NEW SITE!!!!

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I have some exciting news...

I am in the researching process of starting a new blog under my own domain. This site would be based on IT girls of London...or at least girls that know the ins and outs of London city.

The aim: chronicling the day/night adventures of London's chic and sexy! 

I have quite a few girls from my facebook list that will would PERFECT for the weekly 'Girl about town' style column. 

Will see you round the corner!!!!

B2C COMMUNICATIONS: PINTEREST

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B2C PR is the communication between businesses and their consumers. Business to consumer communication has changed through the years due to the introduction and continuous popularity of Social Media sites such as Facebook, twitter, blogging, myspace and now PINTEREST.COM

Pinterest first got my attention whilst reading 

Drew B's take on tech PR

I was initially resistant as if being a twitter and facebook user wasn't enough, now this. I was not enthusiastic at all! But after going through some of the "Pins" I started to see why The Guardian and Metro featured the new social network sensation on their newspapers. It is proven to be a great way for businesses to research market trends and interests. Check out the stats below.

Full breakdown of Pinterest found Here

I have signed up just waiting for my invitation in the meantime here are a few Pinterest users I like: 

Maia McDonald 

Ana Degenaar

Handmade Charlotte

Caglayan Ekinci

Trevor Ames

Caroline Quan

The making of Fifi La- Belle: the PR specialist

New From Fifi....

Its been a while since I have written due to the fact I was busy finishing my degree and planning wedding! woooo

(Yes I am now married)

But moving forward...I have now regained focus on where I want to be in in the near future...in Fashion PR!

FASHION PR 101:

I cant put this book down. It has opened my views on PR and the industry in general. If you wish to gain some insight on PR this is the book I recommend. It was brought to my attention whilst reading one of my favourite Pr blogs Here

I now know what to expect in a career in PR and also what salary I aim to gain through really really really hard work, the design industry is known for not paying as well as other jobs but involves a lot of after work hours. 

Its been soo long...

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Hey blogworld!...I've just been so busy getting my final collection together that it seems like its been forever since I blogged.

Well as you all know im in the process of producing my final collection to a high standard so I have been doing a lot of tweaking and re-drafting to get both the patterns and finished garments perfect. 

I have also been collecting images for my portfolio and searching for models and photographers, which has not been easy at all. But I have finally got to the stage where I am ready to do test shoots with the garments I do have done already.  

Introducing Gu-Ra

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Doing a joint degree of fashion with marketing has introduced me to a whole other side of design- branding and marketing.

For my last year collection I have really thought hard to bring my marketing knowledge to the fashion side. I have thought about branding and with this I have named my label. 

It is the last letters of my family name. I feel it fits in with my collection's edgy elements with contemporary aesthetics. 

My Style: Alexander Wang

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MY STYLE: ALEXANDER WANG

Ok if you read my blog frequently you will know that I am quite obsessed with Wang..(see ad campaign timeline lol)

At a young age he has truly made a stance in fashion, all by following he's own ideals of fashion...plus he has great personal style- very true to himself!

To say I love this man is an understatement!! [ sigh ] 

Moving forward...

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So it has come to that stage where im finalising my final collection for A/W 2011. It is a scary thought that this collection (though not officially my 1st) would be my intro into the fashion world as such.

I am very head-strong with what my market is...whom my woman is- 


STRONG - SOPHISTICATED - NON/CONFORMIST - SEXY 

- EDGY - FASHION FORWARD 

I am also aware of the type of market I wish to go into and where I see my collection and future works being sold [DOVER STREET MARKET]

What is interesting about the process I am going through, in terms of defining a collection that brings all my design ideals together, is that I do not know the outcome. I have a defined idea of what I want to say about myself as a designer, but would people buy into my idealistic ideas of contemporary fashion? Would my chosen targeted woman feel what I want her to feel when she puts on my garments or pieces? How do I remain true to my ideals, whilst maintaining a good following?

All these questions and more is what excites me about fashion after my course and I hope you follow my journey where along the line the questions would be my everyday reality!  

My camera...

New From Fifi....

Im not happy...I cant seem to be able to upload my images from my camera to my macbook. I can't find the CD for it so might have to take it to PC world to see what they can do for me.

I have been occupied with portfolio and finishing my final toiles and can't wait to share it with everyone. So {fingers and toes crossed} hopefully I can upload the images soon.

Hi...Im back!!

New From Fifi....

I have not been able to post on my blog because I have been trying to sort out my website.

Been getting alot of great images from photo-shoots aimed at promoting new designers and models. 

The website is part-portfolio/ part online magazine. Its a venture I would be developing when I graduate and will hopefully be a photographic-magazine. 

Will be updating you when the website is up and running.

As for now I have developed my final line up and will hopefully get the images up... when my camera decides to upload images on my MAC!!!! 

Sketchbook preview... Stage 1

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[The beginning] 

Here are some images from my initial sketchbook for my final year collection.

The process of the collection started out with me looking into ART and GRAPHICS and wanted to explore how colour can determine a design process- the design aesthetic/concept/theory/overall look.

I started to work over a graphic book I had been inspired by the pages of the book to determine a look and feel. 

[This picture is of a page from the book- The graphic of the page was skulls so I depicted my view on the 'death of tailoring' looking into the tailored pieces by Gilbert Adrian]

This was a great way to get into the design frame of mind...but inevitably it would not act as my main source of inspiration, more so a way of thinking about design. 

As posted previously the collection now based on Francis Bacon and the shapes, contours, lines, geometry, colour breakdown of his paintings and applying the design theory I have gained from the sketchbook above to start a new process of thinking and developing a collection.

 I would be going into more detail about this in the coming days and weeks leading to my final developed COLLECTION. 

Inspiring music...

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Mirah: Cold Cold Water

This song has got me through the flu/cold bug and now im back on track.

Been really trying to figure out the direction of my collection, as I do not want to put out just any collection that does not represent me as a designer. I am really moving towards the minimalist creations of existing designers as Minimalist fashion is my favourite form of fashion...

Technical ability is needed, and a certain prowess with fabric and cut. I posted before that I was thinking about colour, and its still a strong point in my head however, I may use structure and cut to denote the sense of colour instead of actually just applying colour to depict it into the collection. I am really into what I call the -'white-on-white' look and this may gear me away from the gothic aesthetic I was designing towards prior, unless its brought back in terms of the detailing and use of lace and leather, and also the styling. 

Layering has also come to mind but I would need to pursue this further to make it successfully integrate with the collection as a whole.

But for now I am going to listen to my song of the week, maybe more, and get inspired. 

[on a side note this song may be the cause of my minimalist fashion thought process] 

This flu......ARRGHHHHHHH

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Im missing out on some relevant feedback time with my fashion lecturers because....

I have gotten a flu bug....aghhhhhhh!!!

This time with them would have been soo useful as I really need to get my problem with how I want the collection to look out of the way and wrapped up into a nice little bow. 

I wanted to show my Toile's and my new 2-Part collection line-ups. One with the gothic inspired SPORTS LUXE A/W 2011...

the other the Colourful SPORTS LUXE ready-to-wear S/S 2011 

Maybe I should have just gone in and infected my class mates but instead I am going to use this bed-bound time of mine to research collections that I feel are successful and sum up where I feel my collection should go and what my target woman is...

(Goth) Daring/Edgy Vixen

or

(Colour) Feminine Bold lady 

Either way she will be an athletic woman who purchases items that are relevant to her favourite pass-time and also has a keen eye for detail. 

To Goth or not to Goth?.......

New From Fifi....

So I have a dilemma...

For my collection I have decided to go for the SPORTS LUXE concept with a Goth feel, due to the aggressive nature Francis Bacon (My inspiration) painted his art and his dark life and view in Life.

I feel the dark Gothic aesthetic would be really edgy and more fashion forward if done right using wools, jersey, leather and lace.

Black and grey are the base colours with yellow stripes to give it the sporty element. The yellow stripes element is inspired by the picture below (Francis Bacon).

My dilemma now is whether to actually go all the way Goth or to introduce colour and make it a more colourfull collection based on the colours from Francis Bacon's paintings, which would still be dark but not predominately black. 

 

 Solution...

I will produce two final line ups taking into consideration the two Colour concepts and from there will then see how to merge the two together or whether I could turn the two into a whole collection and produce a PR and marketing strategy.

FiFi soo far.....

New From Fifi....

I haven't been able to write a post for  while simply because...well I have been concentrating on managing my time for my toil review last week on the 2nd. It was very enlightening and i have come to realise a clear direction and a clear market position for my collection.

I will go more into it soon as well as upload the pics of my design process from start to finish.

I have also been busy taking pics of my favourite stylista's out and about and have some great styling ideas for my own collection from that.