I researched the current pop look and style and how pop identity is represented in the media. This would help me build the identity for my star persona.
Billie Eilish:
Billie Eilish is one of the youngest, most influential pop stars in the pop industry right now and feel she is very influential for my star persona due to her unique identity.
She has hit the headlines many times this year with the release of her debut album "When we all fall asleep where do we go?" and her unique style.
When looking at her style, she tends to wear baggy clothes that are bright in colour and convey a youthful sense of vitality.
Her sense of identity is edgy and unique while also remaining true to the pop genre through the colours and bright accents. She wears neon colours which are highly in trend currently but fuses this 'trendiness' with elements of alternative style and culture such as spray painting her clothes and dying her hair. Through her spray painted outfits, her sense of self, being unique and edgy, is strongly conveyed since the outfit looks like she created it herself. This shows she will go to the full extent of expressing who she is through her style.
I also like the way Billie Eilish doesn't feel the pressure from the media to sexualise her body by wearing tight or revealing clothing. This was also addressed in another article I found about her online.
The article also expressed why Billie Eilish has such a strong, loyal fanbase.
A lot of the reasoning for Billie's loyal fanbase was due to her sense of self expression and what she expresses in her music. I thought this was really important since she is giving out a positive message to teenagers while also not being afraid to address harder topics such as anxiety.
The lack of sexualisation in her aesthetic, ironically attracted the attention of lingerie and underwear brand, Calvin Klein:
In the video, she further expresses her love for her un-sexualised image and the fact nobody can make comments on her body since she doesn't showcase it.
On Instagram, Billie Eilish speaks in a colloquial way when captioning her photos. This heightens the closeness she wants to portray with her fans as they feel she is speaking directly to them. Her informal, fun language showcases her youthful personality which is popular with the audience of 16-25 year olds. She evidently values the closeness she has with her fans and is humble of the pop-star experience she's having in her life at such a young age.
INFLUENCE ON MY PROJECT:
After looking at Billie Eilish's star persona, I took some inspiration which I would also like to include in my star persona:
- Strong, loyal fan base: I will achieve this through maintaining a fun-loving 'vibe' to my star persona, through personality, style and branding, however also talk about issues such as gay rights and the feeling of being stifled and out of place at work or at school through my music video, social media pages and website,
-Style: I also want to create a unique style for my character. I like the idea of baggy clothing and having a more 'alternative' aspect to my style.
- Values: It is clear Billie Eilish values the trait of staying true to one's self, hence her keeping her body 'for herself' and not needing to sexualise it to be respected as an artist in the industry. This is a theme I feel I will convey greatly throughout my music video. I don't want the girls in my video to be sexualised nor the relationship with my character's girlfriend. I want to subvert the often stereotypical representation of women in the industry to convey the fact that females in the industry don't need to sexualise their bodies and can express themselves how they like.
- Brand Partnership: I like how Billie Eilish's aesthetic almost juxtaposes with the Calvin Klein Brand. I also want to create something similar for my star persona. To add to my star persona's 'edgy' side to her personality, I decided to create a collaboration with skateboard magazine brand 'Thrasher'. Since skateboarding is a typically male-associated sport and lifestyle, I thought it would be innovative to have a female face to the brand to create something new and exciting for my fan-base and express my individualism in my identity.
To initially start with ideas for my star persona, I put together a mood board:
I included JAY DAH's values, attitudes and beliefs, her style choices and influences and briefly planned the outfit I'd like her to wear in her music videos and future photoshoots.
This helped my visualise her brand more and how to construct her in my music video to express her individualism, mix of alternative and pop style and her fun-loving brand.
This then lead me to put together an outfit I would wear in my music video.
I feel the black netting under the thrasher t-shirt and the t-shirt itself gives the outfit the edgy vibe I'm looking for. However, the bright yellow trousers and platform shoes overall, create a fun-loving exciting look which is true to the pop genre.
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