Fashion Houses Research Articles

A Comparative Study of Fashion and IP: Non-traditional Trademarks in Italy and Australia

Fashion design is a significant creative industry and therefore the relevant settings of intellectual property law matter. This article focuses on a common law jurisdiction (Australia) with an emergent creative fashion industry and a civil law jurisdiction with a well-established industry dominated by global fashion houses (Italy). There are considerable differences between these jurisdictions as far as the scope and availability of IP remedies are concerned. However, the focus here is on registration of non-traditional (shape, pattern, decorative) trademarks in particular, since this is a relatively new option that has generated considerable interest in the contemporary brand-driven fashion industry. The article concludes that both jurisdictions adopt formally different approaches to arrive nonetheless at similar outcomes, allowing registration only in a narrow category of cases and placing restrictions on what constitutes infringement. Although it is difficult to argue that levels of protection are not appropriate, there is considerable uncertainty about outcomes because complex governing principles require fine judgments. Such uncertainty domestically and between jurisdictions is detrimental to smaller players and new entrants without the necessary resources to navigate complex and evidence-driven legal issues.

The Return of the Celebrity Fashion Muse: Brand Endorsement, Creative Inspiration and Celebrity-Influenced Design Communication

This article examines the current prevalence of fashion designers working in association with celebrity “muses,” famous figures drawn from acting and popular music, who serve to front brand campaigns but also embody the identity of fashion houses and inspire designers. The article discusses the ancient origin of the Muse figure and explores the ways in which the muse principle was incorporated into fashion via the model, but subsequently included celebrities. In this regard, the article discusses the iconic celebrity muse precedents represented by the creative relationships between Audrey Hepburn and Hubert de Givenchy, and Jackie Kennedy and Oleg Cassini, arguing that while this dynamic has seen a significant revival in the twenty-first century, it is of a differing kind in that the muse dimension has (drawing upon the concepts of media spectacle and implosion) fused with the contemporary endorser/brand ambassador role. The article considers the key principles of celebrity brand endorsement and explores how the position of brand ambassador has evolved into that of the fashion muse, a term used by designers such as Karl Lagerfeld, Nicolas Ghesquière, and Olivier Rousteing in their work with celebrities such as Kristen Stewart, Alicia Vikander, Léa Seydoux, and Kim Kardashian. Therefore, the article argues that the contemporary fashion muse represents the further embeddedness of celebrity within fashion brand communication.

Christoph Drecoll: Rediscovering the Viennese Worth

The once illustrious name of the German-born couturier Christoph Drecoll (1851–1939) is nowadays almost forgotten. The information referring to his name and fashion house in fashion encyclopaedias as well as on online sites is limited, vague, inaccurate and partially contradictory. Many of the discrepancies derive from the fact that different companies used the name Drecoll at the same time. This situation has led to misinterpretations of the historical circumstances and to incorrect attributions of existing clothing in costume collections. This article outlines the complex story of the life and work of the fashion designer Christoph Drecoll with crucial new findings, resulting from a joint research project in progress. Based on intensive archival and material culture studies in European and American collections, the case study of Christoph Drecoll not only sheds light on his almost forgotten fashion house, but also illustrates basic economic, aesthetic and social principles in the context of the international fashion business around the turn of the twentieth century.

Googling Fashion: Forecasting Fashion Consumer Behaviour Using Google Trends

This paper aims to discuss the current state of Google Trends as a useful tool for fashion consumer analytics, show the importance of being able to forecast fashion consumer trends and then presents a univariate forecast evaluation of fashion consumer Google Trends to motivate more academic research in this subject area. Using Burberry—a British luxury fashion house—as an example, we compare several parametric and nonparametric forecasting techniques to determine the best univariate forecasting model for “Burberry” Google Trends. In addition, we also introduce singular spectrum analysis as a useful tool for denoising fashion consumer Google Trends and apply a recently developed hybrid neural network model to generate forecasts. Our initial results indicate that there is no single univariate model (out of ARIMA, exponential smoothing, TBATS, and neural network autoregression) that can provide the best forecast of fashion consumer Google Trends for Burberry across all horizons. In fact, we find neural network autoregression (NNAR) to be the worst contender. We then seek to improve the accuracy of NNAR forecasts for fashion consumer Google Trends via the introduction of singular spectrum analysis for noise reduction in fashion data. The hybrid neural network model (Denoised NNAR) succeeds in outperforming all competing models across all horizons, with a majority of statistically significant outcomes at providing the best forecast for Burberry’s highly seasonal fashion consumer Google Trends. In an era of big data, we show the usefulness of Google Trends, denoising and forecasting consumer behaviour for the fashion industry.

ІСТОРИЗМ У ПОШУКОВИХ СТРАТЕГІЯХ УКРАЇНСЬКИХ БУДИНКІВ МОДЕЛЕЙ ОДЯГУ ТА ДОРОБКУ ВІТЧИЗНЯНИХ ДИЗАЙНЕРІВ ДРУГОЇ ПОЛОВИНИ ХХ СТ.

The aim of the article is to identify the peculiarities of the dynamics and figurative and stylistic displays of historical method in the search strategies of Ukrainian Fashion Houses and domestic designers’ works of the second half of XX century.

Class Structures in the Creative Industries: An Analysis of the Working Conditions of Workers in Nigeria’s Fashion Sector

Since the showcasing of indigenous designs on the world’s most prestigious runways, Nigeria’s fashion industry has received global endorsement and experienced rapid growth, making it a major contributor to the creative economy. Research often focuses on the success of big designers as a yardstick to measure the contribution of this sector to the wider economy. This study finds that data on the earning potential of the fashion industry is incomplete without a reflection of the contributions of the generality of creative workers found in the informal sector of the economy. It draws on interviews and direct observation of selected workers found in the production rooms of fashion houses and garment factories in Nigeria. Findings indicate that the industry is plagued by class distinctions in the work force which impedes the mapping of its true earning potential. Keywords : creative industries, creative workers, creative labour, fashion, class structures, Nigeria’s fashion sector DOI : 10.7176/RHSS/9-4-01

Fur and Exotic Animal Materials: A Model for Luxury Non-Animal Embellishment

Fur and exotic animal materials are appealing resources in the creation of fashion embellishment. This article focuses on the design values of fur, feathers and exotic skins as luxury decoration and suggests alternative non-animal approaches to embellishment which could be adopted by designers. The development of alternative embellishment samples utilizes unusual non-animal materials and experimental textile embellishment techniques through a process of reflective practice. Alternative materials and processes are inspired by the decorative appeal of fur and exotic animal materials, partly identified through engagement with industries associated with the application of fur and exotic animal materials. This article thereby explores the themes of: Rarity, connection to nature, craftsmanship and textural quality. Practice developments of two novel textile embellishment techniques that predominantly use glass yarn are presented: “Adapted wig-making with embroidery” and “threading rubber.” This constitutes a range of textile samples and an embellished garment exhibited in Fashioned from Nature at the Victoria & Albert Museum (UK) and associated world tour (2018–2021). The research derives from a personal motivation concerning the use of animal materials in fashion, as well as from prior experience working in luxury fashion houses where animal materials were used as decoration.

A Dress for the Wicked by Autumn Krause

Reviewed by: A Dress for the Wicked by Autumn Krause Fiona Hartley-Kroeger Krause, Autumn A Dress for the Wicked. HarperTeen, 2019 [400p] Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-285733-0 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-06-285735-4 $8.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 7-10 Aspiring fashion designer Emmy seizes the chance to make her dreams come true when Britannia Secunda’s doyenne of couture, Madame Jolène, picks Emmy as a token “country contestant” for the cutthroat Fashion House Interview (a Project Runway-esque competition, in a pre-television era, for a design apprenticeship at the elite Fashion House). Intrigue and sabotage ensue, while Madame Jolène has no intention of giving Emmy a fair chance, scheduling her for endless rounds of publicity appearances while the other contestants are working on their creations. Realizing that she has been set up, Emmy enlists the help of her enigmatic roommate Sophie and a handsome reporter to dress a scandalous social pariah in order to make a name for herself. Though Sophie has some depth, the other characters are largely one-note (the half-Japanese, half-Britannia Secundan contestant makes an important point about hybrid identity but functions mostly as a sop to diversity, [End Page 22] even as Emmy realizes that she herself is being tokenized). Emmy’s disillusionment with Madame Jolène doesn’t receive the narrative attention it needs to make a clear point about ambition and exploitation, so it’s unclear whether Emmy will make a badly needed moral as well as aesthetic mark on fashion. Still, Krause deftly handles the oft-belittled personal and political power of clothing, and fans of couture and fabulous fashion will enjoy the extravagant clothing and glamorous world that Emmy is determined to enter. Copyright © 2019 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois

Factors Influencing the Business Success of Retail Fashion Houses: A Study from Bangladesh Perspectives

Factors Influencing the Business Success of Retail Fashion Houses: A Study from Bangladesh Perspectives

Social protest and cultural factors in the adoption of fur in the global fashion industry

This study examines the interplay in markets between social movement activity and internal cultural dynamics using the case of fur in the high-end global fashion industry. The authors consider how the contested nature of fur, coupled with pressures for status distinction and differentiation within the fashion industry, is associated with whether fashion houses adopt fur in their collections from 2001-2010. Four hypotheses are tested using a unique data set based on online and print archives. Hazard models indicate patterns consistent with imitation of high-status fashion houses that use fur, and response to social movement activism based on the status of the targeted houses.

PERFUME, THE ART OF TOMORROW

For centuries, the smell was considered as an inferior sense, underestimated by scholars who considered it linked to animals and sexuality, thus, unsuitable to knowledge. The disinterest of our civilisation for olfaction is reflected by the poverty of the language to describe scents, that comes from our lack of education and culture in this field. In addition, the French law states: “the fragrance of a perfume, which proceeds from the simple implementation of a know-how, does not constitute the creation of a form of expression that can benefit from the protection of copyright”. Yet, thanks to its unique climate to grow flowers in Grasse and the implementation of Fashion Houses in Paris, France is the cradle of Fragrance. How then, can we explain that the first perfume museum in Paris opened only a year ago? For Guillaume de Maussion, the initiator of this tremendous project, it seemed unbelievable that such a place didn’t exist in the French capital city, where Perfume industry is an essential part of the heritage. The Fashion Houses, as Dior, Chanel, Saint-Laurent or Givenchy benefit from this lack of knowledge and spend colossal amounts in Marketing in order to attract consumers. People thus focus on advertisement rather than on the scent and most of the time buy a perfume because of the brainwashing. Fragrances are in this case made with the intention to sell as much as possible. This mass-market industry offers very similar product, at an accessible price and easily available. Consequently, designer brands skimp on the quality using synthetic material and lower concentration. From this aspect, the perfumer is more a technician that aims to seduce the biggest part of the population in order to generate a maximum of profits for the brands. Hence, could perfume be considered as an Art? Is there a future for Fragrance sector, despite the lack of education? Most perfumer compare themselves to compositors, painters, and artists while creating a perfume. Edmond Roudnitska, widely considered as one of the greatest perfumers of 20st century and creator of masterpieces such as Diorissimo or Eau Sauvage, defined himself as a « perfumer-compositor ». Nevertheless, with the multiplication of alternatives perfumes brands, the Perfume sector reveals itself and spreads its artistry. Indeed, these niches companies perceive the perfumer as an artist, and the fragrance as a creation. They focus on the scent, using the best quality ingredients, know-how and craftsmanship. Niche devotees often argue that boutique perfumes offer the consumer the opportunity to reward oneself with a scent that is both uncommon and individual. These brands are focused on customer experience and relationship, take time to initiate and educate the customer on scents. According to Euromonitor; “The next five years will likely see the proliferation of small, artisan perfume brands hoping to capture millennials’ hearts, minds and noses.” In addition, a new trend is emerging from perfume experience: olfactory Marketing. Offices, fashion stores, opticians, even bakeries and using this new sensorial dimension. Brands are trying to reinforce their DNA by creating a distinctive scent to make them unique and unforgettable. The scent is completing a visual and auditory experience by bringing soul. Few studies showed that a pleasant fragrance, triggers a positive mood and a customer will stay 30% to 40% longer in a store well perfumed. These facts increase chances to make a purchase and especially to increase loyalty from the customer who will keep a good memory of its experience. Even though scents were created more than thousands of years ago and evolved over the centuries, Fragrance is still unknown and not recognized as a craft. With the rise of artist-perfumers, a willingness of education on scents, the ease of access to information and a real desire of uniqueness and distinction, there is no doubt that Perfume industry is the Art of tomorrow.

Women Entrepreneurship of Sylhet City, Bangladesh: Challenges & Opportunities

The main purpose of this research is to find out the challenges and opportunities that most of the women specifically those who are entrepreneurs are facing these challenges in Sylhet area, Bangladesh. This report mainly depends on some documents and some practical observations. Women Entrepreneurship is a very essential turning point for the betterment of the women. Unlike the past, women today are no longer confined in the kitchen. They have raised their voice against conservative social outlook. Now women are entering into work force which is providing them a self-identity and right to participate in family decisional affairs. In Sylhet a huge number of women are also having various types of business organizations. The women those who are entrepreneurs of Sylhet, almost 35% are engaged in boutique businesses. There are some other businesses performed by them such as fashion house and cloth store, tailor, parlor, training center etc. Most of them have to maintain their family works despite having a business. But here they are not free from problems. The traditionalism of society, high interest rate of loan, lack of proper training facilities are the main barriers in the smoothness of business. Here every women entrepreneurs recommends that the Government should take necessary effective steps in (providing training, low rate of interest in taking loan etc.) this regard, as it is a very potential way to develop the country.

Sistem Informasi Penjualan pada Karo Rumah Mode di Simalingkar berbasis Web

This study discusses the web-based sales information system at the Rumah Mode Karo store which has a collection of different men's and women's clothing products for sale. In addition to selling clothing collections, karo fashion houses also sell Tupperware. Karo Rumah Mode currently still sells directly and does not have a sales information system so that it causes problems such as recording the Karo Rumah Mode sales transaction data still manually, the store is difficult to control all products that have been sold and those that have not been sold, nor is the store know how much stock is still available for each type of product, who receives money on the sale of a product is also not well-documented and clear. Then from the problems that arise the proposed solution to overcome this problem is to build a sales information system that uses the PHP programming language and MYSQL as the database. The goal is a web-based information system that is built can make sales both online and directly in the store and facilitate users in sales transactions, report inventory and receipt of money against sales transactions are well-documented and clear. The method used in this study is literature study and interviews / case studies at fashion house karo stores.

IP-bits in Letters 22 June 2018 Trade Mark Invalidation and Infringement - Everything Matters (Presentation Slides)

A trade mark infringement claim and, then, the invalidation of the trade mark as a counterclaim, is a traditional course of events. What is always new in this process that’s a set of steps to be taken by the parties engaged in the infringement-invalidation battle. A French fashion house of luxury goods Christian Louboutin produces high-heeled women’s shoes which are featured by a red sole. The shoes have been sold in various counties around the world, and the house of Louboutin has registered the trade mark which protects ‘a sole in red’ for high-heeled women’s shoes.

The size of the problem with the problem of sizing: How clothing measurement systems have misrepresented women’s bodies, from the 1920s to today

Abstract Clothing size works as an arbiter of the body ideal. The level of complexity required of clothing measurement systems centres on the problem that clothing must fit closely to the body, whereas manufactured products, like a chair, can be designed to suit a wide range of people, clothing has, by its very nature, less ability to be flexible. Clothing size systems should be developed after undertaking anthropometric surveys of the population and using statistical analysis to construct a set of reasonable standards. Here we argue that social factors in lifestyle, demographics and consumption have radically altered women’s body size and shape. Yet, systems in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom have measured only a tiny per cent of the female population that fall within a vanity-size shape, as reflected in the marketing of clothing by global brands and high fashion houses, resulting in the size zero debates. This review of the chequered history of women’s clothing size systems has resulted in the inconsistent sizing in the marketplace, as well as a structural unsuitability for the women’s bodies for whom the clothing was designed. Recently, the challenge to ad hoc or vanity-sizing systems appears in social media forums from women who pioneer as models wearing ‘plus sized’ or rather, ‘right sized’ fashionable garments. Social media offers a platform to represent larger women via online access, to purchase right sized fashion and to view themselves no longer as outliers, as this fresh perspective informs contemporary social images of the female body.

Culture, structure, and the market interface: Exploring the networks of stylistic elements and houses in fashion

This paper explores how culture and social structure are intertwined in markets. Starting with the notion that markets are composed of both producers and cultural elements, a two-mode and dynamic social network approach is used to define social structure as a set of relations among producers through cultural elements, and culture as a set of relations among cultural elements through producers. The example of global high-end fashion in London, Milan, New York, and Paris between 2008 and 2013 is used. Data were gathered from a prestigious and influential design forecasting bureau which synthesized data about the stylistic elements selected twice-a-year by fashion houses for their collections. While at a granular level of analysis (looking at specific seasons), both stylistic elements and houses are less clustered than expected, they form in the long run a highly clustered structure, both culturally and socially. Intermediate-level analysis reveals that while elements are still less clustered than would be expected by chance, houses appear to some extent to be randomly clustered. This sheds light on a long-standing conundrum in fashion: why does it appear to be completely random, and yet highly legible?

Impact of Entrepreneurial Competencies on Adopted Innovative Marketing Strategies by Entrepreneurs: A Study on Small and Medium Boutique and Fashion House in Khulna City

Purpose: This paper focuses on inspecting the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and innovative marketing strategy in the context of small-and-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Entrepreneurial competencies are the set of divergent skills consisting of attitudes and related knowledge that entrepreneurs need to achieve their full potential and lead the firm to adopt innovative marketing strategies. Design/Methodology/Approach: A conceptual model was drawn to show the relationship in quantitative nature using self-administered questionnaire between the relationship of the factors of entrepreneurial competencies and innovative marketing strategies based on previous literature. This study tried to find out whether the entrepreneurial competencies can be helpful for the adoption of innovative marketing strategy rather than the factors comprising entrepreneurial competencies with the help of regression analysis. Findings: This study found that innovative marketing could be fostered if the entrepreneurial competencies are developed. Regression analysis in this study shows that four out of six hypotheses developed in this study is statistically significant. This study also generalizes that entrepreneurial competencies have a moderate positive relationship with the innovative use of marketing strategy. Implications: Findings of this paper implicates an emerging view of marketing with respect to entrepreneurial competencies from the perspective of SMEs. This finding also relevant to the entrepreneurs in order to develop entrepreneurial competencies which will lead them to adopt innovative marketing strategies. Originality/Value: Previous literature on strategic management and entrepreneurship focused on finding the linkage between entrepreneurship competencies and innovative marketing but very few of them gave any attention on the SMEs. In addition, very few scholars focused on the emerging countries like Bangladesh to find the relationship between entrepreneurial competencies and innovative marketing strategies. This study is directed towards studying the impact on SMEs in emerging economy which added distinct value to this paper.

패션하우스 뮤지엄의 역할에 관한 연구 : 유럽의 럭셔리 패션브랜드를 중심으로

패션하우스 뮤지엄의 역할에 관한 연구 : 유럽의 럭셔리 패션브랜드를 중심으로

올리비에 루스테잉이 구축한 패션 하우스 발망의 특성

급변하는 패션 환경 속에서 수많은 패션 하우스가 시대의 변화에 대응하기 위한 각고의 노력을 기울이고 있는 가운데 크리에이티브 디렉터의 세대교체는 변화를 모색할 수 있는 방안 중 하나이다. 패션 하우스 발망 역시 크리에이티브 디렉터 교체를 통해 존폐위기에서 벗어나 새로운 전성기를 맞이한 대표적인 사례 이다. 이에 본 연구 목적은 올리비에 루스테잉이 구축한 패션 하우스 발망의 특성을 밝히는데 두었다. 연구 방법은 패션 하우스 발망과 올리비에 루스테잉의 패션 세계에 대한 문헌 연구와 2012 S/S부터 2017 F/W까지 올리비에 루스테잉이 발망에서 전개한 패션커뮤니케이션 사례 연구를 진행하였다. 패션커뮤니케이션은 패션 컬렉션, 광고 캠페인, 소셜 미디어, 협업으로 분류하였고, 이 중 패션컬렉션은 여성복으로 한정하여 시즌별 콘셉트 및 스타일, 형태, 아이템, 색상, 소재, 문양, 장식기법 등 디자인 특징을 분석하였다.BR 연구 결과 패션컬렉션은 주로 팝의 감성과 1980년대를 재해석한 콘셉트로 전개하였으며, 가는 허리와 어깨 강조, 여성 인체의 볼륨감을 부각시킨 바디 컨셔스 라인, 다양한 색상과 소재의 활용, 장식적 디테일로 화려하고 섹시한 이미지를 나타냈다. 광고 캠페인은 다양한 인종의 모델 및 팝 스타를 기용하여 차별화된 이미지를 전달하였고, 협업을 통해 모든 여성이 럭셔리 감성을 향유할 수 있도록 하였다. 또 소셜 미디어를 적극 활용하여 디자이너의 개인적인 라이프 스타일과 하우스의 모든 이미지를 대중과 공유하고 소통하였다.BR 이상을 통해 도출된 특징은 첫째, 팝 기반의 글램쿠튀르 지향으로 쿠튀르 하우스의 전통과 화려한 팝의 감성을 융합시켜 새로운 발망의 전성기를 구축하였다. 둘째, 다양성과 통합의 가치 추구이다. 다양한 인종의 패션모델 기용, 인스타그램을 활용한 대중과의 적극적인 소통, 협업을 통해 럭셔리 패션이 나아갈 민주적 관점을 제시하였다. 셋째, 파워풀하고 섹시한 여성상 구축이다. 볼륨감을 강조한 글래머러스함과 걸 크러시 이미지로 파워풀한 현대 여성의 자신감을 투영시켰고, 이를 하우스의 상징적인 여성상으로 구축시켰다.BR 이를 통해 유서 깊은 패션 하우스를 계승한 신인디자이너가 어떻게 혁신의 가치를 구축하였는지 탐색할 수 있었고, 급변하는 패션 환경에 대응하는 창의적인 패션 사고를 엿볼 수 있는 계기가 되었다.

Illustrating the Design Process: The Bernat Klein Collection and Archive, National Museums Scotland

Serbian-born textile designer Bernat Klein (1922–2014) emigrated to the United Kingdom in 1945 and based his textile manufacturing business in the Scottish borders. From humble beginnings this young emigre designer went on to produce couture fabrics for the leading fashion houses of Europe. Klein also worked as a colour consultant and industrial designer during an illustrious career spanning four decades. This article explores Klein’s design process by drawing on the archive and collection of his work held by National Museums Scotland. Heriot Watt University also holds a substantial collection of Bernat Klein’s work and comparisons are made between the two collections. Focusing on fashion textiles, this article investigates and draws connections between objects within the collection, shedding new light on Klein’s practice as a textile designer in post-war Britain. The relationship between Klein’s paintings and textiles and his pioneering approach to colour is also investigated. The extensive press archive held by National Museums Scotland and Klein’s own writings are called upon to contextualize the discussion of Klein’s design process and his changing relationship with the fashion industry.