In my second year on the BA (Hons) Fashion Communication course here at AUB, we were given an industry live brief by Size? in partnership with Salomon. One year later, I was honoured to be invited to attend their awards ceremony in London, which celebrated the talent and creativity of students from various universities across the UK.
It was a pleasure to be highly commended in the Styling and Creative Direction category and to sit in a room with some of the future creatives in the industry. It is always nice to see your projects and work being appreciated by others, but given that I’m an international student who enjoys incorporating my culture into the work that I do, it’s even more special to know that there is a place for minorities and for our work to be celebrated in the West.
I always enjoy reflecting on this project in particular, because it was the one that surprised me most. The unit just before this one was a group project for Dr. Martens, which was exciting for the final outcome we created, but traumatic in the way that group projects generally are. Nevertheless, that is an experience that teaches you a lot about how to work with others. So, moving from that unit to then finding out we were doing another one with shoes, did not seem too exciting to me since I am not much of a “sneakerhead” myself.
If you were to tell me at the start of that term that this Size? unit would grow to become my favourite project I’ve done while at uni, I probably wouldn’t have believed you then. But it’s true, over the nine weeks we had to work on it, I learnt more about the companies and the brief, and managed to find a way to create a project I would enjoy working on, which is the most important thing. If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, then there’s probably no point doing it at all.
The brief was straightforward – to create a multimedia marketing campaign for Size? specifically aimed at promoting Salomon shoes. This was the first project where we as students had creative freedom to come up with our own outcome, and I really enjoyed not being restricted by the brief. My idea only came to me about four or five weeks into the term, but I put a lot of importance on research when doing my projects, allowing me to properly understand the task at hand. This in turn aids in my brainstorming of ideas. One of the things I found during my research is Size?’s interest in celebrating up-and-coming musical talent through some of their events known as ‘Size? Sessions.’ I then had the idea to create a marketing campaign around a Size? Session featuring Tamil-Swiss singer Priya Ragu – someone I had discovered in a magazine when I did some research at a magazine store in London. I started listening to her music, and enjoyed it for the fusion of influences from both the East and West, the same fusion I find in my own work.
I initially started out with the proposal of an in-store musical event featuring Ragu, which would also highlight the brand Salomon with the launch of three new Size? exclusive colourways for Salomon’s ACS Pro. The Salomon XT-6 is their most popular shoe and cash cow, but I was drawn to the ACS Pro for its design and because I hadn’t seen it in much of the marketing that Size? did particularly for their Salomon range. As Salomon is an outdoor and trail brand, their colourways are usually more earthy. However, my research showed me that Salomon’s previous collaborations with other brands featured brighter colourways, particularly seen with the ACS Pro, giving me some reassurance that a collaboration with Ragu might appeal to their consumers. I was thus inspired by Priya Ragu’s music videos and her overall visual aesthetic and designed three new colourways, each inspired by one of her songs.
By the middle of the term, we had a member from the Size? team visit us in Bournemouth, and we were given the chance to pitch our ideas and get valuable feedback on how to further develop our ideas. I was really pleased by the feedback I received – they appreciated focusing on a musical artist who incorporates her culture so vividly into her work and appreciated the research I had done. They also pointed out that realistically, a colourway collaboration would be too expensive to produce and that the idea was strong even if I just focused on creating an in-store event. It was such a great learning experience gaining feedback from an industry creative and professional and it really helped me refine my idea before the deadline.
I chose to focus on creating an event because the market research I did showed me that consumers are seeking more real-life experiences in the post-pandemic world as we crave human connection and a chance to step away from the digital. I produced a plan for the event, including the store design; who would supply the food and drink (I looked into Sri Lankan and Tamil restaurants to theme the whole event around celebrating the culture Ragu is so proud of); what the guest list would look like – making sure that it included a mix of South Asian creatives and creatives with an active interest in Salomon; an activation timeline for how to effectively market the event; a breakdown of how the campaign achieved an omni-channel approach; and a proposed campaign shoot idea to be used to promote the event. For the photo shoot, the styling was inspired by Ragu’s personal style, which saw a lot of androgynous silhouettes, bright colours, and bold patterns. The shoot was a studio-style shoot with a lot of fun and unconventional poses to bring in a tongue-in-cheek humour element that Size? likes to include in their campaigns. I then used these images to create some example social media content and posters that could be used for other forms of marketing. It is this photo shoot that got me nominated for the Styling and Creative Direction award.
I clearly remember being on the phone with my mum and telling her about my idea and how my project was going. She was worried that I was making my project too much about my culture and that it wouldn't be something the British audience would be interested in. She later applauded me for staying true to myself and trusting my instinct, because it ended up being well-appreciated by the team at Size? but more importantly, I ended up creating something that I could be proud of. I’m mentioning this because I find that as an international student, it’s easy for the Imposter Syndrome to kick in and have you worrying that no one cares about the work that you do. This is proof that you should trust your gut, stay true to yourself, and it will all work out in the end. I took a project that I initially wasn’t excited about because I looked at it with too narrow a perspective, and turned it into something that I would be interested in. I guess this is my way of suggesting being more open-minded with projects you’re given at university. Part of the challenge is taking something you are given and making it your own – something that excites you. I started looking at university projects differently from this unit, and it only benefitted me in the end.
I’m currently working on my Final Major Project, titled Nana’s House, which is a publication that documents the lives of the minority Indo-Portuguese communities of Mumbai, India. This is a very special project, as it’s inspired by my memories of visiting my grandparents from this community, who’ve kept the traditions and history of our culture alive in us. The publication aims to be interactive, promoting human connection and a break from the digital world that we are so tied to. By visually communicating stories of individuals from within this community, I aim to archive and bring into the mainstream conversation, just one of the many diverse minority communities that are too often left out of the narrative of India. It’s a sort of full-circle moment because I’ve spent my time at uni exploring the theme of transculturation, and the relationship between the East and the West. Now, my final project aims to document my own transcultural history and heritage – the fusion of Indian and Portuguese cultures.
