Please use more reference from books such as
Fashion theory: a reader
Luxury fashion branding
Fashion culture and identity
Case study : such as Yves Saint Laurent to Saint Laurent
Assessment 1: The Essay
For this part of your assessment, you are requires to write an illustrated essay of 2500 words (excluding bibliography and title).
• You are to select do Branding –Fashion branding as one of the themes we address in the lecture and workshops .
• You are then to select an object of study that you can study, analyse, assess and critique in relation to your chosen theme.
• You must extend your reading beyond that which is covered in class to write a rich essay.
You will be provided with key texts each week in the workshop and lecture that relate to each theme. These will be your first point of reference for research.
The term ‘object’ is defined in the broadest sense; for example this could be an advertisement, a film, a store window, a magazine, a fashion design or even a particular area of London but your chosen object of study must provide you with plenty of room for discussion around your chosen theme.
Your object of study must be a primary source and analysed in its immediate context. This means it has to be something that you can see ‘in the flesh’ so to speak and it must be analysed in its original context; for example if it is a magazine advert, you must locate the magazine it was originally featured in, consider the year of publication (and the social, cultural and political implications of this) and show an awareness of how the magazine itself (target audience, reputation etc.) influences your reading of the image.
You must conduct broad and in-depth research from a variety of sources (do not rely solely on internet research!) in order to successfully achieve learning outcomes 1 & 2. These may include, but are not limited to:
• Books
• Journal articles
• Documentaries
• Museum displays
• Museum archives
• Online articles (these must be reliable. There is plenty of material on the internet that is highly unreliable: for example, Wikipedia is NOT reliable. Trust official websites: of museums, galleries, university research pages, etc. Ask if you are not sure)
The readings that we will be discussing each week can be viewed as examples of academic writing as they all apply theoretical approaches to their selected object(s) of study. Use these as examples to follow: consider their structure, the sources being used, the way the authors apply their research to their objects of study, the way they use images etc.
Writing the Essay (suggested structure)
• Your essay should begin with a brief discussion of the theoretical framework you have selected. Conduct a careful analysis of the key arguments discussed in your selected readings. Do this by following the guidelines here:
• Explain the argument/ discussion being put forward in the text.
• Select significant quotes from your reading and discuss their meaning in relation to the argument the author is trying to make.
• Enhance your discussion by expanding your reading: read other texts that are related to the theoretical reading you have selected. Use this expanded reading to discuss your chosen text. Your reading must be expanded through careful research on the theoretical ideas being discussed in lectures, seminars, readings.
Now conduct a detailed analysis of your chosen object of study in relation to the arguments presented in your texts; for example you may wish to conduct a detailed analysis of the Hackett store in Westfield’s shopping centre in relation to Pierre Bourdieu’s theories on taste functioning as a marker of social class in Distinction, 1979. You will have to consider Bourdieu’s arguments carefully, demonstrating your understanding in an analysis of his text, before applying these theories to the Hackett store. You may ask questions such as: Does the interior of the store support Bourdieu’s claims? What specific elements of the interior highlight this? Is the store designed in such a way to feel exclusive to particular a social class? How is this done? And how does this relate to Bourdieu’s argument?
Remember you are to use images as evidence to back up your claims and enhance your argument. Be sure to reference correctly. Be transparent with the use of your sources and use your referencing to provide weight to your arguments.