Portfolio by Emma Crooks-Middlemiss

Vogue Moodboard

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:38:28 UTC

Using Canva, I created a Vogue mood board - my inspiration was based on Audrey Hepburn, 1940s Chanel and a classic colour palette of black and white. One of my favourite concepts from this era is polaroid black and white clothing, accentuated with a timeless pillar box red lipstick.

Writing - Fashion Branding Investigation

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:43:21 UTC

I analysed the website pages for H&M and Hobbs London, and researched how they represented their corporate identity and brand ethos. I also included theories such as sociolect, and Giles' accommodation theory to pick apart the language use within the websites and my own investigation.

Article Commentary

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:44:35 UTC

This document is a written commentary that I made on my journalistic article. It's an analysis of the language choices, the context of the fashion industry and a comparison to previous articles/style models that I had researched.

Journalism - Gender Disparity In Fashion

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:45:39 UTC

As part of my English Language Coursework, we were tasked to write a journalistic article on a topic of personal choice. I decided to focus my article on the fashion industry and the representation of gender on the runway and behind the scenes. As part of my writing process, I read many articles on gender disparity from Vogue Business, Just A Label, and McKinsey & Company. As a young woman who aspires to work in this industry, reading and writing about the equality (or perhaps, lack of) that women face, is something that I find incredibly important.

Adobe Lightroom/ Photoshop - Photography

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:47:19 UTC

I created marketing materials for my media studies coursework (such as posters, websites and a DVD cover). I used a Canon EOS 250D camera to take my photos and dark overhead lighting to create an ominous atmosphere for my horror film: The Staining. After taking the photos, I used Lightroom to edit them and Photoshop to insert them into my marketing materials.

Adobe Lightroom/ Photoshop - Photography

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:48:03 UTC

Sketches

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:48:55 UTC

The drawings above were taken from my sketchbook. During lockdown, I spent a lot of time reading copies of Vogue and randomly drawing. I wanted to include these, as well as show the potential colour palette I would have used if I created this design.

Sketches

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:49:39 UTC

The drawings above were taken from my sketchbook. One of my favourite parts of fashion is haute couture, with dramatic hemlines and personalised embellishments (like my initial 'E' incorporated into the design on the left). I particularly adore evening gowns so I tried to design some of my own.

Sketches

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:50:29 UTC

Sketches

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:52:02 UTC

The drawings above were taken from my sketchbook. I wanted to design some outerwear for summer/autumn. The image on the far left is a playful jumpsuit that I imagined as versatile and could be worn in most seasons of the year.

Sketches

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:52:34 UTC

I found a lot of my inspiration on Pinterest. As someone who is struggled with mental health, the image on the left really stood out to me as it represents the internal battle inside the minds of many people who struggle with mental illness. Because of how strongly it affected me, I wanted to recreate and draw the image myself as well as I could.

Sketches

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-01-20 22:53:04 UTC

The drawings above were taken from my sketchbook. When I first started drawing fashion illustrations, I struggled with drawing the model's body or fashion croquis. However, after using Pinterest and self-help illustration books, I slowly got the hang of it. The drawings above were inspired by similar images on Pinterest, and I drew them myself on paper.

Horror DVD cover

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-10-21 21:38:00 UTC

Planet Blog post

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-10-21 21:39:05 UTC

Whilst people love to glamourise the fashion industry and pretend that it’s all runway shows and expensive brands, the reality of how the industry affects the world and its environment is not discussed enough. As a fashion business student, it is essential to understand the four pillars of fashion business: Planet, People, Profit, and Purpose. This week’s blog is on the planet, sustainability and how it relates to the fashion industry. A simple definition of sustainability is, “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (United Nations 1987 Brundtland report). On average, consumers throw away 60% of their clothes in the first year after purchasing them leading to 85% of textiles ending up in landfill. According to the Ellen Macarthur Foundation, if this trend continues, over 150 million tonnes of clothing waste will clog up landfills by 2050. This is why one of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals of responsible consumption and production is so important to achieve a sustainable industry that isn’t inflicting damage for the sake of profit, power and luxury, Whilst there are unfortunately lots of global environmental issues linked to the fashion industry, the clothing waste and over-extraction of natural resources to produce clothing has become increasingly concerning which is why it is refreshing to see brands like Stella McCartney making some effort to reduce this.

Part of their brand values is transitioning from a linear economy to a circular economy. A linear economy in simple terms is a model of production where raw materials are used for clothing which are discarded and wasted. However, the aim is to transition to a “circular economy for fashion, where everyone has access to the clothes they need, when they need them.” (Ellen Macarthur foundation) and also “runs on renewable energy and uses renewable resources where their input is needed and reflects the true cost of materials and production processes in the price of products” (Ellen MacArthur foundation). On Stella McCartney’s website they provide figures on the impact areas of the company have on the environment and include their sustainability ethos.

Stella McCartney has also collaborated with many companies invested in a circular economy, sustainability and ecology. An example of this is the partnership with Veuve Clicquot: the introduction of a grape- based alternative to animal leather using the Champagne Maison’s harvest by - product. As well as this, their “Protein Evolution: Biopure™️ which uses “enzyme engineering technology to transform textile and plastic waste into infinitely recyclable polyester.” (Stella McCartney.) Whilst it can be deduced that Stella McCartney is heavily invested in sustainability and can be considered reliable, it still has a long way to go in terms of water management and greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

Reference list:

Horvathova, H. and Bosnakova, N., 2022. Transformation of the fashion industry from a linear to a circular economy: The roles and drivers of sustainable entrepreneurs in Slovakia.
MacArthur, E., 2013. Towards the circular economy. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2(1), pp.23-44.
Fashion and the circular economy. Available at: https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/fashion-and-the-circular-economy-deep-dive
Moorhouse, D. and Moorhouse, D., 2017. Sustainable design: Circular economy in fashion and textiles. The Design Journal, 20(sup1), pp.S1948-S1959.
Sipari, J., 2022. Sustainability in luxury fashion: case: Stella McCartney.
Rana, N., 2024. Circular Fashion Economy. In Threaded Harmony: A Sustainable Approach to Fashion (pp. 45-63). Emerald Publishing Limited.
Wolfe, I. (2024) How ethical is Stella McCartney? - Good on you. https://goodonyou.eco/how-ethical-is-stella-mccartney/.
Stella McCartney (no date b) Sustainable Clothing | Ethical Fashion | Stella McCartney UK. https://www.stellamccartney.com/gb/en/sustainability/sustainability.html?srsltid=AfmBOoqtKFh4BauGWzQyQf_tywtqXwRZxWLpq0UZ5ocexLcwKmL6p9RL.

People Blog post

emmacrooksmiddlemiss0701 — 2024-10-21 21:39:56 UTC

Without consumers, the fashion industry would be next to nothing. The people buying the products and the people creating them, selling them and working behind the scenes are the heart to this $1.7 trillion dollar industry (2021). As a global dominating power-force, the fashion industry caters to every single person, no matter their ethnicity, sexual orientation, race, religion, political beliefs or whatever makes them stand out to the next person. For the fashion industry to run smoothly, inclusivity, diversity and equality are essential.

Over the last decade, the luxury fashion industry has faced criticism for their design/ branding mistakes which have involved racist imagery and cultural appropriation. As an example over the last 5 years, the world has seen shocking racial injustices and inequalities, and whilst some fashion brands stood in solidarity with protests like Black Lives Matter in 2020, it would be a dishonour to those affected to pretend that these luxury brands have not previously neglected minority groups with their representation in fashion. Of course, luxury fashion houses have always been faced with the paradox of communicating values of inclusion whilst maintaining their exclusiveness. If embracing EDI is poorly executed, consumers can perceive these initiatives as inauthentic and the brand’s attempt at being “woke” whilst entirely missing the mark. To improve this, brands can become more inclusive in their hiring processes, bring diverse perspectives on their teams and create marketing campaigns that truly represent everyone. For example, Nike is a worldwide recognised brand that has truly embraced EDI and has followed this through - in 2016, they revealed that for the first time ever, minority groups made up over 50% of their workforce. They have also set up diversity training for 10,000 managers and unconscious bias awareness training for all their employees. Although this is a good step, as a brand they still have a long way to go when it comes to their social justice ethos (for example, investigating their sweatshop conditions accusations of their East Asian factories.)

And of course, at the head of this fashion industry redemption arc, it is the upcoming generations and the future faces of those working in the fashion industry and those consuming it. Gen Z (the current second youngest generation) have lived through a worldwide pandemic, fears of economic collapse and have witnessed protests like Black Lives Matter, March for Women’s Lives, the Sarah Everard movement and countless more. Shaped by these, Gen Z has a responsibility to ensure that equality, inclusivity and diversity is prioritised and that they fully utilise the platforms available to them as “digital natives”. Brands can appeal to Gen Z consumers by embracing online marketing through platforms such as Tiktok, where this generations make up 60% of the app’s 1 billion+ users. By promoting equality, brands are able to “create a more positive and inclusive industry that celebrates all people and promotes self - expression and self - confidence” (Reactive Reality). And if Gen Z consumers and creators are able to follow this through, the fashion industry will hopefully face some radicalising change over the next few decades.

Reference list:

Global fashion industry statistics (no date). https://fashionunited.com/global-fashion-industry-statistics.
Zanotti, B., Balancing the Paradox of Inclusivity and Exclusivity: How Luxury Fashion Brands Use Communications to Address Diversity and Inclusion (Doctoral dissertation, Toronto Metropolitan University).
Ferraro, C., Hemsley, A. and Sands, S., 2023. Embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI): Considerations and opportunities for brand managers. Business Horizons, 66(4), pp.463-479.
https://www.reactivereality.com/blog/how-fashion-brands-can-promote-diversity-and-inclusion
How Nike got woke (no date). https://www.thoughtleaders.io/blog/how-nike-got-woke.