Monday 4 March 2024

- Another Magazine fashion story SS24 BY Angelina Zhang



























Angela Zhang produced this well communicated fashion shoot idea for Another magazine - 

I hope that she will convert her dream team concept and put theory into practice by pulling together a test shoot team and making her vision a sartorial reality.

Aim to be the originator not the imitator.

Sartorial vision is the most important thing for a fashion art director to consider. Having a muse can help. Zeitgeist references also help. 

Aim -  seduce the consumer in to wanting to be that person in the photo shoot/film of social media image. 

How clothes are worn is fundamental to style - Lifestyle is part of this, style is personal, style is timeless, we watch each other - aspiration is linked to ambition a basic human need to belong and be relevant.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery.  


Copy - Schelay McCarter

Thursday 22 February 2024

Story Telling - Catcher in The Rye and 'The Holdover' movie - a cynical analysis of American privilege



Catcher in the Rye is a must read for anyone of any age. It is a fantastically visual book, with a myriad of cleverly conceived characters, page by page we learn more about the writer Holden Cawfield as his grip on his life in the epicentre of privilege unravels. Struggling to cope with the loss of a younger brother and his place in-between adolescence and adulthood he shares his thoughts with us as he reflects on his near personal implosion. Highly recommend!

John Salinger did not want his book to be made into a film, having been conned by Hollywood with a previous book, he vowed never to get involved with the film industry again.

 'The Holdovers ' movie released in 2023 gets round this dictate. The writer David Hemingson develops the soul of the 'Catcher in the Rye'  by resurrecting Salinger like cynical reflections on privilege and the hypocrisy of 1970s America through the eyes of an adolescent and his High school teacher at an elite boarding school.


Copy by Schelay McCarter 24


 

Wednesday 14 February 2024

2023 Editorial choice - Harpers Bazaar story 'Days of Heaven' by Photographer Betina De Toit





                                                       Molly Goddard Tulle Dress £2,800.00

                                                 Styling by Tania Rat Patron







Three years ago I swopped my allegiance from Vogue and took up a subscription with Harpers Bazaar  I have a collection of Vogue going back to 1986. 
I have a vintage copy bought from ebay as far back as 1962, this is my most treasured original copy. This particular copy of Vogue features Twiggy's debut into fashion modelling as cover girl wearing an outfit she designed. It is valuable and highly collectable, safely stored in tissue paper. 

In the 1970s the only access we had to fashion news was through glossy fashion magazines. This was the golden era of fashion journalism. The arrival of Blogging in 2010, then instagram influencers and now Tik Tok has changed this dominance and exclusive access to fashion news the publishing houses once enjoyed. Social media has allowed a generation of proactive, beautiful and smart people gain a voice that in the past would have been denied them. 

It was turning the pages of Condenaste's monthly copies of Vogue that inspired me to become an Art Director / Producer and study Graphic design. I discovered that my all girls Grammer school had a collection of back copies of Vogue dating back to the 1960s, I remember a particular shoot by David Bailey with then super model Penelope Tree - Even better I got the opportunity through my mothers connections to babysit for fashion photographer David Bailey's PA, she told me some wonderful stories of the glamour and hard work involved in this world. Bailey of course was instrumental in revolutionising the look of Vogue in the 1960s with his sexy refections of style using his Roliflex camera. 

You want to know the reason I defected from Vogue recently? - well it is complex but fundamentally it is because I am obsessed by the art of fashion photography Art Direction and the alchemy of creating beautiful imagery. Harpers Bazaar was always considered by me to be the poor relation to Vogue - it was when I was researching and developing a lecture on fashion photography for my Central Saint Martins students and looking for fashion content that made the clothes fascinating that I discovered Erik Madigan Heck's work with Bazaar.  It all made sense when I saw that Leith Clark was the fashion editor. Her debut into publishing was Lula magazine. 

I had become increasingly disillusioned with the editorial content offered under Alexandra Shulman in the last 5 years of her tenure at Vogue, I thought Edward Enniful was an inspired replacement, I truly rejoiced, here was a guy who would shake things up, keep the existing loyal customers and bring in new vibrant fashion relevant editorials.  Yes well he did for a bit - the trouble was that I began to prefer Harpers Bazaar's consistently beautiful stories that frankly never disappointed month after month. The zeitgeist of the moment was addressed in a balanced and inclusive editorial content with no particular bias. Harpers Bazaar's editorial content was more relevant to me - I am a bit of a tree hugger - concerned about the world's polluting and unsustainable clothing mountain of Everest proportions, this was addressed to my satisfaction in Bazaar's editorial content. 

It sadly comes as no surprise that Vogue house in Hanover square has been vacated and the new head quarter moved to further out of town. Hanover Square is a prestigious address and reflected the glamour of Vogue - but thats not to say that Vogue in East London will not add a cool vibe to the area.

Fashion is transient, style is timeless and to understand this is the key to everything in my humble opinion.


words Schelay McCarter - © images Harpers Bazaar 


 






 

Fashion story - 2022 - The World Looks Brighter Among Old Friends - KINFOLK













This fashion story was selected as a winner by my international students 

Published in 2022 by the Kinfolk magazine team with stylist Mandy Nash and strong direction by photographer Michael Oliver Love the title "The World looks Brighter among Old Friends ' is a perfect choice to reflect how we all felt as the world's global community was emerging from the Pandemic bubble. 

https://www.michaeloliverlove.com/selected-works


words - schelay McCarter - images © Kinfolk team

Sunday 19 November 2023

The Bold Capsule - SS23 - Schon Magazine - Art Direction Nuria Roig






























 

Nuria Roig - Art Director 


Based in Barcelona, Nuria recently completed a 6 week online short course on Art Direction for Fashion with me. Nuria is a qualified Graphic designer and recently gained a masters in Art direction in Spain. She currently works for Spanish owned Mokiato Sports Company as a Graphic Designer / Art Director.

On the course I encourage my students to develop projects that reflect what they find beautiful and we explore the emotional functionality of product through image making focusing on building confidence in their own USP as fashion content originators. We look at multi media fashion and film preproduction planning and how to sell ideas in a structured 3 stage presentation format to industry standards. I am confident Nuria is ready to hit the ground running as an Art director. 

After evaluating her recent fashion narrative project I can see that Nuria would be a perfect candidate for an Art direction/Graphic role at a luxury online retailer such as Jill Sander (OTB) or mainstream fashion leading retailers such as John Lewis, Marks and Spencer or INDITEX - ZARA or H&M - & Other Stories. She has a instinctive feel for fashion style and how to make the most of the looks in story telling. 

© The Bold Capsule - Nuria Roig

Creative Direction & Course Tutor Schelay McCarter

Art Direction for Fashion @ CSM Short Courses Online