Digisigner 1

A

August 23, 2019

A successful fashion brand understands how to appeal to the current fash-ion zeitgeist while also showing a willingness to adapt. Over my time as apassionate internet fashion nerd luxury clothing brands have become moreinvested in their web presences. Website endeavours should be consideratelyundertaken as they represent a labels values. Here's a list of some of myfavourite labels who also have sick websites.

Figure 1: Carol Christian Poell presentation

Geoffrey B Small (GBS) is among the earliest luxury designers to builda website (geoffreybsmall.net). GBS's website recently went through anoverhaul giving it a more contemporary layout, until then it had maintaineda lot of that HTML2 glamour. Fortunately the content of the website islargely unchanged and garishly true to the nature of GBS, allowing some-one to experience its charm. The mainpage is littered with reminders ofthe brands achievements, importance to fashion, and documentation of thebrands history. At first glance the website may appear as a poorly conceivedand disorganised collection of facts, but once familiar with GBS it becomesclear that it is a honest portrayal of the brand and an extension of him-self. The unsuspecting surfer will receive; never in summary, insight intothe history of the brand, essays about how, where, when, and why certaindesign decisions were made and the political and philosophical implicationstherein. Hidden behind each link is the opportunity to pick at different as-

1

pects of GBS's mind, ranging from outing the Italian clothing industry tomanifesto's exclaiming his dedication to ecological issues. The sheer volumeof what can be unraveled is characteristic of GBS's meticulous investigationinto fashion. GBS defines what a labyrinth website is, and if it were anythingelse it would be deceptive.

Figure 2: Geoffrey B Small tag

The Carol Christian Poell (CCP) website (carolchristianpoell.com)would be upsetting and distressing to anyone who has not acquainted them-selves with their work. The website seldom features much more than a Copy-right claim and Press contact. Surprisingly, the latest iteration of the CCPwebsite generously informs the users of the official Instagram account, a kindexplanation of their Cookie policy and a extended reminder that surfers donot have rights to any of the websites material. While I am excited bytheir Credit's section the real meat of the website will always be the shortvideo shown on the front page. Over the years different videos have sur-faced almost as if to define an era for the brand. At one point it was Mr.Moustache reverse walking to distorted (or satanic) music in the background,at another it showcased CCP's mascot: the cordovan taxidermy horse, theNicosia abandoned airport exhibited around the time Deepti Barth left to

2

focus on her own brand, and tied for favourite is the aluminium sheet shoehammering and titanium plated leather jacket glass smash. Today, users aregreeted with latex drizzled sneakers which I can't help but see the humour in,for CCP to become most renowned for haphazardly latex affecting clothinggiven their history is the greatest poetic irony fashion has ever received. CCPhas always been among the most experimental and reclusive fashion brandsand the websites videos personify this. The absence of clothing on the CCPwebsite evades trying to present clothing as it is (and succumbing to thelimitations of presenting clothing online) in favour of using digital mediumsin ways which oblige the brand.

Figure 3: Carol Christian Poell exhibition

The Commes des Garcons (CDG) website (comme-des-garcons.com) iscontinually updated, perfectly embodies the label, and is what I aspire towhen putting together a website. Visitors are forced to click through theinitial pages as a series of images and media related to CDG unfold beforearriving at a page displaying non-descript numbers. Each number links todifferent CDG related projects which have been composed in different waysand organised through several black dots. No navigation through the CDG

3

website is made explicit, instead challenging a user's curiosity as they clickfrom one page to the next and are rewarded with artwork from CDG's col-laborative projects. The website also features snippets from the little knownCDG magazine where someone can indulge in the breadth of artists CDGhas tapped into. A final page hosts an exhaustive list of CDG stockists, theonly place where a scroll feature is implemented. Little effort is made onthe website to commercialise CDG but rather the website provides a windowshowcasing their creative engine.

Figure 4: CDG exhibition

From his earliest days Sruli Recht (SR) was a cyber warrior, while for-mally a fashion design graduate from RMIT University his sci-fi proclivitieswould go on to dominate. SR's earliest designs can be found as space gearconcept art for EVE online which he later called upon for his own label.Upon relocation to Iceland SR pursued fashion more attentively resulting inthe erection of several workshops across the island. SR's fascination withscience fiction persisted in new ways, constantly looking to introduce cutting

4

edge techniques, methods, and materials into the vocabulary of fashion. Un-surprisingly SR was among the first fashion designers to construct a polishedwebsite (srulirecht.com). The website shows all the projects producedunder SR along with descriptions and sometimes short prose expressing theconditions items were conceived under. The SR website's design reflects ideasrelated to the products with illuminating fogged sets, spacemen navigatingterrestrial planes, and strangely feathered mantels taking from his interestsin sci-fi and post-dystopian societies. SR could easily be described as a multi-disciplinary fashion artist as the work which inhabits SR's universe includescustom typeface, sound equipment, furniture, glassware, jewellery amongother instruments. A glance through the SR archive acts as a reminder thatalthough the clothing was once dominant SR's interest in holistically apply-ing his craft has been pervasive.

Figure 5: Sruli Recht photoshoot

I had thought a BLESS website didn't exist until stumbling upon it ear-lier this year (bless-service.de). The homepage embodies BLESS to aT, there's little attempt to guide a visitor beyond stark labels and a ban-ner displaying information about upcoming BLESS functions. A single clicklaunches a cavernous experience rendering swaths of information relating to

5

the numerous projects BLESS have conceived. The documentation of theirwork is comprehensive and expertly organised, someone can access whatworks were produced in any given year, their title, what they look like, wherethey were presented and publications related to that specific body of work.Additionally, Looks shows how the clothing modelled on people (not profes-sional models), Videos supplies access to videos that relate to that specificcollection, and Bless Beyond unfurls BLESS projects varying from sculptures,packaging, photography and much more. Like the design of the website, howthe objects are photographed, organised and described is to the point andeerily scientific. Together the layout and content of the website harmoniouslyfurnishes a strong grasp of BLESS's oeuvre. BLESS's website sets a standardfor designers who want to succinctly showcase a substantial production whileretaining concepts central to the brand.

Figure 6: BLESS showcase

The Rick Owens (RO) website is exactly what someone would expect(rickowens.eu). The RO mainpage offers an ever changing roster of moodboards composed of videos and images which define an era for the com-pany. The content of the homepage is not restricted to Owens Corp's fash-ion endeavours, featuring media which highlight different aspects of the ROuniverse, from their performance art, to night life, to sculptural installa-tions. The RO website maintains a thorough (however incomplete) archive

6

of runway photographs and videos dating back to SUCKERBALL. Most im-portantly, and the pyre of many nights during my adolescence is the ROinterview archive. The articles are a window into the Owen's Corp universe,unlike many designers RO is incredibly articulate, candid, and charming, heunabashedly speaks about his work and where he draws it from. The articlesavailable on the RO website had been a guiding light during my formativeyears and even in adulthood I still draw immense value from them either asinspiration or points of reference for those that have misunderstood some-thing relating to the brand. I cant stress enough the value of those articlesto me and how through them I adopted quirks essential to myself.

Figure 7: Rick Owens

As one of the oldest active international Japanese luxury brands Issey

7

Miyake (IM) has initiated a myriad of different lines, luckily some of this his-tory has been archived on their website (isseymiyake.com/en). Comparedto many of IM's contemporaries their company has an intense focus on theresearch and development of textiles, introducing novel design processes, andcollaborating with contemporary artists. In this respect IM interests and his-tory is comparable to that of CDG but differs in IMs continued practice ofadapting traditional Japanese textile production techniques for a global mar-ket. The IM website is not unique or provocative in its design but remainstrue to the brands values. The website works as a hub housing lines whichconstitute IM, the concepts of each brand are succinctly documented alongwith media, accolades, news, and stockists specific to that line. Among allthe websites IM's is the most conventional and pleasant to trawl through.

Figure 8: A Piece Of Cloth (APOC)

The M.A+ website (maurizioamadei.it) is another site I have only re-

8

cently become acquainted with. The M.A+ website displays a slowly tum-bling pomander with discrete icons available to navigate through to eitherstories or contact, reminiscent of the CCP website. I have trouble under-standing where M.A+ comes from beyond making clothing they like but thestories section of the website is well composed and gives a good impressionof their aesthetic language. It constitutes collections of clothing M.A+ hasmade since 2016 which have been documented in collaboration with differentartists. The approach reminds me of how CDG formated their website excepthere it is explicitly clothing and more bold in terms of guidance.

Figure 9: M.A+ applique

As websites become increasingly important venues for global fashion brandsthere has been an increased awareness that a compelling website complementscommercial success. Even if not all websites sell merchandise websites act asa source of media to incite interest in a brand. The most appealing fashionbrands are those who thoughtfully utilise new mediums.

9