Head of Womenswear and Accessories design at John Lewis, Iain Ewing discussed Fast Fashion and how to stick to a clear design idea in the GFW Live! talk by John Lewis.
Iain Ewing began his informative talk with a piece of wisdom, he said that graduates should “stay true to themselves”. He discussed the serious side of the fashion industry as he explained John Lewis’ in house design team and the 7 brands that it contains whilst linking them to Macro Trends that he is concerned about in our modern day.
He defined Macro Trends and explained the social, economic and political influences and macro trends as being the bigger picture that is inter linked and in the ever changing fashion industry, it doesn’t change from season-to-season.
Iain discussed a few different trends that are apparent in the work he does. The made-up word, Stuffication was used to describe the way that in this digital world everything moves so fast and you can get anything anywhere at any time. Him and John Lewis as a brand believe that choice can be good and bad, “some people don’t like choosing between a lot of things”.
The macro trend, trust has a huge influece on the work he does. Because of the turbulent times that we live in we are overloaded with “fake news”. 65% of buyers are looking for brands that believe in something and have a moral compass and that’s what John Lewis wants to be.
Iain shared the importance of style, substance and soul. As a company John Lewis want to give back. Within their 7 in house brands they produce pieces that the right price for the right quality.
Iain final piece of advice for graduates was that “in these days when there is so much choice and everything moves so fast it is really important to have your own point of view”.
Words by Rosie Smith
Photography by Zoe Griffin