My love other than fashion is film; with half of my family in the industry I couldn’t escape it. Arguably film lead to my interest in fashion – from Audrey Hepburn in Givenchy in Sabrina (1954), to Julia Roberts in dresses designed by Marilyn Vance in Pretty Woman (1990) – I was hooked. As a result, I have decided to take a deeper look into the role TV and film in fashion promotion.
Fig. 1 Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina (1954)
After reading sections of the book “Fashion film: art and advertising in the digital age” by Nick Rees-Roberts, I have found that due to the rise of social media, fashion brands have moved past just promotional display of garments, and have to focus more on the emotional experience of the brand to consumers. Brands are now content producers who operate social media themselves, and are “under pressure to maintain a constant flow of imagery across digital platforms.” Some brands have made films to “challenge the sociocultural, ecological, or economic status quo;” attempting to “blend the commercial with the ecological.” For example, H&M have made two eco-films; Close the Loop: sustainable fashion through recycled clothes (2015) and Rewear It (2016). The brand has frequently been held responsible for greenwashing, and both films worked to promote garment recycling “in tandem with a progressive take on minority identity politics…processed through the stylized lens of globalized consumer individualism” (Rees-Roberts, 2016).
Quynh Mai (founder of Moving Image & Content) has criticised fashion brands for using digital content from print shoots and using low quality behind-the-scenes footage on film. She believes that a “commercially successful” fashion film involves good storytelling, distribution across different social media platforms, technical capability in film, reallocation of advertising budgets, and focus on tracking “engagement metrics…through comments, feedback, and shares.” Furthermore, some narrative films made by fashion brands have shown their “reliance on dialogue” while promoting products, due to “failed attempts at dramatic storytelling that overshadow the fashion.” For example, Karl Lagerfeld’s campaign film Remember Now (2011) intended to sell the Chanel lifestyle, although ended up “superficially” name-dropping fashion icons such as Brigitte Bardot in order to desperately promote the collection (Rees-Roberts, 2016).
Fig. 2 Yo My Saint film by Kenzo (2018)
One of my favourite directors Wes Anderson has collaborated with luxury fashion brand Prada on several occasions; he complemented the brand’s visual identity while adapting to its commercial needs. He was employed by Prada for their film campaign Castello Cavalcanti (2013) for the “Prada Classics” series made in Rome that paid homage to Italian culture and cinema. Anderson’s filmmaking has had a significant impact on fashion, and his “obsessive attention to decorative detail” makes him an perfect for fashion communication. My favourite campaign short-film by Wes Anderson is Come Together (2016), which was in collaboration with H&M for one of their Christmas collections. The film stars actor Adrien Brody as a train conductor, and the story follows passengers on a train whose journey home for Christmas has been delayed by snowfall. Following Anderson’s signature style, the short is full of “beautiful scenery and pastel colours” as the consumer is introduced to the train’s individual passengers (wearing H&M) who star in “a heart-warming tale of togetherness in the festive period” (Forward Festival, 2016). I love how tastefully the collection is presented in the campaign, as it doesn’t distract from the story and helps to create his aesthetically pleasing colour palette.
In addition, luxury fashion in film can be integrated in a way that supports “both the film and the brand’s different understandings of visual storytelling.” For example, the Louis Vuitton luggage used in Wes Anderson’s The Darjeeling Limited (2007) was a metaphor for the characters’ emotional baggage (Rees-Roberts, 2016). My other favourite fashion advertising campaign film is Yo! My Saint (2018) by Kenzo. The brand always start with their a storyline when creating collections. The short is filled with “stunning fashion” and follows the “deeper exploration of the relationship” between an artist and his muse (Richards, 2018). Musician Karen O worked in collaboration with the director, and wrote an original song for the film. I think that the music carries the story, and is my favourite component of the campaign (aside from the make-up looks and garments).
Fig. 3 Come Together by Wes Anderson for H&M (2016)
We also covered the role of technology in fashion promotion. I found the concept of Balenciaga’s video game Afterworld very interesting, as I believe that they need to review their target audience. For example, Balenciaga collections contain very expensive products, and videogames usually appeal to a younger audience, who will consume more affordable fashion brands. Having said that, with COVID-19 postponing most events and leaving designers to adapt collection promotion for online viewing, I believe that both designers and consumers may be more open to digital fashion branding concepts; “the most successful fashion brands of the future will create an immersive digital shopping experience with things like virtual fit or sizing tools, virtual showrooms and virtual stylists” (Morgan, 2020). Finally, after learning about digital fashion, I believe that it could be unethical as it would separate society, rich from poor. For example, VR requires an expensive headset and digital fashion could come at a high price point. This could have a detrimental effect on younger, more impressionable consumers who may come to believe that this technology is essential.
Bibliography
Forward Festival (2016) Wes Anderson Creates Beautiful H&M Christmas Commercial Starring Adrien Brody. At: https://forward-festival.com/article/wes-anderson-creates-beautiful-hm-christmas-commercial-starring-adrien-brody (Accessed 24/05/2021).
Morgan, B. (2020) The Fashion Industry Is Ready For A Makeover: 4 Changes We’ll See In The Future At: https://www.forbes.com/sites/blakemorgan/2020/12/03/the-fashion-industry-is-ready-for-a-makeover-4-changes-well-see-in-the-future/?sh=716e5063914a (Accessed 24/05/2021).
Rees-Roberts, N. (2016) Fashion film: art and advertising in the digital age. London: Bloomsbury Visual Arts. At: https://www-bloomsburyfashioncentral-com.ucreative.idm.oclc.org/products/berg-fashion-library/book/fashion-film-art-and-advertising-in-the-digital-age (Accessed 24/05/2021).
Richards, K. (2018) Kenzo Explores the Relationship Between Artist and Muse in This Spectacular New Film. At: https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/kenzo-explores-the-relationship-between-artist-and-muse-in-this-spectacular-new-film/ (Accessed 24/05/2021).
List of Images
Fig. 1 Lang, C. (1954) Audrey Hepburn in Sabrina. [Still from a film] At: https://www.thecut.com/2016/04/audrey-hepburn-givenchy-fashion-love-affair.html (Accessed 24/05/2021).
Fig. 2 Amirpour, A. (2018) Yo My Saint film by Kenzo. [Film Poster] At:
https://www.dnamag.co/home/kenzo-yo-my-saint (Accessed 24/05/2021).
Fig. 3 Anderson, W. (2016) Come Together by Wes Anderson for H&M. [Still from a film] At: https://www.fashionela.net/fashion/video/come-together-wes-andersons-christmas-advert-for-hm-starring-adrien-brody/ (Accessed 24/05/2021).
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