French Connection Advert Campaign 'You are...'

For my DVC presentation I had to research about identity in today's postmodern society. The topic sounded slightly dull, especially as I had briefly covered it when doing A-level sociology, and yes, like usual, I left it to the last minute to research but once I started looking into it, I actually found it very interesting. One thing that did particularly interest me, which I hadn't seen before was French Connection's advertising campaign entitled 'You are...'. The campaign questions what it means to be a man or woman in today's society. By doing this, the campaign enables the consumer to explore how gender and society dictate behaviour with powerful, thought-provoking imagery. This moves forward from the idealized image of man and woman, French Connection have created scenarios confronting the viewer by asking, 'You are man?' and 'You are woman?'.

What was even more interesting was the story behind how the adverts came about. For two weeks, French Connection set up 'The Man Camp' on the Isle of Malta and 'The Woman Camp' on the Isle of Gozo and dared their ambassadors to discover what it meant to be man and what it meant to be woman. Some of the things they had to do actually sounded quite funny, they made the ambassadors sit upon an inflatable animal in the sea whilst looking good?! Apparently that helped to find out whether you were man or woman! But I suppose French Connection is known for the humour it brings about, especially with its most famous iconography of 'FCUK' which is why the intelligent wit and humour of the new ad campaign makes it so successful with its existing customers.

So they decided that 'The Man' was 'a rugged, bearded and outspoken character who tells our customer how to dress. He has the physique of a bare-knuckle boxer, the brain of Voltaire and a discerning eye. Other men can learn much from him'.

And 'The Woman' was described as 'understated, yet sexy, her description is brief, as we know little of her. She is beautiful, enchanting, capricious and mystifying. We don't even catch her name'.

Kurt Geiger Spring/Summer 2011.

Its times like these when I hate being a poor student! Why does Kurt Geiger keep creating the most beautiful shoes ever! After looking at their latest spring/summer 2011 collection I think I must have created a wish list about a mile long! And how nice are the wedges in the picture! Unfortunately there not on the website, but I would do anything to get these! Yes, I may break my neck when walking in them and yes I probably would be too scared to wear them and ruin their beautiful looks but how can you resist them!

Platform wedges, flip-flops, sandals and heels are beautifully displayed in amazing vibrant colours consisting of orchid pink, tangerine orange, cobalt blue and emerald green all colour-blocked to fit perfectly with this seasons trend. Must start saving immediately, I can't go through summer without a pair!

Paris Hilton: 2011 Golden Globe Awards Party.

She may receive negative press on the regular, and she may annoy many people but when it comes to big events, it's safe to say that Paris Hilton never fails to impress in her choice of clothing. She deffo pulled it out the bag at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards Party arriving in a beautiful Jean Fares Couture chiffon gown with sequin accents! I love how girly yet stylish she looks (plus its pink, how could you not like it!) and she teams it beautifully with Bruman earrings and a Christian Louboutin clutch.

       So its the start of the new year which can only mean one thing-its almost time for my favourite season of the year, summer (well, still a little while but still!).You would think after doing a month full time in Topshop over my Christmas holiday period from uni that I would be extremely bored of Topshop by now- of course not, how could you ever be bored of Topshop! Which is why I was even more excited to see (when shopping online with ZERO money) that Topshop was revealing to a mass array of followers a sneak preview of their SS11 collection!

Homespun Handiwork

Topshop describe this trend as having an arts and crafts feel to it, almost as if pretty jackets have been made out of crochet and hems cut and perfected to how you want! This means I can wear my flower head garland for the second year running, yay :).

Print Overload

Wow! Now that really is what you call print overload! Described as 'Playful polka dots, graphic paisley prints, and crazy florals worn all at once'. I can't personally imagine myself being able to pull this trend off but I can imagine Alexa Chung or Fearne Cotton getting this trend off to a tee!

The Midi Skirt

Last year it was all about the maxi, this year the midi looks like its set to cause a storm. In beautiful sorbet colours, this certainly takes a feminine edge off of pleats, sheer blouses and sandals.

Colour Pop

So accessories is all about being bold, bright and beautiful. Block colours in the style of rainbow hues should be teamed together to create a 'colour crush'! I always think accessories is what makes an outfit so I'm very excited to get spending (non-existent money) on this trend!