Project proposal

I am now a week into this project and have spoken about my idea in a group tutorial as well as presenting it to the class today. The feedback was good and comments that were made have helped me develop my ideas further.

Project proposal:

Soon after I started thinking of ideas for this project, I realized that the person I was going to be designing the stationery for was going to be more difficult than I had imagined. The first ideas that came to my mind were unsuitable as they were too obviously related to the Chanel brand. I decided to forget the Chanel logo and the iconic little black dress and just focus on Coco Chanel as a person. Watching her documentary and film also gave me a much better insight into her personality and how she eventually became famous.

I am going to be focusing on the beginning of her career. She opened her first millinery shop in 1912 and designed her logo in 1925, so I would have designed this stationery set for her within this period.

My theme is based around the idea that Coco Chanel took inspiration from menswear. In a time when women wore very feminine clothes, (tight corsets, hats, long dresses etc.) she stood out by wearing clothes that was more comfortable and casual. Basically, if women  are wearing trousers and suits today, it is partly because of her. With a strong personality and determination, she managed to succeed and become one of the most famous people in the world.

Before Coco Chanel's time, sleeve cuffs, lapels and pockets were not part of women's garments so I have decided to use these three 'features' as a theme for my set. The business card (as shown below) will be inserted inside a sleeve cuff, which I have made. I have sewn a quote of hers on the business card and her name and details would be on the other side.

The compliment slip will be inside a pocket and this will also be used as the envelope. I will post photos soon. I am still not entirely sure how I'm going to do the letterhead, but it's going to be based on a lapel. I'm still thinking over this one!