VINTAGE | ONLINE | BRANDING | EXPRESSION
SEPTEMBER 2018
Mission Statement The objective of the VOBE magazine is to highlight the contrast between positive influences and negative impacts of the fashion industry in modern society. This juxtaposition is explored through four main topics that include Vintage wear, Online shopping, Branding, and Expression through fashion.
Contents 01. VINTAGE
1 - 10
02. ONLINE
11 - 18
03. BRANDING
19 - 26
04. EXPRESSION
27 - 34
VINTAGE 01. “ I T IS OV ERLOO KE D T H AT WHAT IS NO W CAL L E D V INTAG E WAS ONCE BRA ND N E W ” TO N Y V I S CO N T I
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SPRING SPRING SPRING 2
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V IN TAGE TA K ES OVER SY DN E Y As you all may know, Vintage is second hand clothing. This fashion statement has been recognised back in the 80’s and early 60’s. Within recent years the style has been on trend for the younger generation. These youngsters wonder around city suburbs in Sydney. These areas include Glebe, Newtown and Surry Hills where they portray reusable clothing in thrift shops. Thrifts shops are known as ”waste” or “donating” to charities such as Vinnies. These shops invite those who do not want to spend a high amount of money but would rather find a popular brand for a cheaper price. Vintage clothing is a way to save money, having long lasting material without being out of date and also to be different. It helps the environment to use natural resources and to prevent overuse on other garments. This outlook in the fashion industry has developed a huge success for young adolescents. It has influenced these individuals to represent the
Vintage style in a modern world in Sydney. These styles incorporate unique colours which most stores do not have or showcase within the fashion industry. These garments deliver unusual prints, a baggy and comfortable look and also presents simplistic with one approach. Vintage is more than old clothing, it shows history behind every garment as well as the art of this special look. It is a way for this style to create an everlasting appreciation and acknowledgment to films such as Clueless which was released in 1995. This American film shows young ladies and even men who dress up in Vintage clothing but always stood out from the crowd. This movie shows how being different remarks on being your own self and to embrace who we are as individuals with the clothing we choose to wear. The style develops personalities through garments without being ashamed about negative opinions.
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I LONG TO LIVE IN A VINTAGE WORLD, WHERE THE WARM, SPRING WIND BLOWS SOFTLY ALL DAY LONG AND THE SOUND OF WIND CHIMES ARE THE ONLY THINGS REPRESENTING A CALM HUMANIT Y’S EXISTENCE LOVELY AVER AGE SONG
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COLOUR IS DESCRIPTIVE. BLACK AND WHITE IS INTERPRETIVE ELLIOT ERWITT
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The theme black and white was trendy back in the 70’s. Shooting in black and white focused more on the subject itself rather than the clothing and background. This theme relates to the Vintage attire as most photography shoots were captured in this style. It was the only technological media setting known in the earlier days and as decades went by the colour theme took over the industry. The colour process on black and white allows photographers to think less about the set up on elements but rather show a story through their personality just by 2 simple colours.
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Colour is another way to interpret personality through quirkiness. The Vintage world offers a range of colours which can be significant to develop an understanding on moods and feelings. In terms of that, some individuals prefer dale colours or bright ones but it depends on their trend and what they are into. This theme can portray an emotional connection to the subject which it can an individual in the photo or the background setting. In terms of Vintage, both black and white represent a modern and funky approach which is now trending in the 21st century in Sydney Australia.
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online shopping 02. Australian retailers account for about of all online shopping - Ben Franzi Australia Post’s General Manager of eCommerce and International
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More than half of the growth in Australian retail
Australia and 45% of these people are purchasing
sales in is from online shopping; with one of the largest segments being fashion, it has a market of $5.4 million AUD. With easier access to online shopping, convenience of doing it in your own time, discounts and sales, rewards or benefit programs, range of payment methods, range of return and exchange options and delivered it straight to your front door, online shopping sales is increasing by 52% each year. Although this is creating a decrease for in-store retailers, with more individuals making online shopping purchases, retailers are struggling to get consumers into their stores. Many retailers are producing marketing strategies, or in-store sales to try to increase consumers to go and shop in store-rather than online. Although, as the use of electronic and hand-held devices continually increases, so does online shopping sales. There
products online using their mobile, tablet or laptops. Also, due to an increase in social media, personalised discount or product emails, online only sale items and much more, online sale purchases continue to increase much more than in-store purchases daily. The Australia Post: Inside Australian Online Shopping – 2018 ecommerce industry paper (2018), states that “fashion is changing the traditional retail landscape, with one in three items bought online now a fashion item. Well-defined return options are giving fashion shoppers more confidence when shopping online. Buy now, pay later services are also helping fuel the growth, with 57% of BNPL purchases fashion-related�, this shows fashion being one of the major online shopping sales and as new and emerging online shopping experiences emerge, online shopping purchases
are more than 19.4 million mobile users in
will increase.
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The increasing popularity of sales events is creating a behavioral change, consistent with shoppers holding off waiting for a bargain. - Australian Post: Inside Australian Online Shopping
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2018 ecommerce industry paper
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As online shopping sales increase and in store sales decrease, product packaging waste is on a continual increase in Australia. Product packaging for shipping of online purchased products contains lots of excess materials to reduce any potential damages occurring to the product, resulting in a refund from the company to the consumer, bad reviews or loss of future business, etc. Although all these excess materials are being used to provide protection to the product, after use these primary and secondary product packaging materials are causing harm to the environment, as consumers are un aware or have no knowledge of how to correctly recycle or reuse these materials. As well as product packaging, the manufacturing of these products, or sweatshop workers getting underpaid but overworking to provide consumers with products and also the transportation of these products, these are also all key issues that many individuals are unaware of when making online shopping purchases. The Australian Post ecommerce Industry Paper (2018), found that the most common Australians who
are making online shopping purchases are those between the ages of 18-36, as well as individuals living in rural or remote areas or limited access to shopping centers, those who can’t get to shopping centers, busy workers, last minute shoppers, those who are uncomfortable shopping in store, etc. Many individuals explain how they have a better experience online shopping, as they can see all items available and what is/isn’t in stock, they are able to add discount codes, shop as they please, find specific or personalised items, can chose a payment method that best suits them, are provided with a range of return, exchange and delivery options and everything ordered is delivered straight to the front door. Many Australians will continually make online shopping purchases, rather than in store purchases; therefore creating an increase in online shopping sales, but also an increase in excess product packaging, manufacturing processes and transportation on our roads, especially during international retail sale events (black Friday, cyber Monday, click frenzy, boxing day, etc.) and Christmas.
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BRANDING 03.
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03. “Brands have always been fashion industry leaders, with admirable aesthetic value and innovative yet traditional business management. The brands constantly struggle to secure profits by providing novel value to customers through quality products and services, customer management, retail strategies, and innovative marketing mixes.�
(Kim & Ko, 2012)
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21 TOMMY HILFIGER JACKET - $260.00
The most impressive aspect of the fashion industry is how brand names such as Nike are consistently overwhelming and inundating individuals with garment advertisements in their day to day routines with incredible subtlety. According to Kim & Ko (2012), high-end brands have been presented with new challenges with the more recent rise of new fashion brands due to guaranteed high-profit margins and regular consumers within. These techniques can include the strategic placement of brand names on highly frequented social media platforms, to the desperate placement on everyday clothing. These methods are mainly a result of the extremely competitive field of fashion, where the highest ranking brand names are not only judged by the quality of their material, but also the retail customer service and expensive endorsements.
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THERE IS A CONSTANT BAT TLE BET WEEN CLOTHING THAT AIDS IN THE EXPRESSION OF AN INDIVIDUAL’S PERSONALIT Y AND CLOTHING THAT AIDS IN THE EXPRESSION OF AN INDIVIDUAL’S FINANCIAL STABILIT Y AS T YPICALLY THE BRAND IDENTIT Y IS THE MAIN INFLUENCE OVER THE PRICE OF THE ITEM TO THE POINT WHERE A PERSON’S CLOTHES CAN BE CONSIDERED THEIR VALUABLES. 23
CHAMPION WEAVE HOODIE $99.95
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L E F T - P L A I N T- S H I R T
R I G H T - N I K E T- S H I R T
$7.00
$35.00
Brand Identities do not only affect clothing, as part of fashion is how individuals accessorize with various items such as footwear, hats, glasses, and jewellery. In a sort hierarchy, one brand name pair of sunglasses can cost the same amount as an entire outfit. In addition, with a purchase of a singular brand name T-Shirt, the consumer could afford to buy five department store T-Shirts.
Brand names in fashion have also become dangerously adaptable with new and currently trending styles in a desperate attempt to remain relevant to the consumer masses and retain their loyal customers. An example of this is how the uproar of current vintage style clothing is being seen in sports and athleisure wear stores such as Nike and Adidas in which they are producing vintage and sport hybrid outfits that appeal to multiple target demographics.
The power that brand names have over the minds of their consumers has really been tested as of recent. When controversially unappealing clothing is released and advertised that normally would not have been purchased by anyone, however, if a popular logo or name was attached to the product their sales would overflow. Influence over their audiences is also elevated through strong publicity, celebrity endorsements, and sponsorships. People are more susceptible to purchasing a company or brands goods if they are seeing their idols or role models supporting the product which is a heavily used tactic in the fashion industry, especially since fashion needs to be modeled.
As mentioned by Kim & Ko (2012), social media platforms provide luxury brand names with a grand reach allowing them to expand their target demographic to other cross shoppers as well. Online advertising and shopping also reduce the worry for competition as all stores are accessible and it is easier to advertise your own company. It is also a great platform in which the brands can receive free advertising through people sharing photos of their outfits for their own audience to see.
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(E XP RE S S ) I O N 0 4 . Throughout history, we have always found a way to express our individuality through the types and styles of clothes we wear. Fashion has drastically changed within the last 100 years, with modern clothes expressing personality rather than wealth. Clothes define us, and give people the option to show who they are and what they like through garments like t-shirts. Clothing companies all around the world have adapted to this social change - providing styles that express who we are as individuals, and not who the companies think we are.
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Every day around the world, every one of us makes the same decision - what do I wear today? “Everywhere in the world, people make daily decisions about what to wear or how to dress� (Eicher et al, 2000, xi). Media has played an enormous role with society and how they express themselves . With a connected world, we share style on a scale that was never previously possible before social media. We have access to millions of global websites and images to aid with discovery.
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Using fashion as a method to express ones self has also led to positive emotions too. With the ability to ‘wear what you like’, positive emotions are linked to the idea of being comfortable and happy with your overall fashion self image. Online stores have also taken expression as the perfect idea to promote the creation of t-shirts that are customized by you. Many stores offer the ability to create your own design and have it printed and delivered to you - furthermore enhancing this idea about self expression through fashion.
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Fashion is an extension of ones self – consider it a way to reinvent yourself. Clothing can be considered a manifesto of interests, culture, history, emotions and even politics. It expresses ideas, feelings, and style all within one central idea. It could be argued that it is just socially acceptable to wear clothes, but with the choices we are given, is it? First impressions always count – and that’s why we dress the way we do. To express who we are as individuals, our beliefs and ideas.
“Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than to merely keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world’s view of us.” – Virginia Woolf
“Is fashion a superficial business? Or rather art? Trends would take away our liberty, dictate what we have to wear every season and rob us of individuality. Would you call art and music superficial? Probably not. Only by wearing fashion on our body is the stigma fed. However, compared to art, our body is our own personal canvas.�
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Fashion has the ability to completely change the way we feel. If we feel down, put on a bright orange scarf and you might have a better day. Confidence comes directly from the way we dress and perceive ourselves to others, and thus we find the best ways to express ourselves through the clothes we wear.
“Fashion is about something that comes from within you” – Ralph Lauren
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Expression is not limited to clothes also, accessories like rings, sunglasses, and shoes are all part of a self-discovery in expressing who you are. For fashion designers, they have an incredibly important role to play when it comes to producing products – they have to design products that are unique, but appeal to the masses. This is what separates the quality brands from the average ones. Does the dress allow one to feel formal, casual, and relaxed? However, clothing can be catagorised into certain cultural areas too, with events like weddings, funerals, and eating out all expressing different meanings. There is no limit to the possibilities – go out, and express yourself. Fashion is an art form. It can be considered materialistic, but it is far more than that. Sure, you might not understand it, but you must appreciate how they are expressing themselves.
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