Project Outcomes and Personal Development – Blog 3
During the Better Lives unit I was able to take up the Messaging Fashion project which looked at fashion brands and PR. This was something I didn’t think much about before taking on the project. It also wasn’t something I was knowledgeable in so it was a great opportunity to see an interesting side of a different industry to my degree course. In the Messaging Fashion classes I learnt that Public Relations fully embodies a brand’s values and has the job of bringing this to the public and journalists. This made me think more on how information from brands is delivered to me. At first I didn’t feel I could offer much in class as I tend not to digest newspapers or online news much and am not a subscriber of fashion magazines. However I learnt that I gain brand information through other platforms such a video reviews and comedic commentary.
For this project we were allocated into groups based on a fashion brand of our choice. After some research into the possible brand I chose Duro Olowu, an amazing designer of riotous and powerful women’s wear, using different kinds of material, textures and patterns. I loved the way he could bring power and vibrancy together with his love of art. His wife, Thelma Gold, is the embodiment of what he wants to create, as well as his anchor into the art world.
In one class we needed to create a mood-board based on our market audience. I felt fairly new to this but found the visualisation aspect of the task to be very helpful. Over the coming weeks and into lockdown my group struggled a little with direction and communication. I had to change groups close to the end of the project and ended up in the brand group for House of Sheldon.
This group only had two members, but they had managed to gather a great amount of research on a brand that does not have much in the way of press release or media. I was tasked with helping them write a Press Release for their campaign on LGBTQ rights in quarantine, something I’ve not done before. I started by researching how to structure a press release and looking for examples from other fashion brands.
While changing groups so close to the end gave me some anxiety, I felt I had an opportunity to explore two very interesting brands that are quite different from each other. In a short amount of time, due to the great work of my new group, I was able to really get to know and understand the brand, media partner and cause, alongside the charity, allowing me to tie them together in my first attempt at a press release for our group’s campaign.
I felt that this unit really let me explore an industry I didn’t know much about before. I’ve gained new skills and a new appreciation for how brands communicate with the public and with journalists. I’m more aware and more interested in how this affects me and society.