Point of Difference

Today we were talking about the importance of having a point of difference and a purpose as an emerging designer.  I think that my background plays an important role in determining what my point of difference will be.  I started in the industry as a model when I was 16 years old whilst I was still in school.  Once I completed my HSC I then tried out for Australia's Next Top Model TV Series and made on to Season 5.  This was such an eye opening experience for me and completely changed my view of the fashion industry.  I met many people in the in the industry such as Alex Perry, Charlotte Dawson, Sarah Murdoch, Wayne Cooper and even walked in Dion Lee's first TAFE Graduate Show 'The Four Boys'.  I worked with a lot of start up designers on their look book shoots and walked in numerous Fashion Weeks which allowed me to see everything that happens behind the scenes.  The experience was invaluable and confirmed for me that I eventually wanted to get into the design side of the industry.  I am still currently signed with the agency London Management Group which is even more helpful now than ever before in gaining industry contacts.  

http://londonmgtgroup.com/sydney/women/view/reference_no:332/adele-thiel

The fact that I have been so heavily involved in this industry since the age of 16 really gives me a great understanding of the industry from all aspects such as runway, look books, editorials, fittings and therefore really feeds into my point of difference from a lot of other fashion graduates.  

My other point of difference as an emerging designer is my design aesthetic.  Although the industry has been saturated in digital print, I am approaching it in a completely new and different way.  Some of my prints have a more subtle approach through creating the illusion of texture but they are tonally all the same colour whereas others are large scale bold placement prints.  The imagery that I have incorporated is quite new and innovative and when it is explored on such a large scale, it becomes extremely interesting and eye catching.  The complexity of these prints and their placements challenges the prints that we see in the commercial market today.