Possessing an enigmatic vision for his future label alongside a fierce passion for fashion, Horace NG discusses his view on branding in the fashion industry. Horaces' designs exude a bubbly confidence of a young and upcoming designer. His creations are exquisite, elegant and chic. He feels inspired to make clothes that please his inner vision of beauty and grace. Despite being just a student right now, his clothes reverberate with the experience of a mature designer.
In a previous chat with John McFaul about branding, he stated that 'Advertising entails moving away from reality,' Horace differs on that thought.
Horace NG: 'Fashion is about aesthetics, branding is about pleasing your customer. We advertise keeping our customer in mind. We advertise what our creativity produces. If our creativity is closed in a box, we will only think of being commercial. I am not commercial, just creative. I am hoping that my consumer will understand that. I plan to make things keeping my consumer in mind. I like creating dreams. Prada and John Galliano create dreams. Their vision is real, never shying away from reality.'
Horace doesn't go against the fact that branding is an integral part of the fashion industry, but he seems to have a different take on the concept. His believes the fashion process divides itself in two areas. One is the creative process itself of producing a garment/accessory and the other is the business side of it. The creative and the business aspect both require a team of highly motivated people working together to build a name or a brand. Branding professionals aren't and shouldn't be considered as the whole and soul of a brand. It is the mere thought of creating something new, and then giving it life by infusing elements in it, along with then manufacturing it, the model carrying it off, the stage co-ordinators, models, photographers are all part of creating a brand and pushing it forward. At times we give branding so much importance that we tend to let our own creativity undergo a transformation just to please the consumer. There should be a controlled balance in such situations. Designers convey their vision of something beautiful to the consumer and they promise to give them just that. While designing is the cake, branding is the sweet, sugary icing on top. Branding gives shape to their dreams and makes it more accessible to the consumer. It is a link between the creator and the buyer.
Picking up from the point in the discussion where he believed creativity should not undergo a transformation to make oneself commercial. Branding sometimes forces you to do that. In order to make your creations more sale-able designers tend to create garments that will be more acceptable to the mass audience. Luxury brands should be differentiated from commerical brands as both have their own appeal in the industry. It is about the perception these brands exude. If everything was made available to everyone fashion would lose its charm. Lets take into consideration the example of designer Hussein Chalayan, who is the creative director for Puma. 'The Sportlifestyle company PUMA AG and Chalayan LLP, the owner of the Hussein Chalayan fashion brand, announced that Hussein Chalayan has acquired PUMA’s stake in the Fashion Company Chalayan LLP. As the Creative Director of PUMA and being responsible for overseeing design, creation and development of PUMA’s Sportlifestyle collections, Hussein Chalayan would manage the Hussein Chalayan brand independently from PUMA.'
According to Horace such collaborations can only bend the designers vision into creating commercial goodies to sell to the mass audience. There should be a balance between how much to sell and how much to create a desire for. "Creation implies self-creation; the making of an aesthetic object implies the generation of the artist." An artist's visions should stay alive even when branding is important to build up your brand.
I guess at the end of every productive conversation you have a thought picked out from it that you want to explore next. Guess luxury and commercial branding are next on my list.
Ciao
P.S. - A big thank you to Horace NG for his words and time.
i feel its a very interesting debate, branding has come under fire for being manupilative, you having narrowed it down to fashioon, something that is bought on appeal and not just logic, has got some very convincing POV's.
ReplyDeleteim not sure when people who create discuss "real" and "reality", what they really mean and imply by it, its terribly subjective. what today, as a consumer, i look for is simple authenticity. i dont want to be fooled by the designer or the guy who markets it.
and on luxury...well...its so malleable...