WHY MAKE A FASHION FILM?

A. SANDRA JAKISCH: I’m fascinated by fashion. In fashion films I’m given the opportunity to play with the sensuality, the strength but also with the sensitivity of the female character and to map out these particular features.

A. . MICHEL JAUMIN: To me, fashion is an art form. The challenge of taking clothing, actors and scene as a canvas, is my attraction to it. I am a purist, and refuse to use any effects in my editing. I want my audience to see what I see in the frame. The art for me is to deliver a story with imagery that is pure. For this to work I need “clean” images. Fashion is so well suited to provide the elements of my delivery.

A. . MALORIE SHMYR: There is nothing I am more passionate about than fashion films. Fashion films are simply – fashion in movement. The designer created this garment to be seen in movement, not in a still…. So, what a more exciting thing to do that basically create a moving image both honouring and interpreting the way a garment was meant to be seen – in movement!

A. . AMBER MOELTER: Probably because of my dance background, I have always been drawn to glamorous costumes. When I was producing and directing indie films there wasn’t enough fantasy for my taste! I was writing these sci-fi scripts and my professors were advising me to be less ambitious. That didn’t sit right with me – why make films if you aren’t in love with the story you are telling? With our first fashion film Immortal Game we had total creative freedom to tell a story around a capsule collection. We had a lot of fun researching and writing a fashion scenario around the Immortal chess game, allowing the different looks to represent the key chess pieces in the game. As for Peyote Dreams (nominated for Best Documentary at LFFF), we had an incredible opportunity to travel to Mexico and document a very private village in the mountains. On that film we discovered a deep passion for directing fashion documentaries.

A. . ESTHER LOWE: I felt like exploring a new genre, trying to define what fashion film is and to develop my own language within that definition.

A. . ANTHONY LAU: There is a true sensibility that surrounds fashion and the fashion industry. This sensibility applies to fashion photography and film.

The rankings of iconic fashion photography have been established. But the significance of fashion in our lives continues to grow, fashion content is now cultivating and strongly moving across many other mediums and platforms. Fashion film, now an established film genre is rapidly growing internationally.

I think the stage is set, ready to begin crowning thoughtful and effective fashion films as the iconic.

A. . INDRANI PAL-CHAUDHURI: Fashion films provide an extraordinary opportunity to explore emotional and aesthetic stories free from the need for a linear narrative.

A. . LUIGI DIAS: I love fashion; why not? But the approach has to be fresh and exciting. Fashion films, in my country are total second hand rip offs. I don’t want to make them better; I want to make them different.

A. .ROBIN PIREE: I love the experimental way of story telling. Everything is possible and the strangest outfits and costume designs offer you a wonderful way of playing around with the camera and set. Creating an abstract environment in which fashion is central is what I like to do the most. The physical fashion (item) is always leading in my films. I love to elevate the narrative of the designer and their philosophy by completely absorbing the brand in my research so I absolutely know every detail about every stitch. I love the endless possibilities you have as a filmmaker, especially with fashion! The power of manipulation, the emotional (rollercoaster) journey you can give to an audience and the food for thought when the film is finished. That’s like drugs to me!!

A. .IKER ITURRIA & MANFRE : Fashion is really creative and making a fashion film is much better than making a commercial. Generally, in a fashion film, the director works on an idea and then film it. It's more personal. You only need to understand the brand and come up with a good idea that the brand or the designer feels comfortable with. Push the brand to another level, more creative and emotional.

A. .JUSTIN KRAMER: Why not? All forms of storytelling are intriguing to me.

A. .ENRICO POLI: There may be a need for a designer to communicate something through the language of filmmaking, or there may be a need for a filmmaker to tell a story within a specific language. ‘Not(e) for a Dreamer’ was something in between. I wanted to make a film about the end of playtime, and Antonio Labroca (designer for MONO-Y) wanted to expand the image of his brand with storytelling. Sometimes, especially nowadays with the crazy amount of videos out in the web, it can be paramount to label your work as something. I think ‘Not(e) for a Dreamer’ was very well received also cause it fit in a category: that of fashion film..

A. .JOANA BASTOS: Because as I mentioned before, since my graduation in marketing management, I've started to realise several ways of communication that I could work my intellectual creativity, without rules, mixing my ability to work with my hands, like the sunglasses that I presented on “Lilith”. And associated with that, I can show my personal and professional skills to produce an idea, to plan it, and pass it onto in the fashion world, without rules! Only with much shine.

A. .ILAY ALPGIRAY: I take lots of films so far like commercial, TV serious’ or music videos as a director. But the feeling of creating an imaginary world with independent concepts is priceless. The influence of fashion film can last many years rather than commercials or the other films in our age that consumption is very fast. Like i m able to have this interview with you thanks to our fashion film we took in 2017, last year.