Color Block?

I would like to share a great site that I find very color inspiring.
From bright and playful to earthy and sophisticated, Design Seeds provides good inspiration for those creative block moments, or better yet for the "color block" moments.

More at: http://design-seeds.com

 

 

DESIGN: EXPLAINED IN A SIMPLE WAY by Burberry CEO Angela Ahrendts

Not only for the Luxury Industry but applicable to all market levels.
I am all pro optimizing the Sourcing Plan getting the best lead time and quality at a competitive cost but that is not the only way we can make sure our brand will stay on top of mind of our consumers and ultimately building and maintaining the title of "Successful".

Achieving the best output for the sourcing plan is crucial but it will make a bigger impact on both: consumer mind and company revenues; when it is paired with the best design praxis.

Simple and short.

Roger ARTiga

Love is in the Air at Pitti Filati FW 14-15

And talking about how Italians put their heart on what they do, Pitti Filati FW14-15 doesn't seem to be the exception; being LOVE the central topic around the exhibition: "sensual love, sexual love, brotherly love, love for animals, love for your neighbor. Love and that's all”.

The communication for this theme is much more than just showing the heart of the best Italian design combining new silhouettes, rich patterns and a well balanced color explosion utilizing great yarns and intricate knits. Pitti is also a proof that far from being superficial, fashion has a strong place as a communication and mind-changing tool in society; by making a strong, accepting, and non-judgmental social statement showing a multi-media installation portraying love in every single possible combination of human relationships. (man and woman, mother and son, gay couples, multi-ethnic couples)

MADE IN LOVE aims to provide the warmth, coziness and comfort that are so much needed in today's society without any social filtering. Love in all its nature is the answer to any problem around us. "This new attitude of love will pervade everything and provide the sole key to interpret progress. Without limits or prejudges."

FW14-15 promises to be a very innovative season not only in fabrication but in knitting techniques.

One can just not love the newness in yarn content with wool/silk blends to enhance hand-feel and subtle shine as well as the viscose/rayon blends with paper fibers. (more at www.eisakunoro.com).

Getting close to holidays, yarns are spinned with Lurex or overprinted knits with a hint of foil that works extremely well on "plissé" fabrics emphasizing the wearer's movements with a mate-shiny contrast.

For the knit direction, we can expect a lot of rich over sized traditional patterns, timeless regal jacquards and different sorts of mesh, drop-needle and transparencies to enhance peek-a-boo silhouettes. (more at www.filipucci.it)

As seen on “Feel the Yarn”, Chun San Chin brought traditional jersey to a very artistic/dramatic edge with the emboss effect casted with resin. Puntoart is also creating this emboss effect in a more commercial, cost effective way by using felt lining on either bonding or DTM embroidery as a way to revamp regular jersey with designs that can go from fake cables and geos to whimsical motifs. (more at www.ricamipuntoart.it)

No matter what your preferences are, Pitti Filati FW14-15 is a show to fall in love with.
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Roger ARTiga

Luxury, Fashion and Passion. Visit to Gucci and Ferragamo Museums in Florence.

Luxury, Fashion and Passion,... definitely Florence has it all!!!  I have to admit that I am not a big museum lover, my way to travel and to get to know a city has normally been doing what the locals do on their day to day life; that been said, I wasn’t that thrilled with the idea of visiting the Gucci and Ferragamo Museum in Florence, but... there are few things in life that I enjoy more than being proven wrong!  Yes, it is a must do when in Florence: the exhibitions are breathtaking!!!

Gucci Museum shows a permanent exhibition featuring the beginnings of the brand up to date as well as a Modern Art exhibition constantly being updated.  The Ferragamo museum in the other hand has a themed exhibition that blends with the permanent pieces of the Ferragamo history.  Currently the exhibition goes around the key and magical role of shoes in fairy tales called ““The Amazing Shoemaker — Fairy Tales and Legends about Shoes and Shoemakers,”

During this journey full of inspiration, fairy tales, and luxury, the most important factor for me is not the shoes, nor the materials, nor the craftsmanship, but the passion.  Both Gucci and Ferragamo are the stories of visionary men whose history and creations are inspiring from a business and a design standpoint.  These men were following their dreams and working on them with their brains and hearts.  Is that the secret of the “Italian way”? 

I have to say that listening to an Italian talking about any subject regarding Italy is full of pride and passion.  Our visit to de museums was not the exception; while walking through the exhibits at Gucci you would perceive the museum employees looking at you with a smirk like thinking “yes, I know you are astonished”.  But far from being an arrogant look it is more of a passionate pride inviting you to discover more.

The look of our Cultural Aspects  teacher talking about the history of the brands (and yes, she is Italian) was somehow very familiar; I had seen it also on the technicians explaining their job and the textile processes during the factory visits; same situation at the gelato store when the owner is enticing you to try a new flavor with a smile full of satisfaction of his creation.

Italians might not be very punctual for meetings; the whole working methodology might look very organic; we see them at the bars having coffee, relaxing and looking at women walking down the street without any discretion and just enjoying life but... they definitely put their heart on what they do.

Both exhibitions are a sample of this passion for creation, for beauty, limitless ideas, and attention to details. So the journey at the museums was full of fairy magic realizing that dreams do come true as long as you put your heart on it.

Trying to capture the magic of the moment, on our way to the museums we did stop at “Il Porcellino”, a bronze boar fountain at Mercato Nuovo where visitors will put a coin and rub the boar’s nose in order to make a wish and come back to Florence one day. 

I hope mine will be granted soon.

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Roger Artiga

Pitti Bimbo SS 2014: Marketing the Parents, Targeting the Kids.

As mentioned in my previous post “Monkey Sees, Monkey Does”, kid’s market is growing and brands are eagerly working to take the biggest piece of the pie. But as much as it is a tempting business, it is definitely not an easy one. Kids are very demanding and they are making their own choices.What mom wants is not always what the kid wants; from a marketing perspective it is also a puzzle: who should we target, the kid or the parents? What was seeing during the last Pitti Bimbo Show featured a good product direction to answer this question.

Big themes at the show as we decided to call them: Vintage Comics, Retro St. Tropez, and Nostalgic Chic. What’s in common on this? Of course retro! The biggest part of the Bimbo assortment was retro! Such a clever way to attract the parents with emotional nostalgia and to the kids with a “cool” factor... because, all the elements that can awake our early childhood memories are... sadly... old enough to be cool again to the eyes of our kids.

Vintage Comics – remember when fighting with your brothers for the Sunday’s comics in the newspaper just to see the latest Dick Tracy strip? That adrenaline rush is exactly what Young Versace and Kids John Galliano are offering for Spring Summer 2014. The trend is evolving from Fall 2013 and is just getting stronger with muted neutrals contrasting with saturated primary colors. Silhouettes are updated to be comfortable and cool, with retro color tone-on-tone jackets paired with jogging pants and vintage-looking tees featuring the cartoons of the golden times. [more at http://www.johngalliano.com]

Retro St. Tropez is an evolution of the Nautical Theme always present for Spring Summer. This time refreshed with nostalgia... Color palette is predominantly white and blue stripes with a vintage feel... forget about the bright blue for kids, Bimbo kids are sophisticated. The playful component comes with prints, 3d embellishments and accessories!Vintage tropical prints and marine white-on-white linen dresses with Cluny lace and eyelet are also part of this group. Silhouettes: dresses are very important for this season, bloomers and chemises are also included in this trend [suggested brand http://www.piccolaludo.it]

Nostalgic Chic: 50’s is back in simple and comfortable but totally girly silhouettes. Breathable fibers for the season woven or knitted in traditional gingham, eyelet and pointelle are the direction for this group. The color palette is playful with a primary color palette on dusty hues for the true stylish and retro look. [suggested brand http://www.caramel-shop.co.uk]

In conclusion the Pitti Bimbo assortment was playing with a nostalgic factor for the parents (or in this case for the buyers) but, tailoring the products in order to attract the kids, linking both ends of the kid’s marketing “problema”.

"Pitti Bimbo Spring Summer 2014 captures the essence of the retro nostalgia taking us into a flash back to our early years but bringing us back to 2013 with updated cool collections for today’s kids." 

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Roger ARTiga.

MONKEY SEES, MONKEY DOES :: NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES IN FASHION.

The recent visit at the Pitti Bimbo Show made me ponder some thoughts about an article I read a couple of months ago and that I would like to share. This is not about color trends or silhouettes but mostly about consumer behavior and new business opportunities.

Women’s clothing industry will report a 12% increase by 2014 as reported by Marketline (1) despite the global economy downturn; but don’t be fooled by the increasing rate on women’s apparel consumption, as we have to take a look at the big picture where new upcoming brands are fighting for a position on the ladies’ mind on top of the already established brands.

As the market is getting more saturated competition is getting tougher; therefore everybody is still wondering what would be the next untapped market to increase sales.

Interesting point about the article from Euromonitor is how the industry is looking at the “little consumers”; the children’s wear arena is growing and seems promising. The trend here is for the well-groomed woman who is not only conscious of carrying a chic bag with stylish pair of shoes to complement her trendy outfit but also conscious about the ultimate accessory: of course, the kids!

Mothers are translating their fashion sense to their children. If she looks good the kid has to look good to play the part. This trend is mostly current in developing economies as it draws distinction in society, though it is also present in mature markets and as a consequence it is opening new business opportunities.

This new consumer behavior trend can be a promising scenario for brands with none or little kids’ wear background as it can be an extension for their current product mix. In the other hand, for traditional-well-established-children’s wear companies, this new trend can translate into revamping their lines and to offer premium collections to the product mix.

The trend is applicable to Mass Retailers, Specialty Stores and Luxury Houses and we can forecast hard competition once the consumer is fully educated. The new challenge is now into developing a strategy that will stay truthful to the brand DNA and will at the same time glamour the kid’s mind. It is not about offering scale models of the product mix already on the adult consumer floor, but to twist it and reinterpret this DNA to capture the little ones attention; mostly because kids are also making their own decision on what to wear, on developing their own fashion style, and building their own identity following the models seen on their parents… remember: monkey sees, monkey does.

Buyers then, have to develop a keen eye to create an assortment that will captivate both parents and kids equally. Brands who conquer the kid’s market today can also build brand loyalty that will get a long way in the future when these new little consumers get into the work force.

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Roger ARTiga

(1) References:

http://www.reportlinker.com/ci02124/Women-s-Clothing.html

http://blog.euromonitor.com/2012/09/little-devils-wear-prada-how-is-adult-fashion-infiltrating-the-childrenswear-market.html  [ACCESSED ON 02-18-2013]

"Death Becomes Her" or "Death Trend in Fashion".

How many of you remember the movie "Death Becomes Her"? The dark comedy from 1992 starring Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis and Isabella Rossellini as a mockery of society in the quest of eternal youth and fear of aging to avoid ultimately facing the inevitable death is just one of multiple death-inspired movies that have been around in the past decades.  From comedies to thrillers the theme has been charming the arts for a long time in different periods of the history. 

Death has also been present in fashion and in a very strong way in the past 5 years.  I remember back when developing the denim line for Sears Canada Fall 2008 when the buyer’s direction was “Skulls and Fangs”!!  For Sears?!! As much as it was a trendy theme none of the designers thought it would fly with the traditional Sears customers, it was way too trendy for the target profile, therefore we went for it!  A collection of studded crosses with embroidered roses and skulls was born and it was a hit.  From the McQueen runway to the mass market, death seems to be fascinating everybody, but what does it mean in fashion? Why is it still relevant from fashionistas to the regular Joe?

Playing with the forbidden or the unknown has always been tempting, but why is it coming back nowadays?  Today’s class made me think of a documentary that I watched long time ago, and please forgive me for not remembering where and when I saw it, but it was about movies in the end 60’s and beginning of the 70’s.

 Before the first man walked on the moon, at the second part of the 60’s, the fascination of the unknown was about the outer space, was there any live out of the earth?  This attraction influenced the arts portraying great imagery of attacks from Mars and other outer-space creatures that spanned from serious thrillers to the Flintstones! Everybody was exposed to the outer-space and all the possibilities it could hide. But what happened after Neil Armstrong walked on the moon?  The outer-space was no longer something unfamiliar for humanity; the conquest of the unknown was not so much...unknown.

 As a reaction to this “The Exorcist” came to the big screen and so many other films touching this topic.  Since outer-space was not able anymore to provide that taboo element (as it was proved to be conquered on 1969) the society needed to find a new frontier: therefore the outer-space became the outer-world. 

After today’s session, my thinking goes to today’s society; aren’t we facing a similar situation? We have it all, don’t we? Information is there available for all of us... only a click away.  From scenes under deep see, passing through the microscopic world, to the view of the earth from the outer-space and even our internal body and organs!!; any possible angle of our surroundings is available to us thanks to the all mighty Google and its relatives.  Technology has gone so far that no matter what we are looking for, we know some studies have already been conducted and we can find trustworthy information through museums and laboratories. What is the unknown then? Of course, Death! Death comes back as it did in the early 70’s.

The ultimate mysterious frontier is appealing again; again, society wants to flirt with the old maid that hasn’t been conquered through ages.  How long will this trend last? I am guessing until society finds, like a little kid, a new appealing toy to play with or until society gives up again on trying to solve the mystery; but no matter what, the death trend will come back sooner or later, because human kind has not yet been able to conquer it.  So keep your skull earrings even when the trend is over... it will come back in fashion if not for you, for your daughter in a couple of decades from now.

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Roger ARTiga

Nothing like a good coffee for a fresh start!

 
I am sure most of us coffee lovers will agree that nothing is better to start your journey than an aromatic cup of coffee.  Let's  start this new journey with a first posting based on coffee and cultural aspects.

Now, how is coffee related with cultural aspects? Surprisingly a lot! Coming from El Salvador, a country where coffee has always being very much appreciated at the point that no one can call it a breakfast unless it is accompanied by the sweet-smelling cup of coffee, and honestly I don’t even remember when was the first time I tried coffee. Yes! Coffee is accepted even for kids… the sensual drink is hidden in the vast amount of milk that is poured for the little ones, but no one can deny coffee is still there flirting with their palates at a very young age.  But before I get lost reminiscing about my childhood and my “champion’s breakfast” which did not include Tony the Tiger but rather coffee and "semita" (traditional sweet bread), let me get to the point of how coffee can be a cultural difference indicator.

Yes, I was born in El Salvador, though my career path brought me out of the country to different regions where coffee has always been present. I have gone from tropical El Salvador to the beautiful French Canadian countryside in the Laurentides, Quebec; then to the cosmopolitan English Canadian City of Toronto then to the Far East in Seoul, South Korea; back to Guatemala (also well known for its coffee plantations); then Shanghai, People's Republic of China and currently Florence in Italy.

In every single place I have been, except for China, coffee has a very important place in people’s drinking preferences. But as much as coffee is generic for everybody, the way each one of the mentioned cities enjoy the aromatic drink is different, and I am not talking about the differences between an Americano, Espresso or Cappuccino but rather on the actual behavior while drinking a good cup of coffee.

When shopping or doing errands out with my mom at my early years, no matter how many tasks we had to accomplish during the day, the stop for coffee was mandatory. It could had been only five minutes to sit and drink a coffee and some pastry and keep on going with the journey, but the key point was “TO SIT”. Thinking of walking with a cup of coffee was unthinkable for my mom; and there I was, years later, walking in Toronto going to work with my Caffé Latté on one of those white paper cups with the green logo!? When did that happen? A simple task such as sipping your coffee can tell you a lot about a culture and how life has changed. For El Salvador, it is more of a common ritual, a time for indulgence even if you are in a hurry. This approach is somehow shared for the Quebecers in Canada, probably due to the similarities about the “enjoying life” philosophy. For Toronto, the so-called New York of Canada, the rush of the people is shown in sipping while on the go while in South Korea, coffee is the perfect ending of lunch time.

Koreans will eat their lunches at the speed of light, 10 minutes and the hot “jiggae” is gone. Everybody comes in and out of restaurants at lunch time with an average sitting time of 15 minutes (including ordering, eating and paying). But you can always have a break in Seoul, one of the most fast paced cities in Asia; after “swallowing”their lunches, the rush goes to the coffee shops (which I am not afraid to say that Yeouido, the traditional financial district in Seoul has an average of 4 coffee shops per block). That is where the real break and enjoyment takes place. At the coffee shop those hard working people gather to gossip about the journey and relax, some groups will prefer to take it on the go, but no one really rushes with a coffee cup on the street, the cup on the go is an invitation to quietly stroll the streets while enjoying the preferred “iced coffee”even for winter! That is the real break that helps finishing the 10 – 12 hour working journey.

So a simple cup of coffee can tell you a lot about a society, their life style, the way they approach life, it can be a media to spot out cultural differences and it can also be a fun way to spend a couple of minutes catching up with your friends, reading a book, checking emails or, even just looking at other’s people behaviors.  

No matter how busy our journey is, there is always time for a coffee!

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Roger ARTiga