CELEBRITY ENDORSED FASHION COLLABORATIONS

Greg French explores the world of collaborations within in fashion industry and explains how we're so into them...

https://i-d.vice.com/en_gb/article/why-are-we-so-ready-to-buy-into-celebrity-endorsed-fashion-collaborations?utm_source=idtwitter

KAYNE WEST X ADIDAS ORIGINALS

Monday was focused on collaborations and endorsement and one collab in particular which has been the hot topic of the last week or so, featured Kayne West and Adidas Originals, where they presented their fame centred audience with an interesting twist on military combined with street wear.

West has previously worked with Adidas' rival, Nike and surprisingly, due to restrictions in creativity, he left the company. However in the design process for this collab, he states (in an interview with style.com) that there were boundaries and although not a designer himself, he was allowed to be more creative and take charge a little more. To me this dominance is reflected in the clothes. The simplicity seems to reflect the personality of the rapper, and certainly over powers Adidas's feature in the range. So what do Adidas gain from this? Well the popularity of the rapper will certainly attract attention to the brand, and lets face it you wouldn't see Adidas on the runway any other way... Besides this, Kayne and Adidas have produced a range which targets more people than either would of their own, its affordable and due to the high street location of Adidas, it's accessible, which is something Kayne believed strongly about.

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the collection (in the way that I would't choose to wear it) however I praise Kayne for his efforts. He created a military inspired show which was unusually displayed but in a way which allowed the audience more time to admire the collection. The variety of models also made the show a lot more authentic, it can get boring seeing such similar models on each and every runway. West expresses that casting was an important stage in this process. He thought about it from the start and concluded that the army wouldn't eliminate certain people so neither would he. His variety in models included current supermodel, Kendall Jenner's sister, Kylie Jenner, who thanked Kayne on twitter for allowing her to be part of his show and believing in her.

Overall the show seemed a successful and certainly caught people's eye, but is that perhaps down to the impressive frow? Who knows!

A GENIUS BOOK

There is no other way to describe this book other than GENIUS. I mentioned in my last post how much I dislike reading however it is something I want to keep on and really try to get into it. Theres no better way to start than to read Hegarty on Creativity: There Are No Rules. This book is pure brilliance and I could rave about it all day. For someone who isn't keen on reading, the organisation and layout (different font types, sizes and colour, small illustrations and short paragraphs) of this book is encouraging and fun to read, so fun that I in fact read the whole book on a 2 hour train journey back home, and I'd happily read it all over again!

The book aims to have every reader understanding the logistics of creativity, how to nurture, sustain and harness it. From Hegarty's 40 years of experience in advertising he produced 50 pieces of advice and presented it in this witty pocket book. My favourite chapters include:

• ORIGINALITY- Hegarty prefers FRESH because no piece of creative work is original as ideas are borrowed, blended, subverted, developed and bounced off other people's ideas. 
• FEARLESSNESS- There is a constant reminder of what it takes to be creative throughout this book, and that is fearlessness. Hegarty discovered that fearlessness is what is needed to produce something fresh, something we haven't seen before and something which doesn't follow a formula.
• ZAG- This chapter emphasises the importance to be different. Hegarty tells a short story about an advertisement he produced for black Levi Strauss jeans and reinforces the point they were making visually: "When the world zigs, zag."

• TECHNOLOGY- This chapter reminds me of a video of the ikea catalogue that mocks the Apple iPhone advert. Hegarty expresses in this chapter that technology isn't the idea, its the mean to express the idea. 

• REMOVE YOUR HEADPHONES- This chapter is brilliant because so many people of guilty on sitting, standing, walking or wondering around with their headphones in. Hegarty suggests that headphones cut you off from the world and reduces the amount of inspiration that reaches you.
• SWAP SEATS- This piece of advice will always stick with me. When you're lacking creativity, change it up. Change your routine and habits and you will most likely find that you will have a fresh perspective. 

and finally...

• DONT GET TOO COMFORTABLE- The best creative people manage to keep a grip on reality whatever they achieve.

I'll say it once again, its genius. Quite often you find people over complicate things, Hegarty has kept things simple and straight to the point and this is the best way to learn new things as they will stick with you. This book has been an extremely useful guide and a great start to a new semester, I will be keeping it in a safe place to refer back to when needed!