Research informs good design, plain and simple. If you want to see something well thought out or with very clever detailing and ideas, check the research behind it.
Of course the other huge part of this is communicating that through good execution. Currently it seems easy to simply put something out that looks beautiful and feels beautiful but where are the stories? The hook is missing!
No one is being taken to task, not in a real way at least. It seems work just has to have the glossiest photographer behind it, generate a huge social media following, be sexy enough, have a handful of the connected people pushing it and bam! we have a winner. It might be flippant to say that it is easy to do that because there are many failed projects that have died attempting such a format. It still takes work.
So why am I talking against it if it is something successful? Depends on the success we are talking about. A good story is driven by deep research and then translating the research shows off your skill in communicating that idea.
Older Carnival bands showed how really good research translated into idea development. That was a time when it mattered to these bands to put something out that meant something–and it resonated well. There is a reason we still celebrate and respect the traditional sailor costume, a good Wild Indian Mas, a Bailey Production, Paradise Lost. Peter Minshall showed this to us time and time again, going beyond just a title piece for his bands and creating a fantasy informed by research putting ideas into context.
With fashion, at the end of the day, everyone is buying a shirt, a pair of pants, and a dress. Why is this brand's shirt different from the shirt by the guy across the street? Why am I going to spend money on your item as opposed to some item I can get at all the stores in the malls, on Frederick Street and online at competitive prices?
The answer begins by having your story: doing your research to build the necessary elements to tell that story in your clothing and then communicating that idea to your customer. If you begin with copying another designer/idea you have already lost your edge.
What are the elements? What are the pieces, the bits that make the whole? The reason your clothing has a particular shape, finish, colour, pattern, texture must be driven by your research. Just doing that sets you apart.
This can be superficial where you just skim the surface of an idea. Instead, you want to feel like a creative investigator looking for clues to inform your design process. Getting more material and making clever links between those truly creates an opportunity to innovate. Yes, "innovate" has been used quite often and may have lost its meaning; however, here is where it works.
We have a lot of designers, brands, and well-presented ideas but who is going to break from being safe, copying, sameness and really tap deeper into our creative design potential with better research and execution?
That is the new frontier.