Design Relationships

McClaren C12

I am not really a big fan of cars as such - living in London a city seemingly snarled up with them, or having lived in NL too, where pretty much everywhere is accessible by public transport, not being a car owner is almost a no-brainer. Yet today at the RCA I had the opportunity to attend a panel talk hosted by the Vehicle Design Department, in part because I was intrigued more by the talks title than the speakers attending (not being very ''au fait'' with the ''names'' associated with car design generally) which went under the banner of ''Design Relationships - the ways design relates to commerce and the way it touches people''.

Design - especially for ''consumer goods'' such as clothes, cars, furniture, telephones or computers - is perhaps as much about the emotive or tactile quality as anything. This was certainly the key message put across by Neal Stone, Director of consultancy Leapstone, and formally of BA and GNER, who put it in terms of how design is the key link between commerce and people. In many way this is one of the standard arguments, that innovation comes through design, as a way of promoting the health and leadership of any given brand or product. Yet design, or rather designers who create and develop cars, or other products, have a very real role as ''problem solvers'' - with even car designers having to think through how to develop a vehicle that coincides with the principles of ''cradle-to-cradle''. Frank Stephenson, Design Director for McClaren, explained how the ''time-to-market'' for cars has changed from the usual 36 months, to 18 months, and how it is now even possible to develop a car in just 10 months, which is achieved with advances in the speeding up of the ''drawing-board'' and prototyping stages of car design. Deputy Director of the Helen Hamlyn Centre, Rama Gheerawo, explained how in looking at the role of cars in cities today it's necessary to garner the views of a cross-section of car users, from passionate ''petrol heads'' to complete car abstainers, since all have a valid view, and indeed stake, in the usage and perceptions of cars today. Looking at how cars can be more ''connected'' to our everyday lives - how they are used for both professional and personal occasions, he described some possible solutions to how this could come about, and how cars may in future may become more ''useful'' in their role as ''street furniture'', when cars spend so much time just sat passively in parking bays. Kenny Schachter, a curator, was a car enthusiast of a different kind. As furniture has come to be displayed as ''Design Art'', so too he believes, do cars have a role to play in the gallery or exhibition space, as beautiful objects whose aesthetics and meaning behind them can be celebrated in the same way so many other ''designed'' products can be, and are. He cited in particular the project he commissioned the architect Zaha Hadid to create, with a 3-wheel and four-wheel version of what became the ''Z-Car''. This idea of creating ''bespoke'' or ''limited'' edition vehicles almost brings car design back full-circle, to its beginnings, with cars initially the preserve of enthusiastic and adventurous inventors.

For each of the speakers, collaboration was a key theme in the context of car design, yet this is also a facet that applies to many other areas including fashion. Since to realise the vision or ambition of a particular concept requires the input, and co-operation of a number of stakeholders - from designer's ''drawing board'' through to end user. Yet, as was acknowledged in the Q&A session at the end of the panel presentations, the designer's role is today perhaps more complex than ever, as they have to negotiate the demands and needs of the various aspects their designed product impacts upon. Less about trends or ''styling'', instead the social impact has to be considered, and while building ''efficiency'' into the design process is important, helped along by innovations in technology, this cannot negate the quality or emotive aspects of design. As cars too, can be viewed as ''fashion'' objects, unveiled in the glamorous surroundings of glitzy car shows, this emotive and tactile quality makes them not only interesting, but also desirable.


Z-Car, four-wheel version, by Zaha Hadid

Adieu Maria Luisa

In this weeks Editorial Letter Drapers Editor Jessica Brown reports on the immanent closure of Maria Luisa, the fabled independent boutique in Paris. In the same issue of Drapers, the UK's principal weekly trade magazine for the fashion industry, John Ryan reviews Louis Vuitton's newly opened Maison flagship store on London's Bond Street. The reporting of these two stories sheds light on a dilemma faced by many 'Fashion Cities', both the leading centres like Paris or London, and also those with aspirations to become Fashion, or indeed, Shopping Cities. Independent boutiques like London's Browns, Koh Samui and Start Boutique are often the testing ground for new designers, and also add cachet to more established brands who wish to be perceived as 'edgy'. At the same time they act as beacons of diversity in the the retail landscape of cities swamped with identikit monobrand stores by the likes of H&M, Zara and Mango. At the same time cities also seek to attract big-name brands, or those with big ambitions, to open grand and exciting flagship stores, as the success of both Top Shop and All Saints have seen in their recent store openings in New York. As with the Louis Vuitton opening, such stores are a marker or 'stamp-of-approval' in cementing the reputations of both Fashion Cities and even famous Fashion Streets. According to Brown, Maria Luisa herself is set to work on new ventures, both online and with department store Au Printemps, yet after 22 years in business it is a shame to see such store, particularly in what is said to be the 'Fashion Capital of the World', close its doors. While others may take its place, the adventurous independent shop still often remains the first place up-coming designers get their first taste of fashion world, either through selling their work, or working as a sales assistant.

The Researcher as Entrepreneur

Today was scheduled a workshop/lecture organised by FuelRCA, the business practice advisory arm of the college, on the thrillingly titled subject of 'Setting Up a Company'. The lecture was given by four accountancy and/or tax experts from KPMG, and from a sartorial and aesthetic point of view, they certainly looked like representatives of an accountancy firm. It is almost strange how it remains possible to tell exactly what someone does just by the demeanour of their features and mode of dress. Or as a colleague I attended the lecture with pointed out, you can always tell who is researcher by the pointedly seriousness of their expression, and their 'please don't distract me' body language.

I was interested to attend this session as part of my own research work is connected to how and why designers in the fashion industry go about setting up their business. As we learnt in this session the UK retains its incredibly laissez-faire attitude to the establishment of a business enterprise. As the process was explained to us in so seemingly simplistic terms it's wonder why everyone is not an entrepreneur. While the technicalities may be simple, what was not explained was the reality of the fortitude and stamina required in setting up a business, whether as a sole-trader or as a partnership or limited company. It made we aware that as researchers, certainly in our department of Fashion and Textiles, the requirement of an entrepreneurial spirit is certainly an asset in the practice of research. As much as it is an opportunity to be able to pursue research on a specific and nuanced topic, it is also required of the researcher to create their own opportunities via avenues of research, meetings, writing articles, submitting conference papers, archives, libraries and chance conversations with fellow researchers or colleagues. My own background, and indeed my first degree, is in the area of business and management, and in developing my own skills as a researcher over the past few months it has certainly felt at times like I am in pursuit of learning how to manage a business. While their are a number of books and lectures on the subject of writing a thesis or surviving the trauma of your viva voce, each of our projects are ultimately so individual, that perhaps as researchers we are all, to a certain extent, entrepreneurs.

How useful the practical aspects of this session will be I have yet to determine, as I ruminate on the vague prospects and opportunities for life in both the current research and the post-research phases. But for anyone else contemplating the adventure of entrepreneurial endeavour here are some links that might prove a useful starting point:

www.companieshouse.gov.uk
www.hmrc.gov.uk
www.businesslink.gov.uk
www.bbaa.org.uk