Is Pantone's Color of the Year Reeeeally That Important?

 

 

When Pantone introduced Emerald as their Color of the Year for 2013 I was ecstatic. I love this particular shade of green and there just isn't enough apparel made using that color. And if you do find it, it's something undesirable left on the clearance rack. I thought to myself back then, finally we will see designers adding it more prominently to their color palettes and more stores stocking it. I imagined glorious blouses, emerald suede pumps and jewel-toned skinny jeans. Well, here we are, at the tail end of 2013 and I'd still have to search to find anything in emerald green. Specifically Pantone color 17-5641.

So here we are again. 2014 is a breath away and Pantone has announced the latest Color of the Year 'Radiant Orchid' with the usual fanfare and whimsical descriptors.

"Radiant Orchid blooms with confidence and magical warmth that intrigues the eye and sparks the imagination"

Umm. Okay. Sure. Since the announcement almost two weeks ago, it's been covered in some way, even on legitimate news outlets like CNN. In their defense, it was under a heading titled "Apparently This Matters". I didn't read it, but I thought the title was apt, because, I'm not sure if it does. 

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Shamelessly Overanalyzing Rihanna's Balmain Spring 2014 Campaign

image courtesy of WWD

 

 

Old news. Yes. Rihanna's latest foray into fashion has been news for 24 hours already. It's rare for me to cover uber-luxury brands, expensive gowns kinda don't fit with the whole DenimHunt thing, but I couldn't help but notice Rihanna in a high fashion, and super edgy take, on denim on denim in one of the campaign ads for insanely overpriced luxury brand Balmain. Looking at the images, at first glance I thought, love her hair. At second glance I thought, who would wear that?. At third glance I thought, I think I would wear that. 

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Pantene #WhipIt Commercial Mocks Labels Against Women in 60 Secs

 

Pantene released a commercial recently that is a checkmate in the fight against sexism in the workplace. At least as far as advertising goes. The ad takes a very simple approach by placing first a man than a woman in the exact same setting with an adjective that describes how they are perceived.

In the first 10 seconds a man is leading a board meeting with the word 'boss' behind him. He's replaced by a woman and the word turns to 'bossy'. Brilliant! I found myself able to guess some of the adjectives related to women before they even appeared. 

It's not my preference for companies to take up social causes commercially just because it could open the door to negative campaigns as well, but in this case I say, Right On!

Now if they would just air it in the United States...

 

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So Let's Talk About Gisele Bundchen 'Multitasking'...

 

I mean, who's multitasking here? Gisele or her staff? I see a woman in the most enviable position of relaxing in a chair breastfeeding her baby while everyone works around her to make her more beautiful than she already is. Well, in her defense she does acknowledge the hard work of her staff and that she flew for 15 hours with only 3 hours of sleep. Therefore, holding a baby with one arm, while holding out the other for a manicure is very understandable. But is it multitasking? I'm not quite sure. On the other hand, if it is, I wish I could multitask like Gisele. 

What do you think?

xoShanna

 

 

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#Selfie is Word of the Year 2013. Now Let the Backlash Begin...Please!

 

I'm not sure how long the word #selfie has been in use. I hadn't actually heard the term until a few months ago. If you've been using it much longer than I'm sure you will come to the conclusion that I am one of the unfortunate uncools. But if it makes you feel any better (actually, it makes me feel better), once I discovered it, I began using it right away. Even hashtagging it for good measure. Because as late as I was to the #selfie 'game', I understood right away that there was no point in typing #selfie under my #selfie unless strangers could find me in hashtagland and tell me how great my #selfie was. And then the unthinkable happened. I discovered how easy it was, even for my jaded self, to fall into the trap of self-absorbed, like-button junkie with a constant need to be validated by peers known or unknown. Every like-button becomes an affirmation of how appealing you are and every day the meter stays stagnant is a disappointment.

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GUESS' New Global Campaign, Bollywood Actress Priyanka Chopra and Diversity in Fashion

 

GUESS has worked with some of the most iconic names in fashion and pop culture with past campaigns launching the careers of Claudia Schiffer and Anna Nicole Smith.  

In an interesting and quite strategic move I might say, GUESS has chosen Bollywood actress Priyanka Chopra to be the face of the Holiday 2013 global advertising campaign. I didn't know much about Priyanka before, but Wikipedia fixed all that. Apparently, she's a big deal. Priyanka is one of the most popular celebrities in India and one of the highest paid actresses in Bollywood. She is also a former Miss World, a writer and a philanthropist. Being chosen to be a global brand ambassader for a company with a reach as large as GUESS could expand her popularity across the globe and could have positive results not just for her or the brand, but for the fashion industry as well. 

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So This Melissa McCarthy Elle Cover

 

 

So about that Elle cover with Melissa McCarthy. It's been making quite the stir hasn't it? But I wonder, and I'm sure I'm not the only one, if all the backlash is a little misguided. 

Like many others that saw the preview of the cover, my first thought was that it was groundbreaking. A plus-sized woman on the cover and it's not just her face a'la Gabourey Sidibe or Adele. I was pleased at what was almost a head to toe shot of her. She looked chic, glamourous and I loved her hair. And that coat! I'm not plus-sized and the fact that a plus-sized woman wore something in a magazine that had me searching for the designer (it's Marina Rinaldi by the way) is nothing short of remarkable. My second thought was, hmm, they sure made it a point to cover every inch of her, but it was fleeting and was quickly overrided by that fabulous coat. Unfortunately, it's that second thought which was in my head but a second, that the rest of the media ran away with like a runaway freight train.

From CNN to Fashionista, we can't get away from reading about the backlash against Elle for covering up Melissa's body. The accusations of fat-shaming abound and those critics buoyed by their self-righteous anger (some of which seems feigned) comment in such a way to elicit guilt if you feel an ounce of disagreement. Case in point, model Cynthia Bailey commented on Good Morning America "What a missed opportunity to represent all the curvy girls of the world". It is said in such a way that a person would seem heartless to disagree. Even I, who pride myself on being able to read between the lines of mainstream media and am fiercely independent in my way of thinking, felt myself being reeled into that general outrage, as well as feeling slightly ashamed for loving how she looked in that coat. It really is a great coat. That is, until I read this...

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M.I.A. x Versus Versace Knocked Off Knockoffs

image via Vogue Paris

 

A few days ago the noise on the blogosphere went up a decibal when it was announced that Donatella Versace tapped M.I.A. to design a capsule collection for youth brand Versus Versace. There was a collective agreement that M.I.A.'s frenetic style, evident in her music, clothing and cover art, would make this a good mashup. But when she announced the collection was based on Versace knockoffs, it was hard to reconcile in my mind what to think about the concept. Is it brilliant? Is it lazy? Does it validate knockoffs? Does it take back fashion from counterfeiters? Maybe I'm overthinking it. But depending on how popular this capsule collection becomes, which may also be dependent on the success of M.I.A.'s next album, these questions might very well come up. So I'm bringing it up now.

 

image via Paper Magazine

Is it brilliant? Yes. What better way to create buzz for a brand that stopped being buzzworthy a decade ago by not only enlisting a controversial musician like M.I.A., but also allowing her to do something as controversial as creating a collection of expensive knockoffs. But not just any knockoffs. Knockoffs of the company's flagship brand. It's like controversy wrapped up in controversy. But on a very small scale. Then again, if it takes off in sequence with the success of M.I.A.'s album, who knows what could happen. Brands tend to copycat each other (notice I didn't say knock off). Can you imagine Chanel knocking off the many variations of knockoffs of their quilted logo tote with the double C emblem? Think about it. Okay, now stop. This could lead to a chicken and egg moment.

As far as lazy goes, wellll, I'd give a not so confident, not quite yes, Yes. It's common practice for designers to dig into the archives of their brand for inspiration. They usually call it pulling from the brand's DNA. But when half the work is done for you already and all you're doing is making a few tweaks here and there to bring it up to date, if you really think about it, there is something that seems less, shall we say, hardworking about the process. But marketing is everything. And we'll eat up anything when told it references a brand's heritage. In a way, knockoffs are part of brand's heritage too, if not their DNA. The more popular a brand is, the more knockoffs are produced. And while knocking off the knockoffs is brilliant and buzzworthy, it is kind of lazy. Granted, I have not seen the original knocked off knockoffs (this is so weird) but the whole point of knocking something off is to duplicate the original. So how much work could possibly have gone into it. 

 ....THE JUMP 

Catching Up With G-Star RAW's Global Brand Director Shubhankar Ray

 

Shubhankar Ray and Shanna McKinnon

 

 

The last time I met Shubhankar Ray, Global Brand Director of G-Star RAW, I walked away feeling incredibly inspired by his approach to branding (See Shubhankar Ray: G-Star RAW Visionary). So of course, when I met up with him the morning of G-Star's NYFW Nights I was expecting the same thing. And as expected, we had a great conversation about Shubhankar's vision for the brand and what he's got coming down the pipeline for the future.

Shubhankar's visionary scope is not only apparent in G-Star branding, but is also captured in his neologisms and arty phrasings that accurately, and succinctly, express his ideas. The last time we spoke, we went in depth about a concept called "Mindstyle". Cool, right? Mindstyle is a riff off of lifestyle, but there's something about the term Mindstyle over lifestyle that makes me feel smarter as a consumer. This time, we talked about the concepts of "infotainment", "attention economy" and "mass culture". Neatly phrased concepts that cover in a few words the idea of using product as information in an entertaining delivery to make inroads in the minds of a mass niche of consumers with notoriously short attention spans. Whew, a mouthful from me. An expertly succinct terminology from Shubhankar. That's why he gets the big bucks for the big ideas.

  

Speaking of ideas, Shubhankar and his team have no shortage of them. Think RAW Nights, Benicio del Toro's memorable runway poetry, RAW Galleries, Magnus Carlson's Chess Challenge, as well as collabs with Marc Newson and Vitra Furniture. And that's just a small sample of G-Star branding over the years. So of course, one of the first things I did after asking about the follow-up to Mindstyle was to ask about future G-Star initiatives. Immediately I was directed to the flat screen television which had been looping a video during our meeting. The video, which can be viewed on GStarRawTV, features the G-Star dog, ballerina Keenan Kampa and Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist and songwriter of Kasabian, exploding into a million pieces and then being reformed again as each other. According to Shubhankar, the idea is about referencing the brand's extensive archives and reconstructing them in a more modern way. And to add even more authenticity to the concept of destroy and construct, real explosions were used. 

G-Star is also launching an eyewear collection which was on display during New York Fashion Week. The statement-making frames keep with G-Star's industrial theme and come in sunglasses or prescription ready frames. There is also a continuation of the juxtoposition of elements. This year it is expressed in G-Star's collaboration with camera manufacturer Leica to create a consumer available camera that, according to Shubhankar, "is an exchange of brand DNA". The industrial look of Leica cameras fit superbly with the G-Star aesthetic and the camera case designed for it has a distinct vintage military quality sure to be a conversation piece. However, being a conversation piece is not the ultimate goal. The camera took over two years to develop and uses advanced digital technology on par with other professional level cameras. It is not meant to be a novelty item, but a functional camera for professional photographers. It will retail for $1150 and sell at Leica retailers. Watch this space for updates.

Last, but not least, corporate social responsibility is still a priority for Shubhankar and G-Star's environmentally friendly programs have progressed significantly since the last time we spoke. G-Star still creates jeans from organic cotton, nettle and recycled denim, however, instead of having dedicated collections, the organic/recycled material is blended into the biggest selling styles. This is brilliant! Brilliant because it doesn't require the consumer to change their way of thinking. They can continue to buy their favorite styles and in doing so, knowingly or unknowingly, reduce their impact on the environment. With this change, G-Star has seen the percentage of sustainable material in their collection go from 1% to a whopping 10%. Again, absolutely brilliant! I truly hope other brands look to emulate G-Star's model as opposed to using organic as a selling point. 

As always, it was a pleasure to meet with Shubhankar and discuss his ideas. I always walk away feeling a little smarter than when I began.

Scroll down to see images of the Leica camera and G-Star RAW Eyewear.

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Denim on the Runway: Diesel Black Gold Spring/Summer 2014

 

Confused? I was too. But this pretty much sums up what I saw at Diesel Black Gold today. Nothing! And I was certainly left with questions.

As I've said in the past, the days when denim was all over the runways are over, but that doesn't stop many designers from incorporating denim into their presentations (see Denim on the Runway: New York Fashion Week Spring 2014 Roundup Part 1). That's why I enjoy supporting (in my own small way) those brands like Diesel whose roots started in denim. However, that wasn't possible today.

Generally, I'm invited to the Diesel Black Gold show every season and enjoy their choice of venue along with the presentation. This season, I was sent an invite as well that said "Priority Standing", with the venue being Vanderbilt Hall at Grand Central Station. I wasn't sure what "Priority Standing" meant other than don't wear heels, but I was quick to find out.

When I checked in, I was directed to the "STANDING" line where a fair amount of people waited. This happened to be across from the "PRESS" line, also with a fair amount of people. We all waited, rather patiently I might add, to be told when we would be let in. What happened was after about 40 minutes of waiting, the curtains closed, the music began, and we were left wondering what the hell happened! Did they overbook? Well, that was obvious. Was it intentional? Maybe. The real question is did they overbook intentionally and had us waiting to fill seats just in case editors didn't show up. The thought of that is where my anger set in.

I'm not there to be a part of the crowd. I'm not there to be involved in all of the hype. I've been doing Fashion Week for over 10 years; since the tents at Bryant Park. I'm there strictly to see the presentation and report on it; to view the shows and break down to you what I think will be trending in denim and lifestyle. To have to stand there like some kind of hanger-on or a starry eyed fangirl with pie-eyes just hoping with all my fangirl might to be let in was just, I don't know, wrong.

As I write this I'm looking at my invitation again wondering if a few words were omitted. If so, my guess would be "Not A" as in Not A Priority Standing because that certainly was the case. With all of the talk lately about Fashion Week being over on Racked and the NY Times. This certainly isn't the way to go. 

All of the disappointment and frustration that myself and the other almost attendees felt could have been avoided with just two simple phrases "Space is limited. First Come, First Serve". 

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