My first attendance to the New York Fashion Film Festival. As soon as I arrived to the SVA Theatre, an energetic atmosphere was awaiting for my curiosity about the final selection. Twenty films showcased the diversity of styles, narrative forms and cinematic possibilities of the fashion component and at the same time, this event provided a window to become familiar with established names and to discover new talent within this industry.
Fashion Films have emerged as a recurring artistic and commercial device to reinforce the stylistic appealing and to function both as cinematic works and as marketing tools for established and emerging brands. A worldwide debate around what really defines a commercial and a fashion film is the trend topic of these events. he screening was followed by a panel where fashion experts Alix Browne, Rory Satarn, Gordon Von Steiner and Lars Byrresen Petersen discussed issues around their views on how the fashion world is elevated by a visual discourse. According with fashion critics, four genres can be distinguished in order to conceptualize and appreciate these films: Brand, Editorial, Narrative and Documentary.
Dreamers from Madrid Fashion Film Festival on Vimeo.
It is important to recall that current fashion films are under the vision of filmmakers, whereas a decade ago, the creative platform was championed mostly by fashion photographers and designers. So the glossy universe once mastered by magazines have been transferred to a moving universe, where all creative angles are open up in order to deliver branding goals.
Avant Garde Aesthetics, Experimental visuals, no linear narratives form. Even touches of surrealism as well several artistic influences displayed on these films create a new concept. Narrative films convey fashion as a sophisticated metaphor of life itself where every possible detail is merged into a cinematic experience. For seasoned filmmakers as well newcomers, a story can also be told though the rawness quality of daily world. Are the common people’s activities a fashion catwalk by nature?