Designing Lookbook Magazine by Zia Holder
Our media landscape today is a strange one. Online features and stories fill the traditional press; which in turn, the online community continues to emulate. No longer do we find clearly defined boundaries, as the chicken and the egg are in a constant pas de deux with each other. At a time when editorial staff are being forced to look beyond the realm of traditional communication; Editor in Chief Melissa Gabriel, with the help of an elite Abovegroup Ogilvy team; launched her highly successful fashion blog Trinidad Lookbook as a full-fledged print magazine.
According to AGO Director, Alex Smailes, “When Melissa Gabriel asked if we’d help relaunch LookBook, her immensely popular homegrown fashion commentary blogsite into a print version; in the midst of the Great Recession, global print magazines 6-ft under several years ago, print advertising sales continuing to plummet regionally and a general fear and caution still clearly pervasive into 2012. For us, it was a resounding; Yup – a no brainer.” The team, comprising Creative Director Marlon Darbeau; Art Director Tanya Marie Williams, Designer Tricia Dukhie; Photographer Kibwe Brathwaite and AGO Director Alex Smailes; attacked the undertaking with gusto.
“I was excited about print and the opportunity to design a fashion magazine with stories. I was ready to put something fresh out into the Trinidad magazine landscape!” recalls Williams.
Smailes further explained, “...What a person does outside of work speaks volumes and is a clear indication of what and how they will contribute to the modern creative-business environment.” Trinidad Lookbook was already quite a successful online example of this; translating it into a tangible thing was clearly a good move.
The next hurdle was tackling the capricious fashion demographic, while maintaining creative integrity. Marlon Darbeau intimates, “The magazine is a sign of many great things to come, especially because it’s influenced by pop culture; not only in fashion but even design and photography. When people think of culture they often discount popular culture, and we feel that the publication is a solid contribution to this very valid part of our cultural existence.”
Indeed, in attempting to capture the newly burgeoning fashion demographic, the AGO Lookbook Creative Team knew they had to infuse the publication with their own style and flair. “The designers were encouraged to inject their own personalities into the project. It was about convergence of ideas and bringing minds together. It was about us contributing to the landscape,” Darbeau says.
Even with this carte blanche approach to the process, the team understood that the niche they were exploring was quite a demanding one. Tricia Dukhie explains, “Fashion magazines usually sanction radical layouts and exquisite photography, and I knew Lookbook would not be an exception.”
About his relationship with Fashion Photography, photographer Brathwaite reveals, “I realized that after years of looking at photos and dissecting images, performing commutation tests in my mind; replacing signifiers like hair color, skin color, camera positioning or model positioning, I developed an aversion to the conventions that everyone used.
“I never understood the contorted model poses, the super obvious flashy lighting techniques and the overall excessiveness of a frame that could have effectively communicated the same message with less than half of the things in them.”
What ultimately happened is that they produced a piece of work that embraced the Caribbean perspective and high fashion with candor. Smailes reveals, “We’re our harshest critics and by constantly refusing to settle for me-too design or copy-cat publications, the team never once sat back.“
Trinidad Lookbook currently graces the shelves of several fine establishments and will continue to shatter industry norms with great fervour.
Get your copy at:
- Meiling | No. 6 Carlos Street, Woodbrook
- Bang Bang | Frederick Street, POS
High Street, San Fernando
Trincity Mall
- Blaanix by Bang Bang, Aboutique Mall, Frederick Street, POS
212 Location, Aboutique Mall, Frederick Street, POS
- Runway Street | SimpliCity, 45 Murray Street, Woodbrook
- Indulge Clothing | Tragarete Road, POS
- The Pallet Stick | Havelock Street, St. Clair
- So Chic Boutique | Francis Plaza, Chaguanas
- SuperPharm | Westmoorings
Maraval
Valsayn
Tunapuna
Trincity
Posted in BrandingDesignPhotography on 30th Jan 2012
