Oxfam's Vintage Brand Analysis

Aside from using Retro and Heritage to describe an artefact the term Vintage, is also used commonly in a commercial design context; as mentioned previously in a design context we define Vintage as an item that has remained unchanged since its original production and is still in use today. A prime example Vintage in use in design is shops such as Beyond Retro, a chain of nine stores and an online e store, who stock clothing from well known brands produced in this time period that would otherwise have been discarded, the garments have simply been cleaned and sold on with no modifications making them a vintage item (Beyond Retro, 2015). Oxfam is a more well known example of selling vintage clothing with a new specialised vintage section online

where one off goods produced in 1950-1980 can be bought (Oxfam c2015), these again have not been modified since the day they were produced and only cleaned in order to be re sold; this added term of vintage to what is otherwise unwanted items also allows a firm to sell them for a higher margin as holding items from the past has become increasingly on trend over the past 10 years. These firms leaving the items unchanged since their original production means that they can be defined as Vintage items, being produced in the period around 1940-1980 and remaining unchanged.

Conclusion
In conclusion the terms Vintage, Retro and Heritage are all commonly used in a design context in the modern day; and if we are to use these terms we are to understand that they have different meanings when describing a quality of an object.

If an item is referred to as Vintage it is a product that has been produced in the 1900’s, or pre industrial, and is still in its original state when being used in a 21st century context, an example of this term being Oxfam’s Vintage clothing range. If we are to describe a brand as a Heritage Brand we would be referring to a company that has taken inspiration from either its own history or relevant individuals and used it in their recent work in order to define their brand image as traditional but that is still relevant today; an individual example of this being Hunter Wellies. Describing an object as having Retro Styling would imply its relation to the time period of the 1940’s-1970’s, and reference the common design style of this period through use of bright colours, repeated patterns and motifs, over decoration and realistic illustration; an example of this being the Marks and Spencers reusable shopping bags. These terms stand alone in definition however its is commonly difficult to pin an object or brand as having a singular one of these terms; with many encompassing two or more of them. This is because all three terms would refer to the past and, with the exception of Heritage varying on the example in use, would reference the same time period of between 1930-1980, at a broad range. This aspect means that commonly the terms are often used in combination and will have features of being, for instance, an object could be Retro styled but that is also Vintage because it is original; or as the main example showed, Marks and Spencers bags being a Retro styled object with Heritage roots to them. It is becoming increasingly common that not only the combination of two or more terms can be applied to something, but that the terms are

being used in areas of design; it would appear that in the 21st century reflecting on previous design history is one of the now key influences on modern design. Looking back upon these historic periods of time that are defined through Vintage, Retro and Heritage is continuously having a larger impact on the way not only objects are designed but across all design disciplines of design; textiles, art, graphics etc.; and the influence is only expected to grow, with more corporate and individual designers getting on board with this new, yet old, trend in design.