MUSES OF 2020: FASHION FILMS
DENIZ AKKAYA
Empty catwalks of this season also gave birth to some good results: designers allowed their imaginations to run wild with digital presentations that were impossible to execute in real life.
GMBH
GmbH is a brand based on the principle of using fashion as a platform to initiate dialogue about race, beauty and the struggles of marginalized communities. GmbH has decided to present its spring 2021 collection in 3 projects that shows fashion can be a progressive force.
The GmbH presented a work by artist Lars Laumann and activist and architect Eddie Esmail, to be shown as part of the official programme of Paris Fashion Week. The music for the film ‘Season of Migration to the North’ was composed by Cecilia Lopez.
MUGLER
Empty catwalks of this season also gave birth to some good results: designers allowed their imaginations to run wild with digital presentations that were impossible to shoot in real life.
How else could we have seen Bella Hadid flying off the roof of the Paris Opera in the form of a gilded Pegasus? The model’s avatar is part of a short film that Mugler’s art director Casey Cadwallader introduced as a teaser for his spring collection.
Part fashion film, part music video and part adventure marks the brand’s transition to a “see now buy know” business model; immediately after the film’s release, the collection went on sale at Selfridges in London, Gr8 in Tokyo and Ssense and LuisaViaRoma. The three-minute video fits the brand’s “all genders, all races, all bodies” manifesto.
SAINT LAURENT
A catwalk above the sand dunes in a vast desert, under an azure and cloudless sky… Anthony Vaccarello chose the desert to exhibit his summer 2021 collection; he once again reminded viewers of isolation and a longing to travel to far away lands. “Given everything that was going on in the world, I wanted to do something softer and warmer. And I’ve never done “comfortable” before. Looking at the Saint Laurent archives to find the “comfortable”, Vaccarello encountered fluid styles and comfortable cuts in 1968.
The collection was plain and feminine, with its plentiful feathered, soft-shaped and transparent casts. According to creative director Anthony Vaccarello, the designs come from a place of peace that has served as a salve for the chaotic events of the past 12 months. “I wanted to focus on the essence of events. I didn’t want anything gloomy or heavy.” Vaccarello says. The 10-minute film was combined with the overall vibe of the collection and offered viewers a dreamy escape! “The desert, to me, symbolizes the longing for peace, for open space, for a slower rhythm, ” Vaccarello said. “The clothes are softer too, softer like the spirit of the collection.”
CHARLOTTE KNOWLES
As the pandemic has clouded the future of the fashion industry, Charlotte Knowles, along with her partner Alexandre Arsenault, digitally presented their promising new collection, PETALS, with a short film by London-born photographer and Director Harley Weir.
The film, which features women Knowles admires, reveals the longing for optimism. On a rotating platform, women reflect on the constant nature of the fashion industry, while images of flowers throughout life cycles are interspersed with the message that rebirth is possible.
BALENCIAGA
Individuals in Balenciaga outfits take the dark streets of Paris, in the absence of physical fashion week shows, as they listen to the Corey Hart from BRFND’s “Sunglasses at night.” In the music video, directed by Walter Stern, people in sunglasses walk through the abandoned streets of Paris. It looks like the catwalks will be replaced by sidewalks! Last season Balenciaga showed what the world would look like after climate change. For the 2021 Pre-Summer collection, Demna Gvsalia brought us back to the bitter reality of today. The collection was shot in various iconic locations in Paris, such as Rue de Rivoli and Pont Alexandre III, and in more enigmatic locations, such as old back alleys and a tunnels.
GUCCI
Alessandro Michele announced in May that they would no longer make seperate collections for men and women, and that they reduced the number of fashion shows from 5 to 2 per year. Regarding this decision, Michele said, “This complex system needs oxygen in order to be reborn.”
This decision allowed Gucci to do whatever they wanted, when they wanted, to the length they wanted, instead of trying to fit a limited time frame at Milan Fashion Week.
Organizing its own fashion week, Gucci presented its collection with a 7-day film festival called “GucciFest”. On the mini-series Uverture of Something That Never Ended, Michele collaborated with director Gus Van Sant.
You can watch all the episodes on GucciFest.com.
MARNI
Creative Director of Marni, Francesco Risso, decided to depict the unpredictable nature of the year with a kind of visual experiment that embraces the element of surprise. In the short film MARNIFESTO, Francesco worked with Telfar’s Creative Director Babak Radboy. In the project, which was presented with a live broadcast where social distance rules were applied, the audience was included in the city tour experience thanks to the phone cameras of 50 models wearing the collection pieces.
The fashion industry has been constantly criticized for its nature that objectifies models in recent years. However, in MARNIFESTO this concept disappears completely. As the brand wanted to include all models in the project individually and collaboratively, it gave the models full creative freedom in using their cameras throughout the project.
