Fashion Activism : Moving image process, outcome and personal development (Emily Bode)
During our Fashion activism classes we were assigned a brand and worked in groups to produce a moving image that could be a campaign for this specific brand, a video to post on their website,… Emily Bode is the brand that was assigned to us. To start with, Emily Bode is a New York based brand for men. Their clothes are linked to the past due to their modern shapes made with old fabrics. In other words, Bode uses antic fabrics to produce older patterns styles but with a touch of modernity. We started our project with these informations to build our concept. Here is the process.
Project outcome
After looking for some informations about the brand we started to brainstorm to look for some ideas for the concept and project we wanted to realise. We first agreed that Bode was a sustainable brand and so linked to one of the Better lives themes and that it would be the main point of the video. We also noticed that the models on the website were very diverse and that we would use that as well. Due to the older aspect of the brand, we first wanted to shoot a short movie in the streets of London to show the city aspect as a reference to New York and put an “old TV” effect on the video, inspired by the sixties. The video would’ve taken place in the sixties and would’ve been about protests and people fighting for their rights and more specifically black community to link to the diversity of the brand. Models would’ve worn clothes inspired from Bode. Due to the coronavirus outbreak and online classes we had to modify our concept. We decided to forget about the protest part and to focus on the sustainable aspect of the brand and realised it was even better as it represented the brand completely. Our final video ended up being a campaign that would be played in Bode stores and on their website and that would introduce a completely new sustainable collection by using existing footages of the brand and videos about clothes making ,…
Personal development
To finish with, on a more personal note, I mostly enjoyed working in a group. During my hair and makeup lectures our teachers kept telling us how important collaboration was. I need to admit, I didn’t really collaborate with other people for my first projects as it was the beginning of the year and everything was new to me. But these Fashion activism lectures showed me how important it was to have other people’s opinions. Everyone can contribute and give his own touch to the project which helps to have a more developed concept. Having every member of the group’s specialism helped me developing mine and think of details I might have not think of before.
On the other hand, communication is what is, in my opinion, the most difficult. We didn’t always agree on everything and sometimes it became complicated to find an agreement especially when we had to work online.
Overall, it was a great experience that will certainly help me for my future projects and I’ll never hesitate again before asking for someone’s help or opinion.
Link to the video : https://web.microsoftstream.com/video/349aaf94-6301-45bb-9f3a-4d0ee9fe51dc?list=studio
References :
Image 1 : Courtesy of Bode (2020) Available at : https://www.wmagazine.com/story/bode-nyc-clothing-brand-designer-style-notes/ (Accessed : 4.30.20).
Image 2 : Bode (2019) Available at : https://www.ignant.com/2018/09/04/bode-a-fashion-reliquary-for-rare-fabrics/ (Accessed : 4.30.20).