Asakusa, Tokyo

I got back from Japan a couple days ago and I honestly wish I stayed longer! I had so much fun with family and friends, and I hate that the minute that bubble popped, I'm stuck at home doing coursework. While I'm working on my creative direction for my AW15/16 trend forecast, I couldn't help myself but procrastinate... So I started editing the new photos that I took in Japan, I was going to upload these some time in January, but thought, why not post today, so I am...

These photos were taken in Asakusa, Tokyo. My father use to take me here all the time when I was younger. We would walk up the stairs towards the o-mikuji stalls and receive a written fortune. So if you're visiting Tokyo, maybe try your luck at the temple in Asakusa!

In the photos below, I was wearing a poncho from Burberry, and Timberland boots.
Photographs taken by Nicole Ng.

Have a great New Year!

MN

The Fashion Dialogue

The Peninsula, Tokyo

Instead of slaving away working on my uni project this week, I'm actually enjoying the holiday with the family in Tokyo. Photographs taken by Nicole Ng.

What I'm wearing: Hat (Jack Wills), Scarf (Burberry), Coat (Maje) and Jeans (American Eagle)

Hope everyone's enjoying their Christmas holidays! 

MN

The Fashion Dialogue

Hanbok Cafe, Seoul

I know this seems so random, but it's been weeks since either Ryan and I have posted, and I felt the need to post something. Recently, I watched this video on YouTube (Things Asian Girls Like), and at one point, they mentioned professional photoshoots... So it got me reminiscing over my summer vacation, which I believe is quite reasonable because I've been in uni long enough.

Anyway, I went on a family trip to Seoul, and my cousin and I decided to go to a hanbok cafe. For those of you who do not know what a hanbok is, it's basically a traditional Korean dress. I was so new to the concept of hanboks, it was just so much fun. They first give you the menu so you can choose whichever package you want to do, don't worry, they can speak English! They then get you into their undergarments, which is a petticoat under all the colourful garments, and then do your make up. I had a layer of lashes on my eyes, and trust me, you can tell. After doing your make up, you can choose the garment you want, and they will help dress you. The last thing they do is work on your hair, and then you're allowed to go around the cafe and take selfies before the photographer gets ready to take your shots. They provide props and accessories depending on what went well with your costume.

My cousin and I felt like such tourists, but we didn't really care, we had so much fun messing around the cafe! It's worth trying out, especially if it's your first time going to Korea, I definitely would recommend it to anyone!

Here's a little sneak peek of what we did:

MN 

The Fashion Dialogue

Halloween 2014

Happy Halloween everyone! Hope you all enjoyed yourselves last night! And obviously not suffering too much from a hangover! But if you are, good job! 

I love dressing up, so it's not surprising that I decided to dress up for Halloween Thursday night and Friday night!

Sarah on the left, Megan in the middle, and me on the right

So that was Halloween eve! I dressed up as a zombie army girl and Megan was a dead mermaid and Sarah was a vampire! Eye contacts from Hunt or Dye, and random props from pound land! :P  

I didn't dress up too scarily for Halloween though! I was Willy Wonka, so I carried a basket of sweets and passed it out all night! It's honestly a great way to make friends in a club! 

I got my costume online this year, had to return it and re-buy it in a smaller size, but the online store handled everything very efficiently, so I definitely recommend it. If you ever have fancy dress nights, check out Joker's Masquerade! My Willy Wonka costume came with the hat and the collar.

Me and Sammie

Me and my Oompa Loompa

Lastly, just a happy Halloween from me and Ryan!

What did everyone dress up as this Halloween? Leave it in the comments below! 

MN

The Fashion Dialogue 

Storytelling, Engaging The Consumer

Hey guys so todays post has been inspired by the theme set by a free short Digital Marketing course I've signed up for offered by Southampton. I've decided to look at recent advertising campaigns using story telling to engage consumers and kind of pick apart how I think they work, and if they didn't, why?

L'Invitation Au Voyage 

I'm sure we all remember the ad campaign by Louis Vuitton at the beginning of the year, for those who don't or just want to watch it again. 

Part I

Part II

So here we see a very powerful use of story telling, with an engaging progression of events, and a very interactive element as at the time of the videos the Louis Vuitton's website was set out with particular pages to watch the videos themed on there locations. It had background sound effect of those at a masquerade ball, there were characters and stories.
I feel this was a very successful use of story telling to engage the consumer it wasn't about advertising the brand it was a story twisted within a marketing campaign. This to me is much more effective especially for a luxury brand where the 'buy from us' advertising campaign is simple not an option. The drama and draw the of the videos also draws me in and makes me want to find out more, and therefore leads me either to the Louis Vuitton website or into a Louis Vuitton store hence achieving part of its goal.
The second part of the story leaves wondering is the more, is there a third section? How successful do you believe these short films are in engaging us as consumers, and customers? Do you think storytelling is the right platform for luxury brand to advertise itself to
potential customers

L'Odyssée De Cartier 

So again I'm going to another example that's not the most recent but one I feel like is a strong example of how story telling has been used and continued by a brand but with a different cinematic style. 

I really loved this video, I thought it was powerful and really captured the history of Cartier, it also created a very visual and theatric story, with a quite powerful atmosphere. It feels like story is taken straight from the pages of Percy Jackson, or the walls of a Roman mosaic. Its is a visual illustration of the international presence and story of Cartier the brand, where the Great Wall is an ancient dragon, and a beautiful palace of animals and amazing garden made of rare gems and precious metals - the consumer is drawn into a fantasy realm, a fictional adventure about a real brand.

I believe that story telling is a great way of communicating with your consumers and that it is a tool perfect for luxury brands but available and well used by brands across all levels of the market. There are many examples that I would love to talk about but thought better to not ramble on for a millennia. How about you which examples of story telling do you think a brand has really effectively or maybe totally failed at using, please share and comment you opinions and ideas.


RNW 

The Fashion Dialogue  

St. John's Wood, London

So this weekend - you probably already know - I spent it in London; did the zombie run on saturday, but I spent my sunday chilling with my friend Natalie. It was my birthday last weekend, and so we decided to do a mini belated birthday shoot with the clothes my parents and brother bought me!

My parents got me a Burberry trench coat, and my brother got me a dress from Patrizia Pepe.

Hope everyone had an awesome weekend! I definitely did, especially the weekend before; spending my birthday in Southampton. We got a booth and I even wore my McQueen dress! (Apologies for the photo quality, they were taken on my phone...)

Everyone celebrating my birthday at Oceana!

Me and Ryan! x

MN

The Fashion Dialogue

2.8 Hours Later

Halloween came early this year! :) 

My friends and I volunteered as zombies! 

Spent my Saturday dressing up as a zombie and running around chasing people in a giant game of tag called 2.8 Hours Later. The game is based of the movies 28 Days Later and the sequel 28 Weeks Later! The aim of the game is to pass through zones and at the end of the run, you can celebrate at the zombie disco or survivor ball. Any more information can be found here. Tickets are still available now, so if you are up for a exercising and a scare, tickets should still be available on the website!

As for safety of the game, don't worry about it, it's completely safe! Zone managers in the game could help you out, and zombies won't actually eat your brains! Last night really got me psyched for Halloween! What's everyone dressing up as this year, leave it in the comments below!

My zone and zone managers!

MN

The Fashion Dialogue