Friday 24 April 2009

My reflection of the Project

Frankly, I am not that enthusiastic about the project at the beginning, as Dolce & Gabbana is only the choice of my groupmates, but i do not have much interest in it at all. However, after about three-month studying, i know the brand much more than before. And I begin to build up my interest in it. When I get to know more and more about the brand, I become engrossed in everything about it. To me, it's no longer a project only, because i enjoy finding information of it, knowing more about their development, their collection, their inspiration, etc. My only regret is that I don't have much time to do it.. because of the AL exams, and the school tests...

I admire the creativity of Dolce and Gabbana. After observing their collection carefully, I think they are really a pair of talented designers. No matter the designs, the colours, or the details, they all design them very carefully. Also, I appreciate their innovative spirit. I can see from the collecion that on the one hand, they tend to retain the classical element of the brand. for example, they use black and white in the all the collection and the designs are usually skin-cut to show the perfect physique of females. But on the other hand, they will include some innovative element in the collecion too. In other words, sometimes, they will design some outfits which are quite different from the others, giving a refreshing impression. Unlike some other brands, they will not use the same pattern or the same design for every season.

Apart from that, applying the theories I learn from lessons on the real cases makes me more enthusiastic about the work. Studying theory is boring, but application is interesting. But actually, for the forecasting work, i am not that sure whether it's right or wrong to do in this way. To a certain extent, i use my intuition to do the forecasting. Now, it has been over. Having done the work, I feel really satisfied. I think that with limited resources(time) , i have done my best already.

Sunday 19 April 2009

Illustration of the Colour Forecasting for 2010

Dolce and Gabbana tend to apply Analogic Color Scheme, Complimentary Color Scheme or the others, when designing or creating their own patterns.
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Analogic Colour Scheme..
( Blue + Purple ) & ( Red + Orange )
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Complimentary Color Scheme..
( Red + Green ) & ( Blue + Orange )

Thursday 16 April 2009

Illustration of the Colour Forecasting for 2010

The main theme colours of Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2010 Collection..



The main hues, except black and white, can be of saturation or brightness to give an impression of colour richness.
( Monochromatic Colour Scheme )

Friday 10 April 2009

Forecasting the usage of different colour schemes in 2010

Based on my observation, Dolce and Gabbana tend to use the Monochromatic Color Scheme as well as the Achromatic Colour Scheme more than the others.

As mentioned before, in the past Dolce&Gabbana collection, they always included the black and the white, regardless of the proportion. Therefore, I think there should be no exception for the Spring 2010 Ready-to-wear collection. Hence, Achromatic Colour Scheme is widely adpoted.

On the other hand, although Monochromatic Color Scheme is frequently applied on Dolce&Gabbana collection, they seldom make use of this colour scheme together with the black or the white ( i.e. black.. grey.. light grey.. white..). But they apply this scheme to the colours other than black and white, just like red, blue, green, etc.. depending on the theme colours in each collection.

However, I do not mean that Dolce and Gabbana never use other colour schemes in their collection, but it's a matter of proportion. According to my study of the brand, they tend to use more Analogic Color Scheme, Complimentary Color Scheme or the others, when designing or creating their own patterns. Since i forecast that there should be only approximately 20% of the collection containing the patterns created by themselves, the use of other colour schemes is comparatively less than the Monochromatic and the Achromatic Colour Schemes.

Monday 6 April 2009

Analysis of the Colour Forecasting for 2010

Although Dolce and Gabbana come from different parts of Italy, they both claim their principal influence is the Mediterranean. Dolce would go to church with his mother at the weekend. I think that can partly account for the frequent application of white in their collection. Since Westerners often view white as a symbol of angels, peace and purity, applying white colour on the Lady's collection can give a good impression.

On the other hand, the traditional spirit of Dolce and Gabbana is to give a sexy image of female. Therefore, black colour which is viewed as a symbol of sexuality, mystery and devil is widely applied on their collection. Also, the red colour which represents passion, hot znd love is frequently used in their collection.

The mission statement of Dolce and Gabbana is to perfectly show the female physique, therefore, the use of colours is consistent with their aim. As a result, evey colour which can match the sexy image or the positive side of female figure is used.

Friday 3 April 2009

Colour Forecasting for 2010

In the Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2010 Collection, I forecast that they will use a mono-colour design for about 50% of the collection. And the dominant hues should include black, white, blue and red.
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Besides, they will tend to use different colour schemes, like monochromatic colour scheme,
Analogic Color Scheme or Complimentary Color Scheme for about 30% of the collection. These colour schemes may be applied in the mix-and-match section, which means that the separate piece should be in a single colour, but they will match pieces in different hues, of different brightness/saturation, or with other colour features together, so as to produce an eye-catching outfit.
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Also, they may create their own patterns or paintings for the rest of the collection clothing. For each piece of clothing, the patterns should be combined with different colours. And the choice of colours will come to a matter of the colour scheme selected.
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Sunday 22 March 2009

Analysis - Spring 2008 Collection

1). The colours used in this Collection include black, grey, white, red , green, yellow and violet. And Dolce and Gabbana have applied a number of colour schemes on the clothings. They also added floral patterns to some of the clothings. Besides, there are some painting-like prints on some other pieces as well.

2). In my view, the Spring 2008 Collection has combined the classical D&G's style with the element of innovation, just like the Spring 2006 Collection. In this one, many of the designs are in mono-colour, like the others, and part of them are with floral patterns. But for the last few pieces of dresses, the designs are quite different from the others as they are not slim-cut, instead, the part below waistline is quite bulk actually. Also, the colours of these few pieces are somewhat different from the main colours of this collection

3). Dolce and Gabbana have applied Complimentary Color Scheme on one of the last few pieces of dresses, using colors on the opposite side of the color wheel, with a warm colour (Yellow) and a cool colour (violet) together.



4). Monochromatic Color Scheme, which is to use the same hue but changes the brightness and saturation, is also applied on some sets of clothing. For one of the last few pieces of dresses, Dolce&Gabbana adjust the saturation of colour through overlapping the facbric, which seems like Chiffon.



5). Dolce and Gabbana used mono-color for many sets of clothings, especially the white and the black ones.



I remember that in an interview with Gabbana, he had talked about the spring 2008 collection. He said that as Dolce and he wanted something new this year, they added the element of art to this year's collection. Therefore, they had different paintings on the clothings.

Friday 20 March 2009

Analysis - Spring 2009 Collection

1). In this Collection, Dolce and Gabbana did not use many different hues, but black, red, blue and white mainly.

2). Although only 4 major colours were used, Dolce and Gabbana used a few colour schemes, giving an impression that the collection is very rich in colours.

3). In many of the sets, Dolce and Gabbana used mono-color for the whole set of clothings. At the same time, Monochromatic Color Scheme is applied on the collection, using the same hue but changes the brightness and saturation to achieve different shades and tints.





4). Sometimes, Monochromatic Color Scheme is applied on a set of clothing, using the same hue for the whole set but changes the brightness and saturation of the bodice or the part below waistline.
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Tuesday 17 March 2009

Colour Line from 2004 to 2009



Due to the lack of time, I have only analysized the use of colours in Dolce & Gabbana Spring Collection from 2004 to 2009. With reference to the colour line, I find that in every collection, Dolce and Gabbana will use the colours Black, White and Red. However, sometimes, they may change the chroma or the saturation of the Red. In conclusion, the three colours, Black, white and Red are the theme colors of Dolce & Gabbana.

Friday 13 March 2009

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2009 Collection




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The Colours mainly used in this collection

Thursday 12 March 2009

Dolce & Gabbana Spring 2008 Collection




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The Colours mainly used in this collection

Tuesday 10 March 2009

Saturday 28 February 2009

(Week6: 26/02/2009) Class Exercises



1). The pattern includes..
Analogic color scheme ( Red + Yellow ) and
Achromatic color scheme ( Black + Grey + White )

2). It's a Monochromatic Color Scheme which it to use the same color (Red) but changes the brightness and saturation to achieve different shades and tints.

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1). The pattern includes..
Analogic Color Scheme ( Red + "Violet" + Blue ) and
Monochromatic Color Scheme
( the blue hue is of different brightness and saturation )
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2). The pattern includes..
Complimentary color scheme ( Red + Green ) and
Achromatic color scheme ( Black + White )
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3). It's a Analogic and Complimentary Color Scheme
( Red + Yellow + Green + Blue )
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Tuesday 10 February 2009

Dolce & Gabbana, and Madonna

The Material Girl, Modanna was one of the first to notice designers Dolce and Gabbana in 1980s. Dolce has said, "Madonna wore our clothes and put Stefano and me in the limelight." More than 20 years later, she is still loyal to the brand - at the opening night concert for her new album, Hard Candy, she and all of her backup dancers wore exclusive designs from the duo.



Other noted synergistic motifs have included a modernized peasant look, a rhinestone bodice worn by Madonna, and a restyling of the cassock (a garment typically worn by clergymen). Dolce & Gabbana have always succeeded in blending the old with the new to startling effect.