Report by EMILY FLEURIOT
It’s official: fashion film is the future of brand experience. Yesterday the BFC launched Fash/On Film, sponsored by River Island, which debuts this week with screenings at LFW’s Canon Cinema.
Evolving from last season’s BFC Cinema, Fash/On takes it one step further, uniting designers and film-makers via talent searches, support and showcases. This season’s line-up includes animator Quentin Jones, the gal behind Victoria Beckham’s Victoria film (above), plus designer Christopher Raeburn and Ryan Hopkinson, the film-maker whose short neatly alludes to Raeburn’s ‘burn parka’ piece.
“It is vital that the BFC is connecting film-makers and fashion designers,” says programme curator and film producer Stephen Whelan of White Lodge. “It ensures that fashion film is used creatively and strategically by brands.”
From high street to high end, savvy brands are getting in on the act: River Island has collaborated with Julian J Smith on the short of his Design Forum collection for them, and let’s not forget Lanvin’s A/W 11 campaign video, which, in co-curator Kathryn Ferguson’s opinion, “gives a sense of the brand, while the narrative makes you want to know more.”
It’s a canny move. In a competitive, increasingly digital market, fashion film is a way of immersing viewers in the brand world and a natural fit with the growth in consumption of content and shopping via mobiles and tablets. “Technology dictates how we consume information and sell brands,’ says fellow curator, British Vogue and Test’s Jaime Perlman: “Everyone is developing their online presence. Fashion film fits naturally within that world.”
