FIFTH & 57TH

 

Attending the Tiffany exhibition made me think about why I am a consumer of the brand. For me, the objective of an exhibition is to educate the consumer about the artist (/brand) and their art (/brand core value/craft / creativity).  I find that thoughts around luxury brands are similar to visiting the opera for the first time; you either love it or simply appreciate it (Pretty Woman quote ^_^).  So I had to visit my subconscious self, do I truly love the brand or am I fond of the brand? Hmmm

To start off, most of my jewellery is actually from Tiffany&Co, from my first ever set of earrings as a baby, to a few pendants on special birthday celebrations and my promise ring which I wear every day (seriously, ask a friend of mine how different or frantic I act when I don’t have it on/ feel like I’ve lost it). So I guess a connection with Tiffany&Co is somewhat dear to my heart because the brand has played importance materially throughout many milestone moments in my life.

But when I was just talking to people, of course the movie; Breakfast at Tiffany’s may be the very reason why most women of today who place the late Audrey Hepburn as their role model identify with the brand. The associations with the brand from that movie will stick with a viewer from the very first time they see it until the day they tell their grandchild the storyline of the movie.

Then there is the engagement aspect, I remember when I was a little girl, my mother once showed me the price of a Tiffany engagement ring, and highlighted the woman’s worth around the topic of engagement rings (Can you believe I was only about 8, why would my mother be hosting a conversation about this lol).

Also who remembers My Wife & Kids on Trouble ? Remember when Jay thought that Michael bought her something special because Junior said he saw a blue box in his bag? AUTO-MATI-CALLY she thought she knew what it was and creatED a scenery within her head; a scenery which would have been created, by the visual content held by the romanticism around the Tiffany brand, from the famous shade of blue to other aspects of the brand.

Going to the exhibition, I honestly thought this is what I would see. I didn’t read much into the coverage around the launch and I briefly passed the new concession to clean my pieces and that was that. What I loved foremost about the exhibition was it’s inconspicuous location. Though clearly signed, you wouldn't have noticed unless you were truly looking for it. Upon arrival, you meet a mock up of the metro exit that most people would take when getting to 5^th Ave in New York. I chuckled initially simply because it was the 5 and R train that ran to 5^th Ave, closest to Tiffany & Co. on 57^th Street, but when I was working in New York last year, in order for me to get to 5^th Ave, I always ended up taking a 2 train and then picking up a 4. *Just a little reminiscing point lol *

 

Afterwards I headed straight to sit down and view a little screening about Tiffany&Co. and the New York minute. A phrase that I quickly adopted whilst out in NYC, and fully understand the hood meaning by ‘I haven’t seen you in a minute’.  New Yorkers really measure time by moments taken, instead of the usual British literally counting 60 seconds.

There were in total, 6 sections of the exhibition;

The Love Bench

The New York minute

Pretzel and Coffee

Fifth & 57^th

Tiffany& Co. / Master Engraver

Charlie’s Bar

These segments really do make up the beauty of the brand, I was glad to not have seen Audrey Hepburn to be very honest, though she is a beautiful figure within history, her legacy should not only be restricted to her affiliation with Breakfast at Tiffany, as well as the brand.

It’s all about NEW YORK, a place surrounded but beautiful past experiences and celebrated within the new, jazz as an eternal genre, the idea of craftsmanship by hand as well as machine, the Pretzel and Coffee Carts that will refuse to offer payments by card just so you don’t forget what a 5$ bill looks or feels like and appreciates more than any gourmet Starbucks.

Maybe what pushed me to go to this exhibition was the fact that Tiffany &Co is a brand (like many others) that has travelled with me throughout my life thus far. What made me love the exhibition were its bold visuals highlighting the connection with New York City, which I dearly miss.

It was so funny actually, I remember taking this picture after heading out of Niketown and turning on the corner where Tiffany is last year during my placement.

To read my experience at the Tiffany exhibition, click here #selfridgesXtiffany

Tiffany&Co. Brings Fifth Avenue to London #SelfridgesXTiffany

[Courtesy Image]

On Saturday 11th July, I went along to the exhibition FIFTH & 57TH at Selfridges. It was all about Tiffany & Co. bringing 5th Ave to London. Now initially when I had heard about this exhibition, I truly did not know what to expect. I have been paying a slight attention to the brand ever since the arrival of its new design director Francesca Amfitheatrof as well as other changes throughout the company within the past three years or so.

I remember reading an interview on the NY Times site in NYC last year, Amfitheatrof’s vision for the brand was discussed as well as sharing her view about the consumers attitudes towards the brand based on its energetic and romantic history. I remember reading on the train in NYC, how interesting it was to see somebody comment on a brand like Tiffany. Amfitheatrof talked about the brand in a new way; what really grabbed me was a possibility of patterns overriding the infamous tiffany blue, also demonstrated in Tiffany T collection.

This got me thinking, if you were to take a position like Amfitheatrof as design director of a brand like Tiffany, what is there to do with it? Continue? If so, are you truly a design director or a replica director? What would you really expect to change around a brand like Tiffany? (That is a question for you and I by the way ^_^)

What I have notice about Tiffany really is the way the brand really connects it’s relevance to New York City. How powerful is that? With the launch of the Tiffany T collection, Amfitheatrof really showed the measure of the city in regards to the energy, daring personality and its power qualities in a graphic way.

“I wanted to create a symbol for modern life and its relentless energy that flows through New York and drives art and culture around the world,” she says. “This is just the beginning of what I hope to accomplish.”

Also in October 2014, their interaction with consumers over social media turned up one notch; Google+ hang out session with Amfitheatrof, model Coco Rocha, Aimee Song of Song and Style and Elle fashion news director Anne Slowey. These high-profile women took the pulse of the moment, sharing their expertise in media, fashion and design and reflecting on the wider world of art, style and culture. 

I remember asking a few people I met out in NYC about the new appointments vision, and many said, if she doesn’t focus on what Tiffany is already striving in within the market, consumers wont react well, but will react quickly. Regarding my final project at university on Dior and Raf Simons; my research showed that consumers didn’t feel too pleased with the appointment of Raf because of his ‘minimalistic’ characteristics; however, his modernistic vision in the Dior woman of today continues to express the beauty of the female silhouette just like Mr Dior himself.

It’s all about modernity but clear references to the brands key values, and in Tiffany a rich heritage spanning over 175 years touching many pieces from home ware to engagement rings.

20th Birthday - DIY invitations

Building up to my 20th birthday, I was in two minds on whether to celebrate it alone , with a few , or with many. I don't really like the idea of ageing, I love growing up, but during my 19th year, family referred to me ageing instead of maturing (harsh I know lol). Surprisingly (The reason why I said surprisingly is because I'm never a last minute type girl) I made my decision to celebrate with a few friends, and somehow I'd had the colour blue in mind for my 20th birthday. Much like tiffany blue, so I thought - ok, "how shall we play along with that?" and looked to pinterest (if you ever need inspiration, first look on pinterest THEN google)  and found NOTHING ! The only ideas that appear are to do with wedding baby boy invitations - but a 20th birthday for Olivia-Zara does not quite fit with wedding bells or dummies; so I decided to create a tiffany invitation for myself. 

I call it 'The Deconstructed Tiffany'   

For 6 people, I used:

- A5 Black envelope - ebay (pack of 50)

-One glue-stick

- 5 metres (1cm thick) satin ribbon - Morleys in Brixton (you can get them cheaper from ebay or John Lewis

- 2 packs of white A6 cars and envelope

- 6 pieces of tiffany blue (-ish) A7 cards

- Glitter ( but I simply used my Victoria Secret shimmer spray - because it also smells nice ^_^)

So the reason why it is named the 'deconstructed tiffany' because I was inspired by the actual tiffany box, but the famous black dress worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at tiffany's. So I used the ribbon to tie the envelope which referred to the movie and kept it ultra simple on the other envelope with a similar font to tiffany. 

 To add a personal touch for my friends, I simply addressed their name with a font similar to the Tiffany and co font (they actually have their own font) and there are two closest fonts which are :

- Engravers MT (utilising small caps)

-Century Schoolbook

 

Ta Da !!! 

Let me know what you think , would have done something a little different ?

x