Touchdown in London town

Last Tuesday me and the rest of FCP went to London on a day trip to collate some research for our chosen brands for projects 2 and 3. Before being able to browse the famous streets of London, we were taken to the V&A museum where we were lucky enough to experience an exhibition: 'London Fashion in the 1980s.' From being able to go into this exhibition , it taught me a lot about 1980's fashion and how clothes were heavily influenced on this 'punk/rock' music genre. The 1980's was a time of experimentation where club wear was on trend and materials such as PVC, netting, mesh and tassel's were being introduced.

Above, is a photo of the way a Ted Baker concession within a Selfridges store was visually merchandised. With it being one of my brands that I am researching, it gave me a clear indications of their fun, funky flair and colour pallete they use within their branding and clothes. The way that Ted Baker is portrayed through their merchandising makes them seem like a witty, playful and charismatic brand.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING.. and its definitely showing in LDN!

As evening drew, we explored the streets of London and were able to appreciate the beautifully lit lights of the biggest stores such as Harrods,Selfridges and John Lewis. The atmosphere was lively and fun and definitely got me into the Christmas spirit. 

An experience to remember!!!! :D

Manisha x

A worldwind of 'fast love'

During today's seminar we analysed an article called 'Fast Love' taken from 'The Times'. The main points of the article were discussing this idea of how many women juggle a very fast paced lifestyle nowadays what with work, children, social commitments. It then goes on to state how the pressure to look glamorous is more than it has ever been and remaining that look is very tough due to this lack of time people have. The article promotes a possible solution to this problem, in which is to have express salons in which you pay for the service not the personal touch and the individual that does your grooming. The concept is suggested to be a quick 30 minute service in which customers come and go and pick a certain 'look' whether it be a blow dry or makeup in which they can look glamorous all the time.  In my opinion, I don't think this concept will work as well as people think due to the fact that the whole process is very factory like where one person goes in and another comes out - a conveyor belt of people coming into the salon all having their own diverse look and style about them, and all coming out as clones of one another. The other issue which arose from this article was the fact that it was mainly targeted at the 'business woman' who doesn't have time to get all this pampering done. However, the type of people that go to salons typically are those with a lot of time on their hands and ones who are going in for this whole 'salon experience', therefore a massive consumer will be lost because of the lack of personal touch and the social aspect of the idea. The idea mirrors this idea of 'fast fashion' and is being applied to beauty; however, how successful would this idea be?

Brands are slowly using this notion of 'Fast Beauty' such as Topshop who, in one of their flag ship stores actually have a personal hair stylist in store in which customers can go and get their hair blow-dryed.In this case, people are paying for the brand name and the fact they can then go on and say they've experienced it rather than getting it done due to the quality.

The tone of voice of the article was very opinionated in the sense where it identified the problem as being that women's main concern in this modern day and age is their appearance. It then went on to say how the lack of time people have restricts them from going to the average salon and spending time on their hair, nails and general grooming. Rather than being a suggestion, this was presented in a form of factual information where the consumer of 'The Times' would begin to believe that this is a problem and the article is the solution. 

 Are you team 'Fast Beauty'?

Manisha x