Fashionable Shootings: Top Film Directors and Italian Designers
Italian Fashion and Film have impacted international tendencies since the 1950s and those two worlds have always overlapped somewhat, but in the past designers largely stayed in their atelier and directors in the editing room. Recently though fashion houses have been increasingly teaming up with renowned film directors and actors in new and unusual ways.
Designers are collaborating with the film world for their online advertising campaigns, runway shows, and in-store displays. In the two industries there are certain people who understand and excel at using the power of film to transmit a distinct fashion message or mood, to really tell a story about a collection or brand. Here are some of the interesting and noteworthy results.
Luca Guadagnino, the director of the sweepingly cinematic and very Italian I Am Love, collaborated with Giorgio Armani for his spring collection on a three-minute film called One Plus One. It was shot in Cremona, Italy. Guadagnino’s style of big drama and lush outdoor scenes perfectly houses Armani’s sleek collection. Guadagnino has also collaborated with Fendi and with Sergio Rossi on a racy short called Skin to Skin, which makes one want to get her person into those shoes and neckpieces right away.
Prada recently collaborated with director Jean Paul Goude (former partner of Grace Jones) starring Lea Seydoux on a lighthearted short called Prada Candy to promote the namesake fragrance.
Prada also worked with special effects director James Lima (Terminator and True Blood) and the architect Rem Koolhaas’ AMO/OMA to create their uber-cool Real Fantasy video.
Moncler worked with director and photographer Bruce Weber on a longer short (24 minutes) called Don’t Steal the Jacket, which stars children filmmakers, a very cute Pomeranian called Sugar, and of course many Moncler jackets. It is a sweet optimistic play on Americana good vs bad storytelling, shot in black and white.
Sofia Coppola, the Academy Award winner for Lost in Translation, directed the advertising film campaign for the sold-out-in-days Marni collection at H&M. Poolside, polka dots, and daydreams inhabit this short piece. It is a little known fact that Coppola designed her own clothing line called MilkFed in the 1990s.