Research - Analysis of Past and Current News Stories.

As mentioned in my previous research post, about documentary "Picture Me : A Model's Story", it's important for our group to be looking at factual media as well as fictional to ensure that the plot line for our film has a high level of verisimilitude and accuracy. Hence, I have researched the three biggest news stories in fashion from 2010 for our group to use when constructing our film's plot.
I drew these stories from mainstream media sources that would appeal to our target demographic of females 18-34 (magazines such as Grazia and Look, and online magazines/blogs such as Vogue.co.uk, New York Magazine's "The Cut", and Fashionista.com) to ensure that these stories will be familiar as well as accurate. I have summarized them below.

• Lee McQueen (of Alexander McQueen)'s suicide :

Nothing shook the fashion world quite as much during 2010 than the suicide of designer Lee "Alexander" McQueen on February 11th. He was one of the most creative and innovative designers of our time, having had his technical skills honed at the prestigious London fashion school Central St Martins and on Savile Row. His decision to take his own life at the height of his career highlights the pressure the fashion world, with its fast pace and constant scrutiny, places upon those who work within it.

• Terry Richardson's sexual harrassment scandal :

In March, Danish model Rie Ramussen came forward to confront acclaimed fashion photographer Terry Richardson, who once worked with her on a Gucci campaign, at a party in Paris. She accused him of using his clout to sexually harass young women aspiring to be models. "They are too afraid to say no because their agency booked them on the job and are too young to stand up for themselves. I told him, 'What you do is completely degrading to women. I hope you know you only f*ck girls because you have a camera, lots of fashion contacts and get your pictures in Vogue.'"
Days later, another model named Jamie Peck came forward and detailed her two shoots with Terry Richardson. She quoted him as saying (about breaking into modeling), "It's not who you know, it's who you blow. I don't have a hole in my jeans for nothing."
Over the weeks and months that followed, several more models came forward, adding fuel to the fire of rumors that had been circulating about Terry Richardson's lewd behavior, in particular towards young models, within the industry for years.

• London Fashion Week models unionized :

Stories like the Terry Richardson scandal and the release of the "Picture Me" documentary raised awareness of the issues young models face, leading to the first ever fashion week to proceed under a collective agreement between models and designers. (London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2011.) The UK model union reached an agreement with the British Fashion Council to govern working hours, break times, minimum rates for fashion shows (most shows used to pay "in trade"; e.g. in clothes), etc. These provisions sound basic, and they are. The modeling industry at present lacks almost any regulations whatsoever, and models, as independent contractors and often minors, are very vulnerable to exploitation.

These stories have enabled our group to pull together more themes which we could represent in our film/trailer. The emphasis of these stories is on the pressures of the fashion/modeling industry and the vulnerability of new models, and the Terry Richardson story in particular brings up the sexual harassment theme that was touched upon in the "Piture Me" documentary.