouth Graduation runway show. I was unable to help backstage, as the passes had run out, I was however, placed on front of house, ushering guests into their seats. I also managed to see the show, as well as a couple of others, which was a really good experience.

The first show I saw was the Liverpool John Moores School of Art & Design. It was a really good show, and the students work was creative in a more commercially viable way than our own show, with plenty of floaty fabrics and feminine layering. I personally found it inspiring, particularly the menswear collection by Ellie Arif.

After this show, R&B star Tinie Tempah took to the River Island stage for a set. This was very unexpected, and a nice interval in between the shows. We then had a wander around the exhibition space and found out more about the different universities collections, and realised that some of them have their own particular style.

Our 3rd year graduates were showing with bath spa, and after ushering people to their seats we stayed to watch the show. It was a really creative and interesting show, and the collections were all really inspiring. Bath Spa used gimics such as spotlights, a rain simulation intro, and heavily remixed music, but the AUCB work, certainly stood on its own.

When leaving Earls Court, myself and a couple of others spotted Erin O'Connor, and she was nice enough to stop and chat to us for a while. She was explaining how she thinks it is sad that design students cannot express their true creativity, instead having to take into consideration the commercial viability of their work, and that she was at Earls Court to give a presentation to university lecturers about this matter. She was also telling us about "All Walks Beyond The Catwalk" (http://www.allwalks.org). This is a campaign to introduce a different kind of model to the fashion industry, and to work with designers and models to achieve this. "All Walks Beyond The Catwalk is a new initiative which recognises a shift in mood and attitude in fashion and a need to broaden the message our industry send out to the rest of the world." She was a very warm and friendly person who had a genuine interest in us as students, and was also wearing an accessory by one of our designers, what a great experience.

Dima Hohlov

So I stumbled across these images on facebook today, and I LOVE them! They are by photographer Dima Hohlov, stylist Monique Vatine and star model Tayane Leao. The post-apocalyptic story generated by the images sums up my ideal for a beautiful fashion image. The beauty in a story and in a character, as opposed to just another fashion photo. It inspires us with a strong woman, we see beauty in her beyond her face and her clothes.






After researching Dima's work it is easy to see that this is an ongoing focus in his work, particularly in this beauty shot with the fishnet tights. Dima shows the beauty in distortion, creating really lovely interesting images.

Would you believe it... I GOT A 1st

I recieved my results from the Paper Circus project in the post today, and I got 70%, which is a 1st! I was convinced that I wasnt going to get a particulrly high grade, as the presentation of my work did not go well, to say the least!

Gemma Booth

Gemma Booth's photographs are playful, youthful and unpretentious, with a romantic quality about them. She has clients such as Chanel, Paul Smith, Roxy i-D and Japanese Vogue, and her work epitomizes all I see beautiful about fashion. From the natural settings and poses, to the creative art-school if slightly indie and pretty styling. It is 100% contemporary and up-to-date, whilst reflecting on past practices. She says she’s inspired by stories, old photos, films, books and exhibitions: “- they can all inspire, but sometimes it just comes from within, from a dream or memory.”






I have a few particular favourites of her images. The first being of a model with a bike in a field, similar in appearance to the new forest, which has inspired me to conduct a romance shoot, possibly with a focus on romance in fiction. It is a really inspiring and beautiful image. The photo with the llama shows the fun side to fashion, very much typical of gemma booth's work. Continuing on from the romance line of inspiration, the image of a model in lingerie next to a bookcase full of vintage books is very beautiful, and this is definately an avenue I would love to pursue.