Final Reflection

Creating the collection the process
To research designing a collection it was important to have a sound understanding of the Miu Miu brand, style significances and inspirations behind each collection and how this all linked in with the colour choices of the designer. After this preliminary research analysis of information could then be applied to the collection. Several separate colour palettes were selected from various collections and then narrowed down by choosing certain hues, tints and tones were which then used to start the initial process of designing the collection and selecting colour proportion. An essential process of development was to primarily sketch out the designs by hand and apply colour using crayon. This would give a better overview and a bird’s eye view of the whole collection; what colours needed to be changed and what tints, shades and tones needed to be added to make the collection flow, how the proportions needed to be altered to reflect the Miu Miu brand and not make the collection appear disjointed in anyway. With this in mind the work was analysed and reflections and alterations were made. One main issue discovered was proportions. Using colours randomly was not statistical enough and made the collection appear segmented; therefore it was important that colours were pulled out strategically to be used as the foundation of the collection and other brighter high chroma hues to be used as accents. As the collection was designed for fall/winter 2009-2010 it was an obvious choice to choose the low chroma, high value hues such as brown, grey, deep red and black as base colours.
Using my adapted colour palette the next set of collections was designed on the computer. This helped establish which colours worked well together and which clashed. This made it easier to analyse select colour theories and apply them to the collection. It was found that a split complementary colour scheme worked well with the collection and added variation to outfits with splashes of high chroma warm hue used for accessories and detailing.
Deciding a theme for the collection was a lot trickier than initially expected. A theme needed to be chosen that would suit the brand Miu Miu and easily be linked with their strong identity, whilst also being on trend and easily adaptable for patterns and prints. After researching various artists, illustrators and future trend predictions, the idea of ‘magical forest’ was created. This linked in nicely with the colour palette and was dominated by browns, soft pastel beige, warm orange and red, colours and tones which worked together to create contrast and difference. Two different mood boards of images that reflected the trend, as well as different approaches and perspectives that could taken were created, for example natural forest imagery such as leaves and feathers; magical creatures such as unicorns and pixies. Each of which could be used to bring ideas and inspirations for pattern and print. As pattern is such a dominate part of Miu Miu’s collections it was important to get ratios of print to plain correct as this would reflect brand significance and identity. Images were collected from magazines and various designers which allowed for inspiration and ideas for the collection.
Shape and Silhouette was also looked at. It was important to get the correct style which represented the Miu Miu brand. Therefore the collection was chosen to be based upon angular shoulders with voluptuous soft curves contrasting heavily with sharp corners and tutu inspired skirts.
Getting the hue intensity and saturation levels of the patterns was a significant part of designing my collection. It was imperative that the colour levels within the pattern blended well with the colour palette. However it was also vital to make the patterns stand out as this is Miu Miu’s trade mark. Miu Miu is well known for fun brightly coloured patterns which link the fairytale world of a child with the grown up world of adulthood. I used prints butterfly wings and unicorns all key features of the ‘magical forest’ trend. However I felt that my matured palette which I created before hand was not as well suited to the collection as I initially thought. As the theme was magical forest, the colours had to reflect the magical enchanting storey which I had created. They also had to appeal to the fun loving youthful Miu Miu customer. Therefore I choose to adapt my colour palette accordingly. I choose to drop the browns, soft beige and black and replace them with pastel green, pastel purples, bright energetic pink and candy pink. This new and improved colour palette gave a unique and inspiring look the collection, transforming it from old and frumpy to new and exciting. I felt it was definitely a better representation of the Miu Miu brand and the colour was now more suitable creating a quirky and fun image.
Overall the colour palette and colour proportions worked really well within the collection. The prints stand out due to their colour alteration and work well within the collection. After the final colour palette was added to, more definition and a better reflection of the theme was created.

The Final Collection and Colour Palette

After looking closely at my designs and use of colour I decided to alter my mature colour palette and alter the saturation of the hue's so give a more fantastical, magical and mysterious feel to appeal to my target consumer and their lifestyle. I wanted to use colour to create a sense of fantasy and excitement.For example I added more white into the orange to give it a more subtle magical feel rather than overwhelminghly garish.

Winter colour is usally cold and cool colours, therefore I used brights mixed with pastel pinks and green to add wearability to the colours.

Fantasy and my theme of 'magical forest' can have serveral different meanings, but by contrasting the light tints of hues I felt it created a pure, light sense of transparency, against the brighter more intense hues which added excitement and surrealism to the pallete. I used the darker tones of purple and grey to add definition to the lighter colours and by creating a greater contrast between the two the colour's stand out more. I changed the colour proportions to the collection was no longer dominated by the cooler hues and shades, therefore the proportion was more 50/50 and the collection has more magical, enchanting, feminime feel. Consequently this was the image, concept and feeling I wanted to portray in my collection, therefore the customer can better connect to my theme.





The collection exurberates the Miu Miu sophitication with a playful hint of the fairytale, 'childlike' world using the butterfly and unicorn prints adding a youthful freshness and feminime modernity to the collection.








Above the butterfly print used throughout my collection. Again I changed the colour of the wings to suit my collection, I used light and dark hues to create contrast and to diversify the pattern and to make it collate with my magical forest inpiration.

Further design: questioning the colour palette

Below are 20 designs with the mature colour pallete for Fall/Winter 2009-2010
I think that the colour palette works really well using a split complementary colour scheme. The main hues for the collection are the cooler colours, black, brown and grey. Then the other more high chroma hues and warmer colours are used to complelemt each individual outfit. I really like how the shoes are subtle heighten the intensity and luminosity of the outfit.

I think that the patterns work really well with the collection and although each print is seperate and uses different hues, together they work really well and add contrast and definition to the collection. I definately think sticking to one main trend worked to my advantage as the collection flows really well.

Overall I think this is a well balanced collection with good colour proportions. The collection definately takes on board the Miu Miu image and brand identity which can be seen through both use of colour and shape and style throughout. However I think that the colour palette lacks a strong sense of magical and mysterious. The hue's tints, tones and shades used do not reflect my theme as well as I hoped and therefore are too general to appeal to the Miu Miu customer. I wanted the colour in my collection to represent a fun loving, playful, consumer with the collection relflecting an informal no restraints image. I think that the colour palette reflects more of the working formal class mature woman, therefore I am going to slightly alter my colour palette to suit what whom I believe my collection should be targeted to.

Nature trends and patterns used within garments

ASOS Bird print print satin skirt dress

Examples of how nature trends and patterns can be applied and colour tones used don't always have to be nautral, they can be bright opposing the principle of famililarity stating that colour schemes based on nature will be pleasing to most people. Adding contasting colour excites the colour palatte and suits the Miu Miu brand and target youthful customer.

Further pattern and print inspiration theme:Magical Forest

The images below were taken from Vogue November and December 2008. They gave me pattern and print inspiration, from delicate peacocks and the shimmer and subsequent subtle glamour.








Source: http://www.wgsn-edu.com/edu/edu-members/
Unique and unusual beauty, creates feminime shapes and imagery. These images inspired me and I felt linked heavily with my theme of magical forest. Although the colour pallette is a lot paler I can still draw ideas.

Source: Glamour Magazine November 2008
I loved the bright chroma of these flowers and head accessories. Something I will definately think about including in my collection, as headwear is predicted to be a big trend for 2009.

Pattern development

This was my first stage when developing pattern. I used my moods boards for inspiration and took images I felt appealed to the brand and could be used effectively. I used the images and tired to create a pattern which could be used as either a print or design on the garments.


I applied my selected patterns on to the actual garment to see how would look against my choosen colour scheme and how well they suited the garments. My favourite is the peacock feather fitting well with the colour pallette.


Pattern Proportion for Miu Miu’s previous collections: Spring 2009, Fall 2008, Spring 2008
Spring 2009
Out of 37 outfits within the whole collection print and pattern are used on a total of 15 outfits which is about 40% of the collection.
Fall 2008
Out of 38 outfits, print and pattern are used within a total of 14 outfits which is just over a 35% conversion rate.
Spring 2008
Out of 40 outfits, print and pattern are used on 12 outfits this is exactly 30% of the collection.
Considering this data and my final collection which is planned to be around 20 complete outfits I plan to dedicate 8 outfits featuring pattern and print. Which is around 40% of the collection a similar average to Miu Miu’s.

I liked the butterfly design in from my mood board, however the colours didnt really suit the collection. Therefore using my matured colour palette I altered certain hues and the chroma and intensity so that the pattern would suit my collection.I then altered the image to make it more abstract to suit the Miu Miu brand.

Using the colour palette I then adjusted the hues again so that I would have two variations to use within my collection, this adds variety and will make the collection more asthetically pleasing.


Developing the Unicorn design
I developed the unicorn design by simply repeating my chosen image onto different hue backgrounds. I then altered the saturation of the unicorn wings as this was the main feature I wanted to stand out and be seen on the garments. I want to use the two different colour background prints in my collection to add variation.

Cosumers' lifestyles and mass consumption

School mate A
Angelica Koivisto
Lifestyle:
Mälardalen University Postgraduate Student, Hong Kong exchange student studying a combined business and tourism degree. If from a small town in Sweden and works part time in H&M. She shops only on the high street and her favourite place to buy clothes in Hong Kong is Fa Yuen street market in Mon Kok. She loves extreme sports and dancing. Her favourite place to eat out is Outback Steakhouse and Pizza Hut and she has a passion for Italian food. She loves to read the magazine Cosmopolitan in her spare time and watch episodes of sex and the city. Her most recent favored film is Mama Mia. Loves spending time with her family whom she shares a very close relationship with.
Mass consumption:
Chanel and Mac makeup, Vidal Sassoon and L’Oreal hair products, Dove moisturiser and Neutrogena face wash. Gucci purse, Addidas trainers, H&M sunglasses, Baby G sports watch, Roxy jacket and swimwear. IPod nano in black and i-phone.
Colour preferences:
Shades, tint and tones of the hues pink and purple are her favourite. She also loves yellow but when choosing clothes she sticks to safe colours and a monochromatic scheme of grey, black and white.

School Mate B
Alexis Erian

Lifestlye:
City girl brought up in London very cosmopolitan, fashion student works part time in health and beauty sector for the Superdrug, in the same chain as Watsons. She has lived at home all her life.She shops on the high street and her favourite shops are River Island and Topshop. Her hobbies are cheerleading, volleyball and tennis. Her most recent favoured film is High School Musical. She loves to eat out especially in Thai and Indian restaurants. Her favourite book is the Devil Wears Prada and she likes to watch Friends on a weekly basis. She loves all the gossip magazines such as Heat, Hello and OK. She likes to indulge in an expensive hair cut once three times a year.
Mass Consumption:
DKNY watch, IPod nano in white, Havianna flip flops, GHD Hair straighter, Miu Miu bag, Ted Baker purse, M&S food, pearl earrings and Ray Ban sunglasses. Topshop trainers, Nivea face wash, Britney Spears perfume, Tresemme and John Freda hair products, Sony digital camera, Nokia mobile phone, Primark and Aldo shoes.
Colour preference:
Orange, black and yellow are her most worn colours with gold accessories. She wears a complementary colour scheme as she loves bright high chroma colours and hues and this scheme makes colours appear brighter. She is a fan of primary hues and wants to stand out from the crowd with her colour choices.

The Miu Miu lifestyle and customer

Lets not forget that the most important people in fashion are the consumers! Therefore I felt it necessary to redefine who the Miu Miu customer was and why and how my collection would appeal to her.

Who is the Target Market?
Pen Portrait

21-40 yr old
Young professional, ambitious and career minded
She high end high street with luxury and vintage for a fun, young, fresh,image
Likes to socialise and eat out with friends at the weekend
Cosmopolitan, lives in the city centre
Enjoys reading fashion and lifestyle magazines such as Vogue, loves to visit art galleries
Fashion aware and trend led
High disposable income
Hobbies are yoga, Pilates and dance
She loves to travel, her particular favourite place to holiday is Italy
Her favourite coffee is Starbucks and her favourite drink is a Martini
She is a big fan of expensive make up and body products and looks after herself by eating organic.

Marketing Mix
PRODUCT – Unique styling, interesting unusual design, attention to detail, strong use of pattern and print, youthful fun fashion a totally different image from its sister brand Prada. Focus on the lifestyle the brand offers to its customer, therefore there is little limit on age, but focuses more on attitudes, values, social interests and hobbies. An accessible brand for woman of all ages with personality, sophistication and style.
PRICE –High end price points, luxury market
PLACE – Sold in luxury high end department stores such as Lane Crawford
PROMOTION – Magazine advertising, PR for example magazine features and in-store promotion.