Media Goals
To teach the reader to interpret the onscreen costume as a part of cinematic language, rather than viewing the character’s clothing merely as a beautiful visual element.
Media Mission: to make visual film analysis accessible to people without specialized training.
Media Themes
Media at the Intersection: Fashion, Film, Costume History, and Visual Culture
Niche Focus: Screen costume as a storytelling tool and a source of knowledge about fashion. The primary subject of every project is the costume, the character, the setting, or the visual technique.
Competitors
Main Competitors:
— «Movie Costumes for Beginners» (telegram channel)
— The Blueprint (indirect competitor)
— Fashion in Film Festival (international competitor)
— The Costume Designer (professional benchmark competitor)
«Movie Costume for Beginners»
An official channel from costume designer and film costume historian Anna Bashtova. The channel has about 39 thousand subscribers; Bashtova also works as a costume designer, teaches, and has written extensively about costumes in cinema for many years.
Strengths — The author’s professional expertise; — A perspective from someone working within the film industry; — A large volume of visual material; — A blend of film history, contemporary projects, and personal professional experience.
The Blueprint
A major independent media outlet focused on fashion and contemporary culture. The publication features a section dedicated to film.
Strengths — High editorial expertise; — Strong visual language; — Connecting fashion with cultural and historical context; — Professional authors.
Fashion in Film Festival
The project comprehensively explores the relationship between film and fashion: it publishes essays, interviews, and books, works with archives, and hosts film screenings. Its contributors examine costume not in isolation, but in relation to art, history, and culture.
Strengths — Deep research foundation; — Work with archives and rare films; — Academic expertise; — Unconventional topics.
The Costume Designer
The publication from the American Costume Designers Guild is dedicated directly to the profession of costume design. It features content on contemporary films and television series, interviews, and professional analyses of designers' work.
Strengths
— direct access to industry professionals;
— firsthand information;
— a strong focus on the costume creation process.
Following a competitor analysis, four criteria were identified that allow us to differentiate from the competition.
1. Target Audience: Aspiring Professionals
«Costume Design for Dummies» and The Blueprint are aimed at the mass consumer—they lack sufficient information for beginning professionals.
In contrast, international publications focus on established industry veterans.
«Costume Designer’s Notes» will provide materials for those just beginning their journey in the film industry.
2. Simple yet Professional Language
In «Client Notes, ” you will find important industry terminology, but everything is explained in plain language. The publication will also include a dedicated glossary.
3. Material Structure
The number adheres to one narrow theme
4. Opportunities for Relevant Work and Portfolio Assistance
Through the «Costumer’s Notes» social media channels, projects can find specialists, and media staff will assist emerging professionals in building their portfolios.
Target Audience
Young aspiring professionals and students in the creative industries who are beginning their journey in costume design.
Age: 20–30 years
Geography: Moscow, St. Petersburg, and major Russian cities
Income: middle-level
Example: A 22-year-old woman who is finishing her final years in the Faculty of Creative Industries and works as a styling assistant.She constantly saves shots from films and images from Pinterest, but often doesn’t know where a specific visual technique came from or why it works.She needs the context in which an image was created, as well as an understanding of where and how an aesthetic originated, in order to incorporate it into her own project.The «Costume Designer’s Notes» media— explains why a certain silhouette functions;
— reveals the origin of a specific shape;
— shows which historical period is being referenced;
— explains the principles of costume selection.Gradually, this media becomes her contextual visual reference library.
Unique Selling Proposition
«Costume Designer’s Notes”—an educational media platform focused on costume in cinema that uses short visual breakdowns to explain how clothing builds a character, narrates historical eras, and connects film to fashion history.
Key Project Attributes
Accessible — requires minimal preparation for introduction
Expert — draws upon the history of fashion, film, and costume designers' work
Applied — teaches the reader to independently analyze visual solutions and provides material for their own visual literacy
