~ Chanel Final Report Part 1~

2009 ITC 3401 Fashion Trend Analysis Subject Tutor: Robert Lau
Colour Forecasting Report for Chanel Ready-To-Wear Collection 2010
Student Name: Tang Chik Sum
Student No.: 08177897D
Date: 24th April, 2009
　
Introduction
Chanel is a mature fashion brand with long history. In its ready-to-wear (RTW) collections over years, all outfits demonstrate its unique, fashionable characteristics. The recent designer of Chanel, Mr Karl Lagerfeld, creates them with appropriate proportion, balance, unity, emphasis and rhythm.

On analyzing the past Chanel RTW collections, the silhouette, pattern, material and colour of Chanel RTW collection 2010 can be professionally forecasted. Now, I am going to analyze the past 5 years RTW collections and try to forecast the colour of Ready-to-wear 2010.
　
Analysis of 2005-2009 RTW Collections
2005 S/S RTW:

This is the Spring/Summer ready-to-wear 2005 collection with 40 outfits in total. Most of the outfits are either black or white. Many outfits are black and white in a ratio 1:1. I think this is the feature of this collection. Black and white are in achromatic colour scheme which is generally accepted by masses. Besides, very small amount of sharp red, grey, pale pink and shiny gold are lightly used.
　
Colour used: ~50% Black, ~50% White, light touch of Sharp Red, Pale Pink and Shiny Gold

　
I like this bikini. I consider it as the most representative outfit in this collection. This bikini is of 1:1 black and white with little red colour as feature. The Chanel logo at the hat is not awkwardly printed, but naturally presented. Good!

　

　

2006 S/S RTW:

With 65 outfits of different styles, this collection demonstrates variation aspect of Chanel. I would say this is a collection of variation, which is not usually seen in Chanel. The cutting, style and colour of each outfit are quite different. Almost each model wears a pair of shoes different from others. Black colour can be easily found in this collection. But white and grey are also noticeable. Blue, purple, crimson, pale yellow and brown appear in few outfits.
　
Colour: 40% Black, ~20% White, ~20% Grey, ~20% of Blue, Purple, Crimson, Pale Yellow and Brown

I am surprised at this outfit! Brown is very uncommon in Chanel. I eventually found brown amongst RTW collections of recent years. The bright brown flower and dress is eye-catching as emphasis in the whole outfit.

2006 F/W RTW:

53 black Chanel-styled outfits are the 06 F/W RTW collection. Black is used in almost all outfits. This collection is created with black colour the most amongst these 5 years. White can be seen in about 3 outfits. A small part of some outfits has little grey, deep blue and fuchsia. I notice that white boots and dark big hand bags are widely worn by models. This should be the feature of this collection as well.

Colour: ~95% Black, ~5% White, light amount of Grey, Deep Blue and Fuchsia

Achromatic colour scheme is used. Black pullover, bag, head wear and white boots, gloves, scarf show great balance of the whole outfit, also the features of this collection. Cool!

2007 S/S RTW:

There are 68 outfits in this collection. White can be obviously noticed this time although black is still of great proportion. Some outfits have grey as well. Tiny amount of fuchsia, violet, gold and pink can be found. When white is widely applied this time, fabrics are reduced to appear sexy along with see-through effect.

Colour: 40% Black, 35% White, ~17% Grey, ~8% of Fuchsia, Violet, Gold and Pink

This collection contains a certain amount of white outfits. This is one of them. White garment with gold necklace does not give me a feeling of innocence, but sophistication. Yellow with low value is also seen in this outfit.

2007 F/W RTW:

This collection consists of 67 outfits. It seems that there is a contrast between 07F/W and 07S/S. Heavy, big garments are wrapped around models in F/W while few fabrics worn by models in S/S. Black dominates in F/W while white is widely applied in S/S outfits. In this collection, magenta, turquoise, yellow, blue, white and gold can be found too.

Colour: 80% Black, 20% of Magenta, Turquoise, Yellow, Blue, White and Gold

The heavy tweed black coat, hat and shoes presents balance. The red sleeves and pouch emphasize the whole outfit. The jeans are blue with low chroma. I think this outfit is casual with a bit maturity.

2008 S/S RTW:

78 outfits in this collection are with some new elements, which are rather different from the style Chanel being used to be. Sporty and dynamic elements are added to the outfits in this collection. Quite a lot ocean-blue outfits can prove these true even though black is the major colour. White and red are applied to be the auxiliary roles of blue colour. The blue sea-like runway stage intensifies the emphasis of blue colour as well. Touch of grey, pale yellow and beige also exist. Particular features are the white earrings and high heels worn by models from time to time in this collection.

Colour: 45% Black, ~20% Ocean-blue, ~20% White, ~15% Red, touch of Grey, Pale Yellow and Beige

The blue tennis racket totally shows the sporty side of this collection and emphasizes blue. What I feel is that the outfit is like tennis wear with energetic feelings.

2008 F/W RTW:

This collection contains 57 outfits with achromatic colour scheme and monochromatic colour scheme. All outfits presented are generally with low chroma and high value. Another special part is that all female models wear dresses, no trousers at all. Black is of the majority amongst colours. Grey can be readily noticed too. Pale yellow, beige, ocean-blue and white are of small amount.

Colour: 80% Black, >10% Grey, ~10% of Pale Yellow, Beige, Ocean-blue and White

As the whole collection uses either achromatic colour scheme or monochromatic colour scheme, this ocean-blue crumpling dress adds liveliness to the outfit.

2009 S/S RTW:

There are 71 outfits in this collection. This time, this S/S RTW generally possesses outfits with much more fabrics, which are quite different from other outfits in S/S RTW recent years. Many different cuttings or patterns appear in this collection as well. About half of the outfits are black. White and grey can be easily observed. Parts of the outfits have purple, pink, crimson and beige.

Colour: 50% Black, 30% White, 15% Grey and 5% of Purple, Pink, Crimson and Beige

The triangular missing part above the belly gives the skin exposed, which is the emphasizing part of the outfit. The outfit and the bag with the same pattern give a balance as a whole.

2009 F/W RTW:

This is the latest collection with 73 outfits so far. Black is seriously used in this collection, which is comparable with 2006 F/W RTW with much black colour. The pattern and silhouette of each outfit are similar but unique. Each outfit is easily identified. White can be found somewhere in small proportion. Jade, pale pink and grey appear in a few outfits.

Colour: >90% Black, ~10% White, touch of Jade, Pale Pink and Grey

Almost 100% black is used in this outfit. Even the shoes are in black. With no expectations on variation of colours in this outfit originally, I found the jade rings attractive in some ways.

　

　

~ Chanel Final Report Part 2~

Colour Forecasting for Chanel F/W RTW 2010

I have proposed two approaches to forecast the colours for Chanel F/W RTW 2010: General Forecasting and Statistic Forecasting.

General Forecasting is my general view on the possible colours in 2010 through my personal thoughts and analysis from the past.

Statistic Forecasting is the colour proportion used in the past and possible colours can be forecast based on this.

General Forecasting

According to the detailed analysis of 2005 to 2009 ready-to-wear collections of Chanel, the colours of Fall/Winter Ready-to-wear 2010 can be forecast. My colour forecast is as follows:

　

　

　

　
Black, White, Grey, Navy (blue with low chroma) and Lavender (purple with low chroma)

As to Black, White and Grey, I can say these three colours are the representative colours of Chanel. In the past RTW collections I have analyzed, Chanel used these three colours each time. It seems that Chanel would lose its spirit and character without black, white and grey. The fact is that Chanel masters achromatic colour scheme in fashion industry.

As to Navy, no blue colour can be found in 2009 RTW collections. However, we can see that blue quite often appears in Chanel RTW collections, like 2008, 2007 and 2006. From this fact, blue is a popular colour in Chanel. A skip of using blue in 2009 would likely increase the chance of using blue in 2010. Besides, sharp colours with high chroma are quite uncommon for F/W collections. Navy which is blue with low chroma is of high chance to appear in F/W 2010.

As to Lavender, there is no purple colour in any F/W collections I have analyzed (Please refer to the Part One). Purple colour just appears in some S/S collections. From this fact, we know that Chanel accepts purple at least. In fact, Chanel has applied blue, green, yellow and magenta in its F/W collections. Why can’t purple then? Some may argue that there is also no orange colour in F/W collections I have analyzed. Why can’t orange then? The fact is that purple is sometimes used in RTW but orange is never used in RTW as you can see my Part One. Purple would have higher chance to appear in 2010 then. Like I mentioned before, lavender which is of low chroma sounds suitable for F/W outfits.


Statistic Forecasting

From 2006 to 2010:
Black: ~95% -> 80% -> 80% -> ~95% -> 70%
White: ~5% -> ~7% -> ~7% -> ~10% -> ~10%
Grey: ~2% -> ~5% -> ~15% -> ~2% -> ~10%
Navy and Lavender: no accurate statistics

One of the possible colour proportions of Chanel F/W RTW 2010:
~75% Black, ~10% white, ~10% Grey, ~10% of Navy and Lavender.
　

　
Conclusion
Black, White, Grey, Navy (blue with low chroma) and Lavender (purple with low chroma) will have a higher chance to appear in Chanel F/W RTW 2010. I wish these colours will become trendy in 2010 through my detailed colour general and statistic forecast.

~ Leave Comment Please ~

　

Mr Robert,, may u leave a few comments here for my report and my blog if u finish reading my blog? I would like to know my performance or my improvement~
Thank you very much=]

　

~ My Feelings ~

I am the yellow one in this picture. haha~

　
　

In this semester with this subject fashion trend analysis, I learnt a lot from fashion especially Chanel. Chanel is the brand I know the most amongst all fashion brands so far including history, ready-to-wear, haute couture, designers, products, advertisements, cosmetics, retail stores, beliefs, brand image so far and so on for Chanel.

It is precious knowledge that teachers or others cannot teach you or force you to learn. Most of them should be learnt by ourselves as there are many many fashion brands in this world. Teachers are impossible to tell you all of them. Therefore, teacher's main duty is to stimulate us to learn by ourselves.

From this experience, I really learnt by myself. I learnt something professional that ordinary people do not know about fashion. I really learnt fashion particularly Chanel with my soft and hard skills taught by my teacher. I hope my forecasting report will be all right with my great effort. I hope I can continue to learn more for other fashion brands in the future.

~ Chanel Earrings ~

This is the Chanel Classical Double-C Earrings. I like this simple, elegant Chanel earrings. It is suitable for any occasions. Although the design is just with the "double-C" logo, the earrings are just versatile and eye-catching.

~ Chanel Wallets and Bags~

Chanel wallets always have some close-packed rhombus patterns which demonstrate the sophistiscation and maturity of Chanel. As to Chanel bags, different patterns and styles can be seen. There is a balance between maturity and casualness when the designers make Chanel bags. Here are some elegant wallets and bags shown:


CHANEL CC Lambskin Wallet Pink with Black CC


CHANEL Classic Front Open Wallet or Party Bag White

CHANEL CC Logo Wallet Black with White CC

CHANEL 07 Quilted Hand Bag Large White

CHANEL CC Logo Denim Wallet C1992

Chanel CC Dangling Link Hobo Gold