Lecture- The rise of the Brand

In the 19th Century buying garments was a very lengthly process the fabric had to be bought, then the patteren had to be cut, then it was sent to be made into a shell, then to the Marchande de Mode who would decorate the garement. This trade is the first one to see a women as normally these trades are done by men, if you wanted a hat you'd go to the milliner, for shoes youd go to the cobblers. There were no veritable designers, the closest thing would be the Marchande de Mode and maybe a fashion Illustrator. Women would see a garment in a fashion magazine, which they bought at much expense, £40 and it would have 70 pages and it would only have 4 images inside. The image of the garment they saw, the fashion plate, they would take to the Marchande de Mode and say I would like this dress but with different selves or in a different colour blue instead of green. Nowadays we cant do that in consumerism, we have a lot of choice around us but we cant say I like this dress but can I have one with longer seleves, we have little choice for change. The fashion magazines had around 60 pages of writing and these would be full of ettiquette lessons, telling ladies how to take their gloves of correctly and how to be a proper lady.
Fashion houses started putting lables in their garments, its not just a dress but a bon marche dress. Its the thought of belonging to a certain club, logos helped customers chose the garments and gave a recongisable face to generic goods, the little red lable on Levi jeans makes a huge difference. Advertising changed from being an instrument of imformation to building an image around a product. They used to trust a shopkeeper, ask them for a cereal and they would say this have this one instead its better for you and last longer, they were a trustworthy character, whereas nowadays we dont trust the shopkeeper we start putting trust in the brand instead. In the 1950's on the brand for Aunt Jemimas flour and maple syrup the brand would tell you what you wanted to hear, so on the back of the packet it would say we feed our workers on the planation plants Aunt Jemimas pancakes to keep them going. This is a lie, they wouldnt feed them pancakes, but it works for the branding, it helps for consumerism. But in the 1950's this all changed. Hugo Boss made his name by making the uniform for the Nazi's, this isnt advertised anymore. 1980's branding overtakes manufacture. Marx said if you dont know where the garments from your lusting after the garment itself not the quality, but Naomi Klein in her book 'No Logo' says your now not just wanting the garment but lusting over the brand. A recession hit the country so shops and brands needed to strt selling a lifestyle to get people to buy garments and items, a dream and lifestyle needed to be brought across, it was said if you dont sell fashion you dont sell the idea.
Mens fashion has been around for longer, the cut of the jeans doesnt change, mens fashion always stays the same. Fordism was invented by Henry Ford, a chain of production on a large scale, a standard car, at a price that would generate mass consumption. High wadges were given to workers not at generosity, but so that the cars mass produced could be bought by the workers. This doesnt happen anymore as the people who make clothes cant afford to buy them aswell. Womens clothes have never been mass produced as womens fashion always changes, whether its the cut of jeans, style of the dress or even the colour its always changing so it would be a waste to mass produce. Post-Fordist industry is all consumer orinetated rather then producer orientated. If it takes a few hrs for the jumpers to sell they are doing to right thing so order more of that clothing, but if it doesnt sell then of course you dont order anymore.
The coutre industry forced to respond to international economic and cultural shifts. Charles Worth was a fashion designer in paris who created the idea of seasons in the fashion world to create a divide into when women want different pieces of clothing.
During the war we in Britain created new man made fibres quickly and in good quaility for warm and durabilty for the mens uniforms in the war. So after the war the highstreet arrived, because it was fashion you could wear straight away, it was quick fashion. Couture fashion was forced to respond to economic shifts because people werent buying haute cortoure. There was a devlepoment of franchise in the way that brands like Chanel started selling make-up to start making money, peolpe can afford a masacra or a nail varnish from Chanel but not a handbag or a dress, but you can be a part of the chanel club if you buy a nail varnish. This was paris selling fashion. But dont want to be part of all clubs, like the Kate Moss perfume. In 1966 YSL had a collection of ready to wear fashion, this is were the money is from, as peolpe see the brand at affordable prices and jump at the chance to get it. In the 1970's franchising and ready to wear was a very important and essesntial element of the paris fashion industry. The 1970's sees franchising going mad, the mircowave was just invented so brands were doing mircowaveable meals. They realise they can make anything for their brand and it will sell. Lifestyle branding was happening, Clavin Klein, Donna Karen and Ralph Lauren. If your going to spend a lot of money on advertising you lose the money for making the garment, you've got to go on the outside, think outside the box. In terms of consumerism day dreaming takes place, you keep shopping, fantasing is what really makes pleasure, the goods will never live up too the fantasy.
Use Value Marx says is the basic ability of an object to a human need, a function, an objective, like a fork a door, a door handle, toliet paper.
Sign Value, Jean Baudrillard the value of the object goes beyond the function. The object acts as a sign of the owners status, taste and identity. The bag that was made,  'Im not  a plastic bag' everyone had to had have one but its sign vaule you dont need one. The symbolic worth has replaced the material worth of goods.
Branding depends upon assosications feelings, emotions, thoughts and beliefs on part of the consumer. Producers give meaning to the objects they produce. So do consumers. Burberry gives a sleek image of shopistication but actually on the outside chavs were wearing burberry and creating a different term for this.

BRANDING