Controra Fashion Club

These are some of the photos I’ve sent out, along with a video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zautOYmK_VI), and the following prompts:

• Do you ever stop and reflect on how clothes feel on your body, rather than just how they look?
• When was the last time you bought something that you were absolutely enamoured of? Do you remember how you felt, wearing that garment for the first time?
• What comes to mind when you think of ‘sustainable fashion’? Is the Monozygotics collection what you’d picture at all?
• As you look at the garments made by Monozygotics, I’d like you to try and picture yourself wearing any of them – how do you feel? Do you like this version of yourself?
• Do you feel inspired by what they were inspired by (in this case, 50s fashion and witchcraft)?

On Saturday October 29th I attended The Angelman Syndrome Awareness Designer Award, a fundraising event that was also a platform for six emerging designers to present their works for the first time.

I attended as a fashion writer, but it was also an occasion for me to talk about my project and get feedback from my main stakeholders: emerging designers.

It was incredibly inspiring to be surrounded by people at the beginning of their career, trying to make a difference in the industry. One of them, Daniel Thompson is trying to redefine the meaning of ‘useless’ with his designs, showing a strong interest in how to reutilise and make the most of discarded materials. More and more young designers are turning to sustainability, trying to make the most of the materials they can get their hands on. The question is, what are the tools I could provide to someone like him, to help him connect with young consumers?

For now, I can share his work and write about it on Controra’s social media page, and connect with him again in the future (organising an upcycling workshop led by him, for instance). I am also thinking about looking more into the idea of mindfulness within storytelling, which I addressed in my latest intervention (some of the prompts meant to guide the participants asked them to reflect on how clothes feel on their bodies, for instance.)

For my next intervention, and final project, I am collaborating with an emerging, sustainable brand, Monozygotics, to see how people engage with their current brand storytelling, and if it is possible to emotionally engage consumers and connect them with a brand’s core values.

These are some of the main objectives and outcomes: 

• For the brand: Carrying out customer research on their behalf, analysing how people react to their current storytelling; Providing them with user-generated content that can be utilised for their marketing campaigns.
• For the participants/consumers: Introducing ideas of introspection and self-reflection in the shopping experience; Allowing consumers to engage and interact with a sustainable brand and its core values.

How can engaging young consumers with different forms of interactive storytelling for self-exploration connect them with sustainable fashion brands?

Example: fashion brand Di Petsa. Dimitra Petsa hosts 2/3-hour workshops every full moon (around £50 to attend). She directly forms a bond with her consumers – which could be seen as a form of emotional branding – in a genuine and authentic way. She utilises her performance background to teach people to explore their own identities, sexuality and bodies through dress, whilst also telling her own story and the story of her brand. She is not only/directly selling a product, but a story and an opportunity for self-exploration.

I read an interesting article on how brands, namely ASOS, are using storytelling to sell more clothes (clothes that carry a certain meaning) – it appears that consumers are more prone to buy and wear clothes with stories behind them, like the ASOS ‘Made in Kenya’ collection.

“As the consumer we buy stories. When we get that emotional connection from a product’s story we buy it. We want to buy products that speak to us emotionally.” – Lizzie Parsons

ASOS, however, as a fast fashion brand is also responsible for contributing to the current climate crisis. Plus, the company can afford to have entire teams articulating these stories and coming up with the most effective marketing strategies. Smaller brands don’t have that – they have the passion, talent, and potential, but lack the support necessary to go that extra mile.

I am thinking of how storytelling can be a tool to help smaller brands and fight against overconsumption in the fashion world. Fashion shows, for instance, are great occasions to incorporate elements of storytelling, to create immersive experiences that can convey what the brand is about, and can potentially create an emotional engagement between the audiences and the clothes showcased.

https://social.shorthand.com/alexander_coste/3gblKLldYi/the-art-of-fashion-storytelling

“Since 1977, the Spitalfields Trust has fought to protect the buildings and culture of Spitalfields from exploitative development. Ours is a vision which respects history and architectural precedent. We welcome development that responds to local needs and is sympathetic in scale and form to the existing historic environment.”

When I first came across the Save Brick Lane campaign, I immediately thought about my project. Brick Lane is one of the most vibrant and multicultural parts of London, one you never get tired of walking through. The Spitalfield Trust has been trying to support the communities living and working in Brick Lane, now at risk what with current plans for exploitative redevelopment.

How does this relate to my project? Well, something they’re trying to do is donate spaces to the communities, from shops to small squares. I have gotten in touch with them explaining my project, and asking to discuss it further. I would love to use my knowledge and expertise to help this community, perhaps organising a charity event – and opportunity for fashion creatives to meet up – or sharing their cause with my contact network.

I defintely intend to investigate the community-building potential of fashion further, even after the end of the course.

https://battleforbricklane.com/brewery-redevelopment

The participants were:

Leanne Cullen (IBEAM Fashion) and Daisy Riley (Monozygotics) – plus myself, contributing to the discussion as a fashion writer (& MA researcher). Leanne and Daisy are both emerging fashion designers, and both created ethical and sustainable brands.

At the beginning, I asked them to talk about the challenges they individually faced when they first set up their businesses, and it was interesting to see how many similarities there were between their journeys. Also, I noticed how both of them mentioned the importance of finding like-minded people to work with, in terms of what platforms their works will be featured on, who helps them with marketing, filming, etc.

We also discussed the present and future of retail, which was an occasion for me to share what I’ve discovered so far by researching this topic. Some important themes emerged, such as: the importance of building credibility, lack of resources, lack of platforms to learn about opportunities, and overall not a lot of support for emerging designers.

There were supposed to be other people present, including two other fashion writers. This is something I need to keep in mind when organising the next one: I will need to make sure to invite fashion professionals from all areas of the industry. So also make-up artists, for instance, as well as photographers, stylists, etc.

Something interesting that came up: I asked if there currently are any alternatives to Fashion Week, designed specifically for emerging designers, and Daisy mentioned Undiscovered (see previous post). Leanne had not heard about it, so she shared the link with her.

Daisy mentioned Undiscovered as a good opportunity for small brands – basically a series of fashion shows for emerging designers. They take care of everything, finding models, make-up artists, etc, and it’s much cheaper than fashion week. Leanne didn’t know about it but is now considering applying too.

(online, August 23rd, 5pm-6/6.30pm)

Attendees:

1. Intro, around 5-10min: attendees to introduce themselves and their businesses/creative practices;
2. Intro, around 5-10min: explain project, state purpose of event;
3. Start conversation 30-40min;                                                              
4. Final comments, conclusions, thanks and goodbyes, 5-10min.

Some questions/topics:

• When did you first realize you wanted to pursue a career as a designer? Could you define the role of a fashion designer? 
• What challenges did you first encounter and did anyone help you during that first phase? And what made you want to pursue this career, despite those initial challenges?
• What are your thoughts about fashion week?
• How do you get unstuck creatively?
• Networking – what works for you, what doesn’t?
• Retail spaces in London & Opportunties; 
• “Traceability is, then, not only knowing the supply chain but also communicating that chain to consumers”  – what do you make of this?
• Post-pandemic present and future of fashion.   

In addition, ahead of the meeting, I also found it helpful to reflect on the following “Business Questions” from a case study on sustainable brand Alabama Chanin:

“The following questions address the need for developing a business proposal for the creation of a new sustainable apparel company that follows the principles of local, light, traceable, and one of the UN SDGs.

1. Local: How can a business implement local into the supply chain and production model? How can decent work and economic growth be implemented into the business plan or proposal?

2. Light: How can a business be “light”? How will responsible production and consumption be implemented into a business plan or proposal? How does Alabama Chanin communicate their sustainability credentials through their website and social media outlets?

3. Traceable: What methods of traceability can be implemented? How can the supply chain from cradle to cradle, the entire life cycle of the product, be traced?

4.Most important to plan: Which of these elements, “local,” “light,” or “traceability,” should be primary in or central to a business proposal?

5. UN SDGs: How can a business specifically address the UN goals, “peace and prosperity for people and How does Alabama Chanin implement traceable, light, local production and what United Nations Sustainable Development Goals does it follow?”

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Thinking about and planning this intervention has helped me define my research and focus for the following months. What I want to achieve, who I want to help, and who is involved.

I intend to help emerging designers and fashion professionals network, meeting each other in more fun and casual settings. Creating safe, joyful and empowering spaces for people who are just starting out, and need a support network/fellow creatives to talk to, share experiences, give advice to, etc.

I’ve realised that all the contacts I have made so far as a fashion writer – the people I invited to my upcoming intervention, for instance – I met by going to various events. These interventions, in fact, would also help me build my writing portfolio, by allowing me to meet designers I could interview, or fashion editors I could pitch my ideas to.

Furthermore, I can do all this whilst activating retail spaces, as it was my initial plan. The main difference is that the focus is now on the purpose of these events, rather than the fact they’re taking place in retail shops.

In the future, possibly after the course, I envision Controra Fashion Club as a platform for emerging fashion creatives. A website + social media pages + Discord. Monthly in-person and online events. Creating a fashion community, whilst activating spaces.

The next step, after my upcoming intervention (online event for fashion professionals), will be an in-person event. Once back in London, I want to go to Paper Dress Vintage (a vintage shop during the day and a club after dark), to discuss my project and whether they’d like to get involved.