DRESS CODE

By Eve Destais

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Welcome to DRESS CODE, your inside guide to fashion

What is a trend ?

Let’s start from the very beginning ! According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a trend is « a general development or change in a situation or in the way that people are behaving ». However a trend is generally associated to fashion, in that case a trend is defined as « something that becomes accepted or fashionable, and that a lot of other people copy » (Colllins Dictionary 2019). Merriam Webster online dictionary gives synonyms to the word « trend » such as «  direction », « fad »,« drift »and « tendency ».Trends are the opposites of classics which never become completely obsolete and remain accepted for an extended period.

A trend starts off with innovators who introduce the trend and are closely followed by early adopters or fashion leaders such as celebrities and influencers. Then the fashion followers adopt the trend and it is produced by fast fashion brands in order to be accessible to the masses. They are then joined by the late adopters and laggards (Rogers 1962). A good example of this is the Bottega Veneta pouch bag (image 1) and biker shorts (image 2) that have taken Instagram by storm. Once a trend has run its course, it is replaced by something new. However, trends repeat themselves every 15 to 20 years: « Cycles and recycles are a common thing in fashion and they happen in precise moments, usually every fifteen years. Always in different ways but nonetheless inspired to a particular era. » (Vogue Italia 2010).

WEEKLY MOOD BOARD

Hey guys!  For this week’s mood board I decided to use the word “Urban” as my inspiration. I decided to do so because given the city life I am surrounded by, I thought this word would fit perfectly. I explored Shoreditch in London and put together this mood board. I first included a selection of my favorite pictures from this activity, scroll down for my final mood board.

The Collins Dictionary defines the word « urban » as « belonging to, or relating to, a town or city » so I first set out to find some street art; I found a yellow vibrant mural (image 3) very close by that was ideal.

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I then decided to take pictures of tall glass buildings from various angles to capture the grandeur and overwhelming aspect of the city. I noticed that the colors where rather dark (shades of grey, blue and black) so I also searched for some color. I was lucky to stumble upon a curious street post that was white with red stars and a bright green forklift in the middle of Spitalfields Market (image 4). 

I wanted my mood bard to convey different aspects of the city: the strict business aspect but also the wild, creative and diverse aspect. I really enjoyed this exercise because it encouraged me to go out of my comfort zone and observe and appreciate my surroundings. It also helped me find inspiration in unusual places.

STORE OBSERVATION: COS

I visited the COS store in Spitalfields, London(image 6).  COS stands for Collection of Style and opened their first store in 2007 in London and later launched an online store in 2011. The brand is now international with 283 stores around the world and is part of the H&M Group.  

The store is organised in two levels. Overall, the store was very clean and well setup, downstairs there was even a lovely lounge area (image 7). The staff however was quite cold and unoccupied. The menswear clothing was rather simple and had a surprisingly extensive color palette (blue, bright orange, …).

The womenswear was also quite simple, there were very few prints and the most « original » clothes were in the rear part of the first floor. I noticed was that most of the clothing looked very comfortable, there were many loungewear and winter items such as turtlenecks, socks and scarves.

In terms of trends, I noticed the store had oversize and unisex looking items I also noticed large puffer coats resembling others on the market. These trends have been worn by many celebrities such as Kylie Jenner (image 9) and Rihanna. High street and mass market brands such as Topshop and H&M have been producing similar items as well (image 10).

After my visit, I feel that the COS customer works in buisiness or finance, therefore needs elegant, simple and comfortable workwear. This individual appreciates tailored clothing at a reasonable price. In addition, Nicole Bischofer, the head of women’s wear design at COS states that « the COS customer is someone who looks for quality and shares our interest and appreciation in art and design across all aspects » (Forbes 2017). 

LONDON STREET STYLE

I visited Angel and Camden two hip and busy districts of London. They are known for their cultural diversity and edgy styles. My goal was to interview and collect images of different styles worn by people in the street

The first person is a French student living in London who describes her style as classic, minimalist and comfortable, her favorite thing to wear is premium loungewear which she mixes with urban elements such as trainers and artistic tote bags (image 11).

On the other hand, we have  someone wearing very personalised, unique and busy clothing (image 13). I also interviewed another person (image 12) who shops mainly vintage and describes her style as comfortable and chill.

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Most people I interviewed had a very layed back and vintage style however two girls (image 14 and  15) take more inspiration from the high street and shop at stores such as Primark, New Look and Topshop and described their style as feminine and urban.

Almost every single person I interviewed takes their inspiration from influencers from their country, such as Nella Rose (image 16) and Venetia Falconer.

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I noticed that vintage clothing has made a comeback and, although most styles were about comfort, each individual interprets the clothes and accessories to make the look theirs. In addition, I noticed that most street styles were about mix and matching different elements and putting aside “Fashion Faux Pas” and « rules ».