...fashion films. Marie Schüller has been in touch again for a new one which we will shoot on Tuesday and which I am really keen to do. With clothes on this time, by a known designer, and shot in a beautiful ballroom - the one I did with Marie last time involved clothing but also nudity.
I can't wait.
Fashion films bear an affinity with music videos - do you remember when they first appeared? Time flies, they exploded in the 1980s when MTV came along. But they are, evidently, not music videos.
When I did Visiting Hour with Marie, it was for Showstudio Fashion Fetish, the 'provocative fusion of fashion with fetish'. For Schüller it was a way to make a statement about the female body, ageing and female sexuality - that's why she chose me to model the fashion. I turned into a character and there was no story line as such, the latex clothing I wore helped me to create this character. I have no idea what I will be doing on Tuesday, I will have to see when I get there on set.
This is my own experience of fashion films so I would not want to generalise but if I compare a fashion film with a dance film, I know that there are a lot of differences, enough to justify their being a different genre. What is the difference you may ask, as in fashion films models often dance?
In a dance film it is the choreography that is centre piece, no matter how fragmented it may be. In a fashion film the dance is incidental, it is the clothes that come first and everything else is a consequence of it. See the except below, of Anne Therese de Keersmaeker Rosas danst Rosas - I am choosing this on purpose because Beyonce did a version of it in one of her videos, Countdown without acknowledging de Keersmaeker. It outraged people and she was accused of plagiarism. De Keersmaeker graciously said that she was actually pleased as it inspired people to view the original. But I am digressing here, this is something for another post.
I am very interested in seeing what possibilities there are for the future, because as you know we neatly categorise, only for someone very imaginative to come along and change things. The English National Ballet has unveiled a new season under the leadership of former Royal Ballet dancer Tamara Rojo through a campaign in which the dancers are wearing Vivienne Westwood's creation. Photographed by Guy Farrow the campaign projects ENB new image. Tom Sharp, Creative Director of TBM, the creative agency that is behind the campaign, named Like humans, only more graceful (I have a problem with this, but never mind):
“It is about taking dancers out of tutus and moving away from conventional backstage images to show the intensity and creativity of the dancers. The Company’s directive is to respect the tradition of ballet but build on it, and our copylines are designed to reflect but challenge a perceived view of the art form. Tamara Rojo inspires unusual collaborations so to create a campaign that combines choreography, amazing fashion and beautiful photography demonstrates her ethos in every single image.”
Will we be seeing dancers wearing Westwood on stage? Is this a marriage in the making? Quisaz, quisaz, quisaz as Nat King Cole sang
I can't wait.
Photographer: Natalia Lipchanskaya Model: Alex B
But no, I am thinking about how fashion films seem to have radically changed the way we view fashion and yet they are a recent phenomenon as the first ones appeared in 2009. Now they are everywhere. I like the fact they turn the model into a recognisable actor - she moves, she dances, she can even speak, should the director require it. But she still does what she is there to do: she wears the clothes, the designs.Fashion films bear an affinity with music videos - do you remember when they first appeared? Time flies, they exploded in the 1980s when MTV came along. But they are, evidently, not music videos.
When I did Visiting Hour with Marie, it was for Showstudio Fashion Fetish, the 'provocative fusion of fashion with fetish'. For Schüller it was a way to make a statement about the female body, ageing and female sexuality - that's why she chose me to model the fashion. I turned into a character and there was no story line as such, the latex clothing I wore helped me to create this character. I have no idea what I will be doing on Tuesday, I will have to see when I get there on set.
This is my own experience of fashion films so I would not want to generalise but if I compare a fashion film with a dance film, I know that there are a lot of differences, enough to justify their being a different genre. What is the difference you may ask, as in fashion films models often dance?
In a dance film it is the choreography that is centre piece, no matter how fragmented it may be. In a fashion film the dance is incidental, it is the clothes that come first and everything else is a consequence of it. See the except below, of Anne Therese de Keersmaeker Rosas danst Rosas - I am choosing this on purpose because Beyonce did a version of it in one of her videos, Countdown without acknowledging de Keersmaeker. It outraged people and she was accused of plagiarism. De Keersmaeker graciously said that she was actually pleased as it inspired people to view the original. But I am digressing here, this is something for another post.
I am very interested in seeing what possibilities there are for the future, because as you know we neatly categorise, only for someone very imaginative to come along and change things. The English National Ballet has unveiled a new season under the leadership of former Royal Ballet dancer Tamara Rojo through a campaign in which the dancers are wearing Vivienne Westwood's creation. Photographed by Guy Farrow the campaign projects ENB new image. Tom Sharp, Creative Director of TBM, the creative agency that is behind the campaign, named Like humans, only more graceful (I have a problem with this, but never mind):
“It is about taking dancers out of tutus and moving away from conventional backstage images to show the intensity and creativity of the dancers. The Company’s directive is to respect the tradition of ballet but build on it, and our copylines are designed to reflect but challenge a perceived view of the art form. Tamara Rojo inspires unusual collaborations so to create a campaign that combines choreography, amazing fashion and beautiful photography demonstrates her ethos in every single image.”
Photographer: Guy Farrows. ENB dancers. Google image
Will we be seeing dancers wearing Westwood on stage? Is this a marriage in the making? Quisaz, quisaz, quisaz as Nat King Cole sang
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