My next designer is PPQ, PPQ is owned by Amy Molyneaux and Percy Parker. In 1992 they launched their fashion label, they created a style that sets a backbone for the future of the fashion industry.
The brand has always been very up and coming and began the drainpipe jean revolution; this style began by being worn by famous faces such as Amy Winehouse and Peter Doherty.
Other famous signatures pieces from PPQ style is the smock and cocktail dresses and well as the statement rock jackets. These styles quickly passed on through word of mouth and especially at Fashion Weeks.
PPQ’s collections are always cutting edge within the strong shapes of the garments as well as the intricate fabrics used in a variety of colours.
PPQ style is heavily influenced from the Indie Rock subculture, especially with the use of colors, statement designs and jackets, and the use of that rock chick style within the collections.
The next designer that I believe to be inspired by the Indie Rocker style is Felder Felder. The company was set up by identical twin sisters Annette and Daniela Felder, whilst they were still studying at Central Saint Martins In 2006/07.
The sisters established themselves a signature style, with a feminine rock and roll edge. This style was quickly embraced by famous faces, including; Rihanna, Florence and the Machine and Alison Mosshart.
The sisters create beautiful garments that have a real edge to them, they are interested in combining contrasts in each of their collections.
The Felder Felder customer likes to wear clothes that make a real statement and have that rock chick feel to them.
I believe that the Felder Felder Sisters find a lot of inspiration from the indie rock subculture, and the colours and statement style that is worn. Also within the makeup looks.
The first designer that I will be looking at that I believe is inspired by the subculture of Indie Rockers is Danielle Scutt. Scutt is a Central St. Martin Graduate who sent out her first freelance collection in Spring 2008. She has also shown twice with Fashion East.
Her design style has a rock element to it, and her designs tend to experiment with different fabrics, and have an androgynous style to them. Examples of clothing or garments that feature a lot within in her collections would be trench coats, denim,jumpsuits, chiffon dresses and jackets.
Danielle Scutt has not designed for 3 seasons, and has returned with a design style that has taken a more sexy but still sophisticated edge, for example her Fall 2011 collection that featured a lot of velvet, and gold brocade fabrics.
Scutt’s collections are more wearable than other designers in both being comfortable and fashionable. Which makes them popular with her customers.
I think Danielle Scutt is inspired by Indie Rockers style, as her garments and design reflect this but in a high fashion sense.
When looking into my chosen subculture I think that Daisy Lowe Is the perfect muse and style icon for the indie rock girls subculture. I love her rock and roll edge to her style, and her individual look.
For this project I had to focus on a particular sub- culture that I found interesting
I chose Indie-Rockers. For this I have looked at the fashions, hangouts, music and Inspiration for there subculture.
The Indie- Rock sub culture originates from the UK and US in the 1980’s, the term ‘Indie’ coming from the word Independent, relating to the music of the subculture and the way in which many of the bands that the sub culture listened to were signed by Independent record labels. The sub- culture is all about supporting up and coming local bands and underground music.
Interview;
Q.So, what does Indie- Rock mean to you?
A. For me Indie- Rock is all about being Individual, especially with the style and music. With Indie- Rockers you’ll never find everyone looking the same such as Mod- Rockers who follow a kind of uniform, Indie- Rock is all about Individuality. I have been brought up with Indie- rock music all around me, My Dad has always listened to bands such as Led Zeppelin, so I was brought up with music like this all around me.
Q. What other bands do you like?
A. I love Kings of Leon! Others would be The dead weather the front woman Alison Mosshart is one of my idols, love her style, normally I really don’t think it looks right to have the singer of a band a woman but with her I think it’s a different matter. Other bands would be The White Stripes, The Raconteurs and of course Led Zeppelin.
Q. You say that Alison Mosshart is one of your idols, would you say that you have anyone else of who you idolise their style or Inspires you?
A. Alexa Chung, other than that probably the things and people that are special to me and around me, and I also like looking at Lookbook now and again.
Q. Talking of style where are your favourite places to shop?
A. I am all about unique individual pieces that nobody else has, I love shopping In Brick Lane as well as charity shops, and I rarely visit high street shops such as Topshop as I don’t want to be wearing the same thing as others.
Q. How would you describe your style?
A. In a few words, Monochrome, classic and Androgynous. I think a lot of Indie rock style is very unisex.
Q. Do you read any particular magazines that inspire your style, or read generally?
A. My favourite magazines would be Homme,Dazed & Confused and The Fly, a music magazine that has really good album reviews and also a good gig guide.
Q. So you like going to gigs then?
A. Yeah, supporting local and new bands at gigs is one of my favourite things to do. I spend a lot of time with friends that are in bands in there practise room, either that or go to the pub with them, be social and have a drink.
Q. Are there any particular areas in London you would say you like going out?
A. I like Camden, Shoreditch, more East London way.
For this task we had to visit several vintage shops on Brick Lane and put together three outfits representing a certain subculture, the three subcultures are;
- Punk
- Rockabilly
- Hippie
Below are the three outfits that we styled according to the above subcultures;
1.The colour and the clashing prints make this outfit suitable for the hippy scene. I would also say the loosness of the garments reflect the relaxed and laid back attitude of the subculture.
2. Synthetic fibres - polyester blouse and trousers, cotton headscarf
3. We teamed the blouse with the harem style trousers, which relates to the indian/yoga influences that the hippy movement was inspired by. We also added a tie dye head scarf.
1.We chose a pencil skirt for the rockabilly look, think Grease high school prom, pink ladies, the height of the 50’s.
2. The skirt was made of silk/satin crepe.
3. We teamed the skirt with a cotton silk white pussy bow blouse, white cinch belt and white kitten heels for a whole preppy rockabilly look.
1. A leather jacket is an iconic look for the ‘punk’ movement. Usually covered with studs,tassels, personal badges, safety pins and band imagery.
2. Made of genuine leather, although no distressed from age cut in a typical ‘biker’ cut with flat stud detailing.
3. We teamed the jacket with a pain black sheer tshirt, though usually the typical punk would have worn their favourite band tshirt. Also, a pair of red & yellow tartan trousers that were popularised in the early punk movement by Vivienne Westwood’s exploration in to british heritage and it’s fabrics.
Selfridges- One of London’s most famous department stores, sells everything from specialised cakes to Chanel handbags, the store isn’t particularly diverse but does stock your well known brands, so that Sophie with her £20 to spend can find something as well as Margaret with her £1,000.
Urban Outfitters – The store layout is very well thought out, but the customer service wasn’t too peachy & the clothes them selves- way over priced, especially their Urban Re-Newal range, Urban outfitters for me just stocks high street vintage inspired clothing for those cool kids out there.
Liberty- My absolute favourite shop in London, always beautifully decorated displays, and you can always get so close to the clothes without an OCD sale assistant shooing you away.
Browns- Not overly keen on this shop, yes they stock beautiful and rare to see clothes, but you can’t really look without getting pure evils.
Browns Focus- Stocking edgy, young and up and coming brands, Browns Focus in the sister store to Browns for the daughter of the Mother shopping at Browns.
Dover Street Market- Famous for it’s innovative, unique and individual displays, DSM sure does stand out on a cold London street in Mayfair, staff are friendly, prices not so much but what else would you expect from a shop that has a 8ft high elephant placed in the window.
Hoxton Boutique- This shop really is something to see, the shop looks like a gallery, its very well presented and sells some of the most original and unique labels. The shop windows speak for themselves.
B store- The projections in the window, make this shop look different and interesting, and it is, the shop is set out in a very clear way allowing the customer to walk round the store with ease. Pricing is how you would expect mid – high.
Oxfam Boutique- I was expecting quite big things from this little shop in Westbourne Grove but I wasn’t overly impressed. I thought the shop was filled with vintage designer goodies but I would not quite count a five-year-old bobbley polo neck an amazing designer vintage find.
Matches- I really liked this shop, the lay out was sleek, the staff friendly, even though they knew I was a student, I think they have an amazing collection of clothing and accessories.
Topshop- I will never make my mind up with Topshop I love to hate it especially this shop, it could be a girl’s dream but also an absolute nightmare, they do have an amazing stock of concessions and there own clothing, but you really could leave there with your hair and nails done with a whole new outfit ready for a night on the town.
Bluebird – Another shop with amazing and stunning displays, you could easily walk past this shop due to it not being well marked, but the variety of things that they stock makes it well worth a look.
The Convenience Store- I find this a strange shop, for one; it’s name; and two the area around, I was shocked for a store that sold such exclusive pieces of clothing to be based in such a not so nice area, I personally was not so keen on the styling of this shop but sure was an interesting one.
Start – ‘ Fashion meets Rock ‘n’ Roll’ Owned byBrix Smith-Start and her husband, the store has a really nice layout with the rails being on opposite sides of the store allowing the clothing to be viewed easily, the store also had friendly staff.
Acne – This flagship store on Dover Street follows the typical Acne style throughout using earthy tones and minimalistic styling’s, the store’s three floors is more like an art space showing the clothes as well.
Beyond Retro – I have an addiction to this shop, it’s my all time favourite vintage shop, colour co- coordinated clothing, well lit, friendly & well styled staff and displays’ = the best vintage shop in London, Beyond Retro sure have built up a good name for them selves.
Absolute Vintage – If your looking to go shopping in the dark go here, yes the shop does have a good selection of vintage goodies but I prefer to see what I’m buying before I purchase an item.
Present- Sells a variety of things for Men, however I found the way the things were marketed within the store was so, in a very feminine manner.
Diverse- A very coordinated and organised shop, I really like the styling of the store.
Sefton - A very sleek shop selling womanswear, clothing was very well presented allowing customers to easily browse through garments.
Labour of Love – Shop sells designer garments, but I find the layout of the store to be very busy and almost resembles a charity shop.
Farfetch.com- Easy to read, monochrome style website, stocks some really amazing, cutting edge clothing and I love the ease of the website not too may things to click on and get confused with.
Oki-ni.com - Nicely presented Menswear website, not too fussy and like the way the type of garment you are looking for is listed at the top of the site.
Ln-nc.com – This is by far the most innovative website, the way you can see the outfits and styling of the garments on the model is such a good idea. They also stock a variety of random and arty books and music.
Net-a-porter.com – A more well known website for designer clothing, stocking more well known designers, I really like this website its very minimal and again stocks beautiful clothing, maybe a Selfridges minus the food department for the web.
Not just another Label- Bit too much of a busywebsite, but I really like the fact that you can look at designers, and then where they studied net to the garments they sell.
Pop up store (House Of Volatire) Bruton Place ,Mayfair – I managed to find this little treasure trove of a pop up store above Rupert Sanderson’sshoe emporium, it stocks specially commissioned products, limited editions and original pieces from a number of designers and artists including Richard Nicoll, Tracy Emin and Clune Reid and many more prices range from £10 to £1,000
