WOOLMARK CHALLENGE 2020:
THE RIBBLE'S GUIDE TO TRADITIONAL & CONTEMPORARY SAILING MATERIALS
Georgia Randles
At the start of this project, I researched the main Spring/Summer 2021 trends to see what trends were most suitable for and representative of the brand 'BoohooMAN'. The final potential trends I picked was 'New Renaissance', 'Business Playful' and 'Controlled Kitsch'. 'New Renaissance' features inspiration from 1980's styles and the iconic Versace aesthetic, and looks at prints and graphics of Old Master Paintings & Heraldic Motifs, and has a subtle pastel colour Palette which I really like. 'Business Playful' is a clever combination of Street Tailoring and Sportswear, with relaxed but neat silhouettes with smart presentation and a colour palette of bright, fun, neon colours. 'Controlled Kitsch' features safari prints, cliched travel tropes with elements of kitsch and main styles are statement shirts with bold prints, and with a colour palette of subtle nudes, browns, beiges and greens for safari. When looking at these trends I could easily visualise a consumer of BoohooMAN wearing garments with the prints and styles of each of these trends. In order to see what trend to base my collection on I researched the current products and styles that BoohooMAN have and see if there is opportunity for any of these trends. Therefore, I chose the trend 'Controlled Kitsch' as I loved the animal prints, the bold patterns and the statement shirts; it gave me a sense of summer fun and animal prints are always in fashion.
This line up features different garments which are all perfect for Spring/Summer and are versatile pieces which can be worn day to night. One of the main things I wanted to include in this collection was a male plus size model as well, as all the garments in the collection would be available in a plus size and I strongly believe that all fashion should be inclusive to all shapes and sizes. I wanted to have a nice balance of garments with a statement print and some in a block colour as this allows the consumer to mix & match the collection and can be worn with different items as well. The collection includes different outerwear pieces such as utility vests, bomber jackets, & tracksuit jackets; a mixture of bottoms such as cargo shorts, cheetah print denim shorts, chino trousers and skinny jeans; and a mixture of tops such as resort shirts, oversized short sleeved t-shirt, and a long-sleeved ribbed sweater. I also wanted to include 'Controlled Kitsch' shoe rang, so I included a mix of sliders, loafers and trainers as well.
Overall I loved my 'Controlled Kitsch' Collection, I thought the garments were stylish and trendy with the BoohooMAN aesthetic. I designed this collection in November 2019 and I am currently uploading this collection to my online portfolio in August 2020, and now looking back I feel like I could have done things differently. In reflection I think I could have included more kitsch prints and looked at maybe more accessories as well, I also think that presentation of the boards could have been better, as there was no annotation or description of the garments and there were now fabric swatches included as well. I also feel I could have looked into what garment styles would be on trend in SS21 and research further into that. Personally, I think the Controlled Kitsch Collection is wonderful, but I do think I could have pushed and explored this theme further and go into more detail.