Angelo De Lusso
2018 - 2019
A men's streetwear clothing brand that I brought to life, from the initial idea to the finished product, and marketed through content creation.
Angelo de Lusso was a mens streetwear brand that I designed and launched shortly after graduating the previous year.
The theme was hidden identity, the narrative was built around Angelo de Lusso. The character was an alter ego of my own, being the creative director of set brand.
It was a successful venture because it would play with the audience’s imagination and curiosity. Our brand gained a lot of attention from Manchester’s tight-nit entrepreneurial society, who wanted to know who Angelo de Lusso was.
The production of the garments was to be fast paced, this meant that designs were to be produced digitally first.
I used templates of plain garments online, not to be used commercially therefore I would be avoiding copyright issues, this was producing fashion graphics.
This was also important for my non-creative partners to be able to see my visions for the direction of the brand.
The designs were then outsourced to a commercial screen-printer, with the correct equipment and skills to produce for sale.
It was during this process I had learnt to adapt my design to the cost of creation per garment, in-short I would create a visually enticing piece and then simplify it into market ready artwork.
INITIAL DESIGN PROCESS
Chosen designs.
Post screening the designs through focus groups, consisting of fashion crazy people, we arrived to the five designs to be printed. Each keeping on-theme, unidentifiable yet merging of fine art and fashion.
The ‘Dali’ hoodie design was our most popular piece. Like Off-White’s usage of Mona Lisa in their hoodies, our Dali adaptation meant that the future success of the brand was to step into the direction of fine art and fashion fusion.
To avoid issues with copyright I had to recreate a photograph of Salvador Dali into a mass-producible print.
I also blanked out the eyes of the famous figure, hiding his true identity, keeping on brand.
Using Dali himself instead of his artwork was a flip on Off-white using Mona lisa, Leonardo Da Vinci had painted, therefore approaching the same market with original design rather than a transcript of
another’s art.
DALI
The surrealist brought to the future
RED SMOKE
Evolution of conceptualism
Red smoke was the next design to deliver our fusion of
fine art and fashion. I utilised bust photography; a
medium of art synonymous with Italian art history.
Photoshop was then my tool to distort the form,
changing the appeal of the traditional exclusivity of
the bust to an openly accepted form in modern fashion.
This conversion was necessary to make Red Smoke
desirable to our target audience.
METHODS OF MARKETING
Using Instagram, we succeeded to build 21K followers through delivering quality content in the forms of photography, videography, and direct interaction with our followers.
It was by featuring in a Korean YouTuber’s video, we managed to expand our reach to the South
Korean market.
It was through this output that we had built attention to the Dali hoodie.
0161 COLLECTIVE POP-UP SHOP
After a few months of marketing the brand to the locals, we began meeting designers of other Manchester based brands.
This was an attempt to push out B2C area of the brand, it was a successful venture because of my previous experience in sales roles.
Aligned to the right is the banner I designed which we used at public events.
More pictures below from the event.
Make it stand out.
THE PRESENTATION
The photography was the most effective type of content for in terms of content. Each model was carefully considered through screening processes and a large majority were from Manchester. Our consideration was to understand the respected models outreach, using the individual as both a model and fashion influencer.
Later a few models were scouted to modelling agencies around Manchester and Amsterdam. Serendipitously I was then involved in teaching the models catwalk movements and etiquettes.
