Fashion Film: Fashion Editorial’s Next Step, Producer Says
There are superhero epics, rom coms, travel documentaries, and now a new genre, the fashion film.
This burgeoning genre is increasingly becoming a way for emerging and established fashion designers to tell the world about their styles. There are a handful of film festivals across the globe for this film genre devoted to design and style. One is located near San Diego. The La Jolla Fashion Film Festival ran July 26–28 in La Jolla, a short drive from downtown San Diego.
Fred Sweet has been producing the film festival since 2010. Iconic designer Karl Lagerfeld and legendary fashion photographer Bruce Weber have screened films there. Fashion houses Dior and Versace have also participated. Sweet emphasized that these short fashion films are not commercials. “The old editorial spread in hard copy magazines has simply turned into the three- or four-minute fashion film,” Sweet said. “Commercials are usually distinguished by quick edits, a buy-now narrative, and a length of 30 or 60 seconds.”
Fashion film “Further” won the prize for best cinematography at the most recent LJFFF. It featured the menswear designs of downtown Los Angeles label Clade Menswear. Sundance Festival alum Jason Matzner directed it, and celebrity portraitist Glenn Campbell filmed the four-minute meditation of the California desert and the legend of the Beat Generation. In “Further,” actor Randall Yarbrough recited passages from Jack Kerouac’s novel “On the Road” all while riding vintage motorcycles and wearing Clade.
For Clade designer and creative director Maya Reynolds, the film spans a new territory of calling attention to her brand but avoiding a hard sell. “It’s sharing an idea,” she said. “It is sharing an emotion.” If a viewer is intrigued enough, the next step is to find Clade at one of the boutiques where it has been placed, such as Opening Ceremony; Church boutique in West Hollywood, Calif.; and the Clade flagship in downtown Los Angeles.
While Reynolds demurs from the hard sell, “Further” has gained more than 1,300 views on video website Vimeo. Arthopoda, another production using Clade menswear, has gained more than 8,000 views. “I don’t have 8,300 hits on my Facebook page,” Reynolds said. “It’s the largest sales visibility I’ve had.”
Producing a fashion film can be relatively cheap. “Further” was shot on digital film and produced for $5,000. If the four-minute piece had been produced on film, it would have cost more than $20,000, Reynolds said.
Fashion film is catching on with Los Angeles Fashion Week alum Jen Awad. On Aug. 10, she is screening her “Jen Awad Lifestyle Video” fashion film at the Standard Hotel in West Hollywood, Calif.
The film features Los Angeles musicians, artists and club kids wearing Jen Awad’s styles in a fastpaced 2½-minute piece. Awad said there will be no theatrical release, and she plans to do more fashion films. “I think doing a video is an amazing way to communicate to the masses,” she said. “It literally breathes life into the clothing.” —Andrew Asch
