Trip to London

Myself and Becky Gould recently travelled into London, seeking inspiration for this unit. After visiting the Kryolan Bag sale, we travelled around Covent Garden, and then onto Oxford Street. The bag sale had initially been cancelled, however, when I emailed them and explained how we had booked tickets in advance to visit, the store were very kind and treated us to our own bag sale, in which we were allowed to see the products available before buying. There was a large range of products available, which as we looked around made us think about how we could utilise them in our own work for Beauty and The Brand. I found items such as dramatic eyelashes, coloured hairspray and even full palettes in which colours inspired me to create such looks. The store even gave us 20% off any products in their store as a way of an apology, where I bought the dermacolour palette as well as a bruise wheel. We were very happy with our purchases.

All of the products that I bought in the Kryolan Bag Sale.

During our walk around Covent Garden, I studied the architecture of the buildings around us. There are many old buildings that are beautifully decorated, so I thought that it was important for me to document this. As both Hubert Givenchy and Riccardo Tisci have found inspiration for their works through Parisian architecture, I thought that it was important for me to also look around London's architecture. Although they are not the same in style, there are many aspects of London that are equally as beautiful and delicate. I noticed that the more I looked, I found a new appreciation for the buildings and designs. The small intricate designs resembled that of those found in the dresses and couture collections, although they are not the same I thought that I could include this within my design. In Covent Garden, there is a large glass roof area in which I found particularly admirable, due to the patterns and construction. I took photographs to look back on as inspiration for my work. 

We then travelled to Oxford Street, where I went into Selfridges to see the Givenchy collections. At first we went upstairs to see the clothing collection, then downstairs to the accessories. I found that the clothing was very similar to pieces seen on the runways, which I found particularly interesting. There was a long, white, frilled gown that was the centrepiece of the area, and was very similar to the dresses worn by the likes of Kendall Jenner and Joan Smalls in the Mens Spring/Summer 2016 Ready to Wear Collection. There were also a couple of the iconic tote bags on their own stand in the front of Givenchy's selection. Golds, Khakis, Black and White were the main colours used in the clothing and accessories. Glitter and sequins were also used in the designs, which reminded me of the glitter trend in the makeup for Spring/Summer 2016. I found it interesting that the makeup does reflect the clothing, as it is an important part of the whole look. It was different to normal shops as there was only a couple of items of clothing on display. 

When we went downstairs to the accessories section, the theme of limited colour palettes continued. There was however, a lot of animal prints used within the bags in particular. Leopard print seems to be making a comeback within the accessories. Golds, black and white were the main colours used within the bags, and I found it interesting that there were a couple of items such as phone cases and clutch bags with slogans written on. At first I thought that this was a little out of the ordinary for the brand, however when I thought about it, it brings in the younger customers as it is a trend within the teenagers and young adults. The store was neat and minimal, which brought attention to the pieces that were there. The focus was on the products completely, rather than the shop itself. Some shops decorate a lot to portray a theme of their products, however, Givenchy let the products themselves do the talking. On the counter was a small black book with gold edging, and when opened, it showcased the whole Spring/Summer 2016 collection. I managed to get a couple of images from the book, in order to inspire me when it came to designing my looks. Being able to walk into a Givenchy shop was thoroughly beneficial to me, as I could see how the shop brings in customers and sells their products. Although Givenchy is highly priced, it was beneficial to see how they targeted their chosen customers. The minimalistic design of the shop, and the small ranges of clothing and products emphasised the beauty of the pieces, and proved that it is all about quality, not quantity. I feel inspired by the products and designs that I saw, and being able to feel the textures used has inspired me to look at these when creating my final looks.