Grabbing attention is the underlying logic of all commercial competition, because consumer memory is short, and if brands give up the stimulation capture of consumer eyeballs, they are often prone to being forgotten and ignored. In an era of information overload, peak traffic, and routine desensitization, attention is becoming an increasingly scarce resource. In order to impress consumers in the shortest possible time, fashion brands have played creative to establish visual identities, and have also spawned a large number of "new logos".
Maximizing the visibility of a brand's logo, especially Monogram, which uses the logo as a product surface, has been an eye-catching way in the fashion industry for decades. As legendary designer Karl Lagerfeld once said, "Not everyone knows how to read the name of a brand, but the logo can be understood by everyone, which is why it is so important." Thus, in the context of fashion culture, there are timeless classic symbols such as Louis Vuitton's "old flower", Dior's Oblique, Gucci's GG Supreme and Fendi's Zucca Print.
Dior Oblique pattern
Even in the 21st century, brands that lack monogram prints in their archives are struggling to fill the void.
The most iconic example is Burberry. Although the brand does not have a classic Monogram, it has never lacked a print masterpiece - beige, black, red and white check print is arguably Burberry's most recognizable identification symbol. However, in the increasingly fierce traffic rush of Shuluo field, the check print without the logo is obviously not enough, so Burberry chose to create a Monogram print with more visual tension and easier to remember by consumers. Long before his debut, current creative director Riccardo Tisci invited British graphic designer Peter Saville to make Monogram. Symbolizing the brand's founder Thoma Buberry's "TB" letters connect to each other like fabric and extend infinitely, with a specially arranged shadow design that gives the print a three-dimensional visual effect. Peter Saville said, "The new logo is a complete step-by-step change, and its new identity digs deep into the brand's history and somehow hints at Burberry's new look in contemporary culture." ”
Versace, which has always been known for its Baroque prints, also created Monogram prints as a way to break the game when the brand's presence was declining. In the AW21 collection, the label unveils the La Greca print in a high profile. Creative Director Donatella Versace reinterprets the Greek echoes to create a maze-like visual effect on which the brand's logo is regularly distributed. In a conference call after last year's third-quarter earnings report, John Idol, CEO of Versace's parent company Capri Group, expressed his strong confidence in La Greca prints, saying that the new prints are expected to significantly change the company's trajectory in the next 24 months.
Versace's Monogram print
At a time when the economy is gaining momentum and consumerism is prevalent, Monogram is a popular element. For this kind of print that repeatedly stacks the brand identity, rather than seeking to understand it from an aesthetic level, it is better to interpret it as an identity symbol. Because luxury goods are not necessary for life, only groups with relatively superior economic conditions can enjoy them, and Monogram can just play an endorsement role for the wealth and class of consumers. But as Gen Z becomes more and more the main force of fashion consumers, their tendency to pursue personalized expression and pursue "disruptors" has also made Monogram's creation and use face new challenges.
Demna Gvasalia, creative director of Balenciaga, which is very "subversive", has taken a different approach, creating a print effect similar to the look and feel of Monogram by repeatedly applying the brand identity on one piece, so it can be regarded as an innovative update in the use of the logo.
In addition to Monogram, preempting color has also become the power point of many brands. The famous color marketing theory mentions that in just 0.67 seconds, consumers will have a first impression of the appearance of the product, and in this case, color accounts for 67%. This means that preempting the color symbol of a certain feature is also a shortcut to seize the consumer's mind. Hermès and orange, Tiffany and robin egg blue, Christian Louboutin and red... There are not a few luxury brands with their own exclusive colors, so brands that have not yet been tied to color have accelerated the pace of building their own color assets.
On Valentino's Fall/Winter 22 series, Creative Director Pierpaolo Piccioli, who has always been adept at telling stories in colour, chose pink and black as the only two color phrases. Against a black background, the fluorescent pink color called "Valentino Pink PP" instantly catches the attention of the viewers. It is reported that the color was co-created by the brand and the color agency Pantone, which aims to symbolize "love, community, energy, freedom". According to the brand, the simplified palette is intended to maximize the possibilities of performance, making people and fashion a unique focus.
Valentino Fall/Winter 2022 collection
In recent years, the new brand color with the highest screen brush rate is "BV green". Bottega Veneta has always been known for its low profile, and it wasn't until Daniel Lee became Design Director that the brand developed a unique and distinctive dimension, comprehensively improving its visibility in the fashion world. Color is the main means by which Daniel Lee sharpens the brand's image, Daniel Lee first showed "BV Green" in the Spring 2021 collection, and has since strengthened its position as a brand color through a variety of promotional means.
Green has become one of the BV brand logos
Some analysts pointed out that "BV green" is not original to Daniel Lee, its predecessor is actually a color called slime green. The reason why this color can become popular is that there is a saying that "BV green" is brighter and livelier, and during the continuous epidemic, wearers can use this color to convey their optimism and happiness. In addition, it is also said that "BV green" like fluorescent agents is actually the color of the digital age, and its popularity is actually due to the younger generation's pursuit of millennial popular elements.
Regardless of the specific reason for the fire of "BV green", it is certain that the reason why a particular color can become a representative of a brand is on the one hand because it is not widely used and can establish a unique association for the brand, on the other hand, this color is in line with the aesthetic trend of the times, and can empower the expression of individual emotions.
In addition to logo prints and brand colours, it is also the trend to create iconic design elements. In a way, the iconic design element is a more eclectic and stable choice, because it is not as easy to cause "no heart" controversy due to widespread use as Monogram prints, nor does it face the problem of limited choices and difficulty in establishing association like the brand color.
Earlier at fall/winter 2022 Paris Men's Week, Nigo showcased its first collection since joining Kenzo, using Nigo's preferred pieces such as bomber jackets, denim suits, and American vintage workwear to create a youthful wardrobe combination. But perhaps even more noteworthy in this show is the renewal of Kenzo's signature elements.
During the helm of former creative directors Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, the tiger head with realistic lines and bright colors was once the brand's "façade bearer", and its figure was revealed almost every fashion week street shot. As the public's desire for tiger heads wanes, Kenzo has faded out of the mainstream hot brand category. However, the transformation of tiger heads from prosperity to decline is more a reflection of the change and rotation of fashion trends, which does not mean that the failure of the signature elements is useless. So Nigo followed the strategy of creating signature elements and designed a new iconic Boke flower for Kenzo. It is reported that the flower is inspired by the begonia flowers that bloom in Japan in February, echoing the brand's founder Kenzo Takada's love of flowers. In the newly released Spring/Summer 2022 capsule collection, Boke flowers are embroidered on a variety of pieces, highlighting the brand's emphasis on symbolic visual expression.
Kenzo's Fall/Winter 2022 collection
Valentino is also significantly increasing the Rivet Element Rockstud's share in the series. The hour hand is set back in 2002, when Valentino suffered a loss of up to $180 million. At a time when the outlook was not optimistic, the creative director of the creative director at the time, Maria Grazia Chiuri, and Pierpaolo Piccioli teamed up to create the Rockstud series, in which the stud shoes were unexpectedly sought after by the public, successfully turning the brand upside down. Valentino's rivets are unique, without too many sharp edges and corners, and resemble a small pyramid, giving people a trendy and youthful feel, while retaining the brand's soft and rigid character. In recent years, although the popularity of rivet shoes has not been as great as before, Valentino has clearly not decided to eliminate the rivet element. Instead, the brand is constantly tweaking Rockstud's embedded form in the garment in an attempt to perpetuate the life cycle of the element.
Valentino's Pre-Spring 2022 collection
In the past two years, Schiaparelli, who has a large reputation in the industry, has also successfully shaped brass jewelry into a brand logo. From lady Gaga's dove of peace brooch at the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden, to Bella Hadid's lung-shaped necklace on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, to Adele's planet earrings for the debut of the new album, Schiaparelli deepens consumers' memories of brass jewelry through high-potential mediums such as celebrity supermodels.
Lady Gaga wore Schiaparelli to the inauguration of U.S. President Joe Biden
There are a few brands that make brass jewelry, but Schiaparelli can still precipitate it as its own asset, in large part due to the innovation of styling styles. Creative Director Daniel Roseberry prefers to use human organs as inspiration for brass jewelry in the shapes of ears, lips and fingertips, which is both true to the brand's quirky and unique artistic tradition, but also fully suited to the contemporary environment in which visual tension comes first. Daniel Roseberry said in an interview that unlike most creative directors, he will focus on jewelry when designing new clothes, because Daniel Roseberry knows that jewelry can catch the attention of others in the first place.
In contrast, fashion houses with a long history tend to dig deep into archives and awaken the classic elements that have been forgotten. Prada, for example, helmsman Miuccia Prada, dissatisfied with the narrow definition of "luxury" (only the use of the finest materials can be considered "luxury"), she chose in 1984 to use cheap and ordinary nylon to make bags, this out-of-the-box move brought extraordinary results, nylon has been highly sought after ever since, and has become a major memory of Prada. Since then, although nylon bags have always existed in Prada's product matrix, due to the shift in the focus of publicity, the series of bags has gradually faded from the mainstream line of sight.
Prada recycled nylon series
In the past few years, stars represented by Kendall Jenner have frequently used medieval bags to match their styles, which has made the Prada Hobo nylon tote bag with a high frequency on the upper body quickly become popular, because the bag has long been discontinued, and the sharply raised demand has made its price in the secondary market all the way up. The thirst for used Prada Hobo made the brand aware of the appeal of nylon as a design element, and Prada began a series of reproduction production activities, and the "Re-Nylon" series was the focus of its promotion. It is understood that the nylon fabric used in the "Re-Nylon" series is made by collecting plastic waste, fishing nets and textile fiber waste from oceans and landfills around the world, and then recycling and purification, which can reduce the impact of the production of virgin nylon yarn on global warming by up to 90%.
Unlike most brands that focus on a single element, Bottega Veneta, under Daniel Lee, seems to have taken a more holistic and long-term approach, creating a signature matrix of elements represented by triangles, feathers and rubber. Focusing on a single element can effectively reduce the difficulty of design and promotion, but it also has a very high risk of passing in front of consumers who like to change rapidly.
Incubating the element matrix like Bottega Veneta is more conducive to exerting the synergy effect of multiple elements, attracting a wider and more diverse customer base, while countering the cyclicality of the trend. Unexpectedly, however, in matthieu Blazy's debut to take over Bottega Veneta, many elements that had already formed a deep connection with the brand were removed. Some insiders said that this move may make Bottega Veneta, who has struggled to establish recognition, once again fall into a vague predicament.
From Monogram prints, to brand colors, to iconic design elements, it is not difficult to see that due to the continuous influence of fragmented thinking, what can grab consumers' attention today is often a more straightforward and simple visual symbol, which needs to be laid out slowly, carefully swallowed and chewed content has become more and more difficult to work, and the short and fast visual identity is the memory point that can be engraved into the public's mind. Fashion brands have refurbished visual identities, which on the surface seem to be creative acts in the service of marketing, but they are also essentially enriching the contemporary content of fashion culture. However, it is worth emphasizing that drainage is only a means, and locking in flow conversion is the greater purpose behind it. Whether today's popular symbols can really help brands establish long-term relationships with consumers, and even whether they can become a brand archive that future researchers like to hear when they look back at the history of fashion in the 21st century, after all, depends on whether the brand can come up with excellent products. WWD
Written by Drag
Edit Neon
Image source network