For my store observation I visited the fashion brand; COS (2007). COS is a contemporary fashion brand that take a modern take of fashion, using inspiration from modern art and design. For their clothing they take inspiration from the world such as architecture, photography, textiles and ceramics to create their collection. As well as collaborating with artists around the world to get a unique look. One of the main aims of the company is longevity, the company wants to ensure that the clothing that is created lasts over a long period of time. Adding the essence of timelessness to the brand. The fashion brand has several different stores located around the world. However, the brand have 9 special stores located in famous cities. 

       When going to the store I first began by looking at the promotion items within this store and this was different for each gender. For men it was knitwear jumpers and accessories, whereas for women it was female suits and midi-length jackets. In terms of the colour scheme used with the company’s items many of them had neutral colours such as white, brown, black, white and navy. However when going downstairs I found that there were many more products using more upbeat tones such as; blue and orange. The shapes of the garments were very basic in terms of the silhouette. However using the current oversized trend in many of their items. I think that one strength with the store was the organisation of the colours and the garments I instantly noticed that the store aimed to match up colours that compliment each other well. Staff members were also very specific on the positioning of certain items making sure that displays were symmetrical.

In terms of the price ranged from the cheapest item being £10 to their most expensive item being £100 making it affordable for people of from all market backgrounds. When in the store I noticed that there were also customers from different age groups too. For example during the time period I was in the store I noticed that the store received customers such as; young men aged 20-23, middle aged pregnant women aging between 25-35 and more mature audience of both genders aging 50-65 and onwards

From my observation, I think that the store holds a range of different qualities that allows them to reach out to various audience whilst still keeping their original goal and mind-set for the brand in mind. I think that artistic view and inspiration of the brand helps differentiate itself from other fashion stores.

Photo Gallery

For this exercise I chose to look at the word urban. The reason to why I chose this word was because I found that in my street style photography many people tended to use the word urban . I wanted to look at this word to gain a visual representation of what the word could be seen as. 

     From this exercise I have found that urban is a word that I believe perfectly describe the upcoming fashion amongst the London youth today. I think that the photos I have chosen to be urban show that urban reflects the concept of something that is out of the ordinary as well as something that stands out from the mass majority. However, in my opinion the term urban has shown to have the combination of both upcycling and recycling of fashion. For example the trend of over-sized clothing, the use of denim and many more that seem to reappear. A contemporary example would be the reincarnation of old classic shoes such as; superstars, converses and many more. 

For this exercise I was required to go to an area in London and observe and analyse the street style in the particular area. The area that I visited was Tottenham Hale. Tottenham Hale is located in north london, in the borough of Haringey.  From my observation, I found many young females and males in that area tend to wear very dark colours such as; black, grey and dark blue. These garments were usually in the form of tracksuits belonging to the Nike sports brand. Tracksuits are very common amongst young and through further I found that this was because they are comfortable and stylish. 

After observing the area I asked a few people about their street style and how they would describe it. The first female I met is from cameroon she’s a student that studies in Oxford. She describes her street style to be urban, trendy and feminine. To complete her look she shops from high street brands such as; Pretty Little Thing, Boohoo, Primark, New Look and many more. For most of her outfits she takes inspiration from social platforms like Instagram and Youtube following social influencers such as Nella Rose and Miss R Fabulous. 

I also met a young man from the Edmonton. Edmonton is also located in Tottenham, which is 10 minutes from Tottenham Hale. He is a London student from Congo. he described his style to be urban, simple but also very trendy. He stated that he shops his clothes from a variation of stores including such as; Selfridges, JD and Harrods. Taking most of his inspiration from many of the popular London rappers as well as his favourite footballer Riyad Mahrez

I also met two other females in different areas of London…

The first female is a student in London. However she is originally from France, she usually shops from Frnch stores such as; PrincessTam Tam, comptoir des contonniers. She stated that she likes to wear her mother’s clothing for certain vintage items. Describing her style as minimalistic and laid back. Taking most of her inspiration from Ines de la Fressange and her fellow classmates.

The last female that I did and observation with is a Belgian student, studying in London. She stated that she likes to shop all her clothing in stores from places such as; Brandy Melville and Urban Outfitters. She described her style to be comfortable, elegant and chill. Taking her clothing inspiration from her style icon, Venetia Falconer ( a blogger).

From doing this exercise I found certain styles are very influential in certain areas as it allows individuals to stand out from the crowd or to simply fit in. I also that as social media continues to show relevance in people’s everyday lives influencing people of mass of different things. It is a huge platform for fashion with applications such as; Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter and many more. They continuously shape and morph us into people we want to be and not necessarily who we are already.

Hi my name is SofiaM, I am a London student currently studying International Fashion Marketing and Management.

I have recently to London and I am in the love with the art and fashion that spreads all through London.

On my blog I will be exploring certain topics surrounding fashion from key terminology and what it means to my own store observations of different fashion store.

I’m reaching out to all my other fashion lovers, please feel free to add your opinions and ask questions