David Nieper Project
To begin with I began to research who the target customer of the David Nieper brand is and I wanted to create a muse who would inspire the collection I designed. I found that the target customer is a female who is 50+ and affluent. The customer is also patriotic and a fan of Britishness due to the fact that everything made by David Nieper is manufactured and produced within the UK. Comfort is also a priority for the customer and this is represented through the use of high quality and comfortable fabrics used by the brand. After looking into the products David Nieper offer I realised that the customer also likes to wear bright and colourful clothes and also enjoy to encorporate print within their outfits.
I wanted to look at a muse who was within the consumer age bracket as
well as not being afraid to wear colourful clothing and who represents Britishness as well has a modern aspect in life. I chose Joanna Lumley as my muse as she is 71 and has appeared in several different British TV programs and films. She is also very modern in her way of thinking in terms of her environmental campaigns as well as raising awareness for multiple different causes such as the Gurkha Justice Campaign. I wanted to emphasise this and implement it within my designs. I also looked at people such as Zandra Rhodes who, although may not be a direct David Nieper customer, they still aren’t afraid to embrace modernity and self expression. This then lead me to look for an artist who embraces modernity and self expression but also has bold and interesting art that is filled with colour.
After I looked into the customer profile I then began to research an artist. I travelled down to London to visit Tate Modern as well as Unit. I chose these two galleries to look at because I wanted a modern artist as this would fit in well with my concept. I chose the artist Mr Jago who had an exhibition at Unit. He is an artist from Bristol and is well known within the graffiti scene in Britain. His work started out to be very illustrative however his artwork now has become much more abstract and expressive. Jago’s art isn’t about brush strokes or how neat the artwork is, it is more about the emphasis on colour. I then looked into his early artwork and I wanted to look at how his artwork has evolved. I found out that he encorporates so much more colour into his more recent works and they can be produced into so many interesting and beautiful prints.
After choosing Mr Jago as my artist I then went back to look at what my chosen muses would wear at different times of the day and year. I wanted to incorporate similar silhouettes within my designs to what they would be wearing. I found that my target customer/ muse likes to use print within their outfits and that depending on the occasion their sillhouette changes such as evening wear I found that the garments are quite fitted and has a sleek look whereas in regards to travelwear they would wear more loose fitting and flowy garments mainly because they want to be more comfortable and relaxed whilst being on holiday compared to being more sophisticated and formal in evening wear.
In regards to my colour palette I wanted to use colours that would compliment the print used in Mr Jago’s work. I found that a lot of his artwork contained hues of purple and plum tones as well as navy blue. I feel like these tones are very feminine but also subtle at the same time and works very well with the print. I also wanted to distinguish the different times of the day therefore I decided to go for lighter colours for daywear and then darker colours for evening wear and nightwear just because it I believe that it sets the mood for the occasion.
I wanted print to be a main feature within my collection as I wanted to display how a graffiti artists work can work within a completely contrasting target market. The prints I wanted to use are very flattering however they still look modern and almost look like they are textured. I also wanted to think about the print bases and how different bases would affect the print.
As well as print bases I wanted to focus on other fabrics. Comfort was one of the biggest priorities I had when choosing fabrics as this is the most important thing in a garment for it to sell. From looking at David Nieper products, I can tell that this is also a major factor for fabric choices. I also saw that the fabrics have to be very good quality to justify the price point of the garments as well as the fact everything is manufactured within the UK. Another fabric I wanted to explore was Tencel due to how sustainable and innovative it is. For daywear I wanted to use durable and comfortable fabric as this would be worn on a daily basis. I decided that knit and jerseys would be ideal for jackets and tops as the fabrics are still flexible but also comfortable. For trousers I also wanted comfort to be a priority as well as them being durable. I decided to use Tencel blended Denim as this would make the jeans durable and also sustainable. For travelwear I wanted something lightweight and breathable as the consumer would want to stay cool on holiday. I would want to use Tencel Luxe Linen as the Tencel adds fluidity to the garment and due to linen being very lightweight then it would make the garment very breathable. In regards to evening wear I wanted to used quite tailored fabric but also comfort had to be a priority. I wanted to use a jacquard to develop and enhance my print as well as giving it a tailored look. I also wanted to include Tencel Luxe Wool Blend as this would also give a tailored look and be comfortable. As well as this I would I would want to encompass the ‘uncrushable’ trouser as featured at David Nieper currently. Finally for nightwear I would want to use luxurious and lightweight fabric for comfort and so it is breathable. I would want to use satin as it has a luxurious feel but is also lightweight so the consumer wouldn’t overheat when sleeping.
