The Harper Collection is the result of creating a shirt with the design constraint of using one yard of fabric.

I cut one yard of muslin and began draping and pinning the fabric on the form . I had no idea of what would become of the draping but I decided to go with whatever idea came to mind first.

The tucks created an asymmetrical neckline that gave the shirt a refined look, in my opinion. That’s when the name Harper for the shirt emerged.

Next, I marked the fabric and cut it to create a muslin that can be used to draft a pattern.

With a limited amount of time remaining, I decided to refine the muslin. If time permitted drafting a pattern and making the design in fashion fabric, I would have chosen a teal wool fabric. 

After the refinement of the muslin, I decided that sleeves would not be complimentary to the neckline and possibly make the shirt a bit over designed. Thus, I decided to go with a open sleeve/ cape design to allow the neckline to remain the focus of the shirt.

The final design resulted in a unique piece that can worn for any occasion or season.

What do you think about The Harper Collection design?

NYAM Modern Vintage is a brand with a mission to develop clothing and accessories that merge modern ascetic and vintage design elements to create cohesive styles with a unique point of view.

The vision for NYAM Modern Vintage is to re-introduce the era of clothing and accessories for every occasion. The Signature Bag design is reflective for the occasion of the individual.

The NYAM Signature Bag reflects a balance of lush textures and vivid colors to make a powerful statement with sophisticated style.

 

The Signature Bag is hand crafted with corduroy, raw silk, cotton woven and a vintage accent zipper with a geometric pull for a unique astetic.

Each Signature bag is hand crafted and reflects its individuality. The slow fashion methods of craftsmanship and attention to detail is what makes this bag a unique addition to any collection.

The NYAM Signature Bag is a statement piece that can accentuate any ensemble and provide the individual with a modern vintage style.

Retail price: $98.00

 

Retailing marketing is the art of the deal in retail sales. Sales per square foot is paramount for retailers. The moment a customer finds their way to a retail store, the effectiveness of the retail marketing will be revealed if a customer decides to make a purchase.

The art of creating compelling retail displays that tell the brand story is one that is not to be overlooked when entering the retail realm. The customer’s first impression and experience while shopping a particular brand must be memorable and invoke a connection to the customer’s personal experience.

After conducting field research at a local retailer, I noticed a retail display that caught my attention in a clothing department. However, the retail display was not of clothing but accessories.

The display design evoked a feeling of being in a personal closet. I thought to myself, I would love to have one of these displays to organize my own accessories. Each accessory had a designated location that neatly displayed each piece in an organized manner.

This is consistent with the retail design strategy of creating categories within catetorgies to increase sales per square foot and reduce the time a customer would have to spend walking from department to department looking for accessories to complete the look of their clothing choices. The customers experiences and sensory stimuli are critical factors in purchasing decisions.

Retail marketing in vitally important for pop-up shops and stationary brick and mortar stores to increase the sales per square footage and build a lasting relationship with target customers.

 

 

Welcome. Thank you kindly for spending time on the NYAM Modern Vintage Blog. It’s nice to finally meet you.

The month of October has been a busy month with a total of forty-five views among twenty-three visitors from the United States, Ireland, Spain, India and South Africa, respectively.

Although most of you discover the blog through Facebook NYAM Modern Vintage -Facebook and Instagram NYAM Modern Vintage – Instagram . I would like to acknowledge that some of you discovered the blog through Parsons School of Design Parsons The New School Open Campus . Thank you all for dropping in and I look forward to your next visit.

The most popular content is about clothing design 2017 Summer Collection- 1980’s GRAFFITI ART Inspiration and accessories Signature Bag Final Product , Would you pay $25.75 for a pair glasses? – “Assembled Dopeness” .

Do not worry, there is much more where that came from and I am here to give the people what they want.

You will find more blog posts about designs and accessories and the development process of the NYAM Modern Vintage brand.

Subscribe to the Welcome to NYAM STUDIO blog to be the first to know about new designs and information. Leave a comment and let us know what brings you to the blog. We would love to hear from you!

The final production challenge for the signature bag included designing the signature bag with a new constraint of using a striped fabric for the base of the bag.

The decision to incorporate the stripes with the raw silk was one that had to be edited with the scale of the other design features in the bag.

I cut the stripes and moved them around on the bag until the editing and placement was in proportion to the other design elements.

In addition to the layout of the stripes, the scale and design elements of the zipper had to be considered to make the bag cohesive.

The retail price for the bag is $98.10, respectively including production and labor costs. Signature Bag Production Costs

Would you pay $98.10 for this signature bag?

The inspiration of a signature bag resulted from a photo of random objects that grabbed my attention and were gathered for this photo. The rich colors and textures of the objects inspired a bag that would reflect the balance of lush textures and vivid colors.

After reflecting for five minutes on what came to mind about the story the objects, power and sophistication left a lasting impression. So, I wanted to design a bag that made a powerful statement and lends itself to transcend time with a sophisticated style.

The next step in the process involved creating a a pattern and sewing a mockup of the bag to determine the labor, materials, profit, and retail price of the bag. The mockup was made out of muslin.

After the mockup was complete, adjustments to the paper pattern were made to refine the design and shape of the bag.

The next phase, involved calculating the production costs of the bag based on locally sourced fabrics and creating a production cost grid. The retail price will vary between $86.10 and $104.10, respectively, depending on the fabric choice. Production Costs Grid

Clothing sizes are a sensitive subject for most people. Trying on clothing can be both the most frustrating and gratifying experience. After trying on jeans in five different stores, you finally find the pair of jeans or shirt that fit perfect. Excited and with enthusiasm, you gather all of the jeans of that same style and size and dash to the cashier make your purchase. You are left feeling like a million bucks because you have found three pair of perfect jeans.

But, the struggle is not over yet. You take them home and try on another pair, only to discover the fit of the other pair are not as complimentary as the first pair you tried on in the store. Now, you are left asking yourself what happened?

This happened to me as I tried on various brands of clothing in a major retail department store. The size variances between brands left me with no idea of what size would fit properly between the brands. The pants that fit among the brands tried varied by a total of three sizes. It was trial and error and a daunting process.

Then, I finally found a pair of pants that fit perfectly. So, I tried on all of the pants in that size and discovered that each of the three pair fit differently. In some instances, the differences were obvious when holding the pants next to the identical pair.

The standards of which clothing sizes are developed will vary depending on the designer and clothing brand. Clothing sizes are standard sizes based on research that are developed to fit a wide range of people.  Thus, a size eight in one brand may fit the same as a size ten in another. Its all relative to the set of standards the brand developed to based their clothing sizes.

In addition to the varying size standards, the production factors incorporate another caveat. The production process can have a tolerance up to one-half of an inch. This means that two pair of the exact same pants in the exact same size can vary in fit up to one-half inch. The production standards allow for this variation to accommodate the variances in production due to machine tolerances and human aspects in the production process.

I now realize that sizing is a complex matrix of variables. The only way to ensure your clothing fits properly is to try on each garment.

The project scope was to design an accessory using unconventional materials inspired by a mood board previously developed from random objects.

The inspiration for the design of the glasses was gathered from the contours and gold accents that appears in a photo of a red vintage leather clutch with a gold bar that can be found on a Pinterest board titled Boundless

 

The materials considered for the design of the unconventional accessory project initially included leather, denim, glass beads, wooden beads, silver beads, ceramic beads, brass wire, and silver wire. After spending time mulling over what to design, the next day the concept to design a pair of glasses popped in my head.

After an hour of labor the prototype design for the Assembled Dopeness Frames was completed.

The production cost includes the materials and labor associated with manufacturing the glasses. However, once you add the the twenty percent profit margin the estimated retail costs is $25.75per pair. Assembled Dopness Frames Costs

The design features include a drape of beads that can be wrapped to embellish the hair or tied behind the neck or head providing interest to the back.

COMMENT and tell us your thoughts and if you WOULD YOU PAY $25.75 for a PAIR OF “ASSEMBLED DOPENESS GLASSES?”

 

 

 

 

The inspiration for the 2017 Summer Collection is 1980’s Graffiti Art. The mixture of colors, shapes and textures coupled with the uniqueness of each brush stroke of paint makes a powerful statement of individuality, confidence and power.

This mood board tells the story of uniqueness and strength. The interpretation of color and free forms in art gives each design a voice and point of view of it’s own.

My concept began with a vintage cotton fabric that I stumbled upon that immediately spoke to me. The brush strokes of color and texture created by the print oozed with 1980’s graffiti art and I am excited about the evolution of the concept and the pieces.

The few of the fabrics in the collection consist of a denim with a gold sheen, a cream knit with a silver sheen, a silver sheen tissue linen, and a cotton lawn. The slight sparkly sheen of the fabrics creates a depth against the graphic and colors in the painted fabric.

The collection is coming together well. Here is a look at the progress of the first pieces.

A gold sheen denim top.

A vintage inspired short with vintage seam lace trim.

A stunning silver sheen tissue linen and dolman sleeves is in the works.

The French seams and dolman sleeves are lovely on this linen. The sheen is undeniable.

With the celebration of 2017’s arrival, I am excited to share my journey! Happy New Year!

As the final adjustments are nearing the end at NYAM Studio, the time has arrived for NYAM Modern Vintage clothing line to fill the air. During this process of gathering inspiration, concepts, and sketches, I decided to engage myself daily with something inspiring to stimulate my creativity as I solidify the story I want to convey with the clothing.

One magazine that inspires me is PoP’Africana. PoP’Africa is an independently published magazine created and edited by Oroma Elewa. I was inspired by Oroma Elewa’s fearlessness and definitiveness about her vision and point of view as it relates to fashion and art.

Now, let me share my two most inspiring and favorite articles in PoP’Africana, Issue 1. The photographs were absolutely stunning and the styling was impeccable.

The first article that inspired me is titled “NATIVE, Inspired by The Famished Road”.

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The second article that inspired me is titled “ATAUI DENG and Why We Love Her”.

Photo Copyright Omoro Elewa, PoP’Africana Issue 1

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Oroma Elewa published only two limited edition issues of the PoP’Africana magazine. Although the magazines were published a few years ago,Oroma Elewa’s work continues to be an inspiration.