#andwalsh

Fig 1: Andwalsh.com. 2020. [online] Available at: <https://andwalsh.com/work/all/milly-color-lover/> [Accessed 10 December 2020].

Background on Milly (client):

Milly collections merge American sportswear with influences of Parisian ateliar techniques, incorporating custom-made fabrics and prints.

Michelle Smith, founder of Milly, is well known for using her platform to highlight important issues such as equality. In 2019, the fashion label went under due to the changing retail economy, and it was a bitter pill for her to swallow.

She then decided to create a new fashion line which is simply called “Michelle Smith”, and it serves as reflection of her new life. She has shifted from always wanting to create something that’s on trend, to rather focusing on how she can express herself most honestly through fabric.

Smith’s aesthetic reaches the target audience of a more mature New York woman, who’s done with the norms of office dressing and how it has been enforced over the years. Women don’t wear her clothes because it is pretty for others, but rather because it makes them feel gppd and confident themselves. (Rosman 2020)

Background on &Walsh:

In 2020, Jessica Walsh, founder and partner of Sagmesiter & Walsh decided to go solo. &Walsh’ main vision is to help brands “find their weird”, and that is evident in her work. &Walsh joins the 1% of women-owned creative agencies - a statistic that Walsh has said she wants to change. One of the main focus areas for &Walsh is to empower women and non-binary people through mentorship, portfolio reviews, talks and meet-ups.

Jessica Walsh has wanted to open up her own agency since before she met Stefan Sagmeister, and even though she describes her time with the “design legend” as a great decade, her desire to do open up her own agency has never faded over the past 10 years of working together. (Brewer 2019)

The name &Walsh isn’t purely a reminder of its origins, but also to highlight the essence of their approach, which is being collaborators with its clients. The ampersand is at the centre of its brand identity to reinforce that the creative synergies between client and agency are vital to the success of the work, and can be customised to best fit each client or creative partner.

Motivation behind the project:

Milly is a client of &Walsh. Fashion designer, Michelle Smith wanted to create a Fall 2018 collection that speaks out on topics such as inclusiveness, individuality and coming together. &Walsh agency was appointed to find a way that highlights this collection, and portrays it for what it truly is - a celebration of people.

Aim of project:

To showcase Smith’s work in a way that reaches the target audience in a striking and meaningful way. Smith used chromatic design and the colors of the rainbow to spark these conversations, and &Walsh had to figure out how they will take this collection to market.

Project Objectives:

To advertise Milly’s work in a way that not only sells her product, but also form a part of the bigger conversations around equality, individuality and togetherness.

Summary:

At their core, both Smith and &Walsh share the same values, which is mainly around empowering women. To make it in the fashion and design industries as women has been a challenge that they have both overcome, and they want to share it with the world in hopes that they will be inspired the same way they were.

The rainbow flag is used as a general icon of social equality and individuality. This campaign uses those colours to not only highlight the colour palette of the range, but also ensures that it is an “instant get”, and that the target audience will instantly know who they are trying to talk to.

Both Smith and Walsh strive to create a world where everyone is treated equally, and feel confident in being themselves. This makes them the perfect collaborators. They both had the same goal in mind and could therefore work together effortlessly to bring the work to life.

Not only does this collaboration visually intrigue me, but it also offers a great way to communicate a very important issue in a positive and constructive way - through brilliant fashion and design.

Bibliography:

Behance (n.d.). Milly: Color Lover. [online] Behance. Available at: https://www.behance.net/gallery/83178937/Milly-Color-Lover?tracking_source=search%7Cfashion%20portrait%20art%20direction%20color.

Jenny Brewer - It’s Nice That. (2019). Jessica Walsh is launching her own creative agency, &Walsh. [online] Available at: https://www.itsnicethat.com/news/jessica-walsh-independent-creative-agency-launch-graphic-design-240719.