The aim of this publication is to detail his career and also to experiment with the way how fashion publications are designed.
The content of the publication will be mainly from these sources:
Terry Jones, Raf Simons. Portfolio of Rafs work including interviews done by i-D magazine.
032c Magazine. Article and interview on Raf Simons by Pierre Alexandre de Looz. 1995-2015: A Raf Simons retrospective.
Dior And I documentary based on Raf Simons first runway show at Dior.
These may only be 3 sources of information but they cover a lot of what Raf Simons did during his tenure at the different fashion houses. Also Simons keeps to himself and does not project himself into the media limelight, hence the limited sources.
The magazine publications that have informed my ideas for this publication are 032c, Modern matter and WERK magazine.
032c is a contemporary culture magazine that celebrates the most cutting-edge art, culture and fashion. Released twice a year, it aims to surprise the reader with its content. The magazine itself is recognizable from its bright red cover that is accompanied by the red tape binding technique that I have not seen on many other publications. The magazine mixes both coated and uncoated stock which enhances the reading experience.
Modern matter magazine are a publication based in London that blends British journalism and long form writing with a fine-art sensibility and a high-fashion aesthetic. It is a publication that offeres something more distinctive and eclectic, hoping to redefine the idea of modernity to the reader.
Both these publications represent the typical format of magazines that journal the high-fashion aesthetic. The high-fashion approach creates full bleed images that create a high impact reading experience, couple that with the coated stock, it creates a publication that feels sophisticated and lends itself well to the amount of photography included. The coated stock better displays the colour of the images which is key when displaying photography.
WERK magazine is a publication formed by Theseus Chan which absolutely goes against the trends and norms. The magazine is the first of its kind from my observation, and takes a definite post modernist approach when forming the content and page construction. As a result WERK magazine will be one of the contributors of how the publication will be designed.
Initial ideas include:
- Making the pages come across more like mood boards that fashion designers/students use to create form ideas. In the context of Raf Simons, it would mean placing images that inspired some of his famous garments. For example the Belgian youth, New Wave music, Sterling Ruby and Picasso. This idea could also extend to where these clothes could be seen in, i.e the streets of Paris, Belgium or a backdrop that relates to his inspirations.
- Placing a rough border around the images. This idea is inspired by A$AP Rocky's instagram style.
This torn image look creates a rough style that feels more personal to the creator as well as to the reader. This look could be used for the images displaying Raf Simon's own clothing line where his draws most of his punk inspirations from.
- To insert smaller pages within the publication to inform the reader of a specific piece of information. I was reading the Maison Martin Margiela by Martin Margiela in the library and came across this page.
It is a noticeably smaller collection of pages within the publication that inform the reader on a specific article related to Margiela where it be a letter or interview. It is a page construction I have not seen before and could potentially be considered when designing this one. In terms of Raf Simons this small detail in the publication could become the format of how I would want the reader to "read" about Simons. The larger pages could just be used for the fashion photography.
All things considered, these individual concepts form the overall idea that the publication is made up of different sections that reflect the different stages in Raf Simons career. For example, during Raf’s early stages with his own brand, he drew a lot of references from 80’s Belgian youth and the New Wave music. Therefore the page construction could reflect that through the rough pasting of images and a post modernist layout. During his time in Jill Sander, the page construction could reflect a more modernist style because the brand itself creates minimal, timeless clothing. While at Jil Sander, Raf was also working on his own brand that he started in 1995. So the pages following the Sander section could again take on a more post modernist style acting as a visual break from the previous modernist style. However it will not be as strong as the first section, as there were still elements of punk incorporated into his work at that time, just more refined. Finally, in his tenure at Dior, the page construction will reflect the elegance of the haute couture he designed and highlight his first time designing womenswear.
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