Dance, Dance

Cause we love to watch models dance! Lanvin's video ad campaign for FW12 is out and it couldn't get any better than this. Raquel Zimmerman and Karen Elson dance to the rythm of Pitbull's I know you want me along with two male models and Mr. Alber Elbaz himself (he has the moves!). The video turned out to be extremely funnny and hilarious and if you get a little bit geeky you can even recognize the Dance Central coreography for Kinect XBox. Do you imagine Raquel and Karen watching the screen to get the moves right? Can it get any more bizarre? Of course, the images and the video are a delight, shot by Steven Meisel in a very sophisticated palette; the styling just makes us jealous that we don't dance that often (or never) in such glamourous fashion.

Talking about dancing...  of course this isn't the first ad campaign video where models get all fun and fussy with groovy moves.... how could we forget Prada's Ratatat video? A true hit of last season. I leave you the best dance ad campaigns in fashion to spice up your Monday. If you know more, post them in the comments section!

Bonus! Twiggy dancing... gro-vey

Prada by Meisel

If you had any doubt Prada's collection for fall was beyond amazing, here is the video shot by Steven Meisel. Breathtaking.

Tale of a fairy

Chanel's short film for the cruise collection presented in Antibes last week. Star by models Amanda Harlech, Kristen McMenamy, Freja Beha, Bianca Balti, Baptiste Giabiconi, Brad Koening, Jake Davies, Mark Vanderloo, Oriol Elcacho, Sebastien Jondeau, Seth Kuhlmann and Anna Mouglalis. Directed by Karl Lagerfeld. 

L'Amour Fou

I'm really excited to see L'Amour Fou. Not only pictures one of the most iconic designers in history but it's also about art, love and everlasting relationships. Even though it's the directorial debut of Pierre Thoretton his compromise with the story goes beyond just directing. As he told to Dazed Digital, he started filming about their art collection Laurent and Bergé had and ended up realising the collection was them, their mad love. About the title, Thoretton said "I chose it myself – it is also the title of a book by André Breton and a film by Jacques Rivette. But that’s not what it was about. It’s just that their relationship was mad love. 50 years, that’s just mad. And that’s what we all want – true love."

If you want to read more about the interview go here.

Crystal Renn for StyleCaster

Crystal Renn has become one of the most talked about models of our times. Unfortunately, it has not been because of her job or her tremendous talent but because of the fact that she has lost weight when she started as a plus size model. Quite hypocritic from the industry, but stereotypes are hard to defy in the fashion world. Once you're labeled it's hard to step out of it. Mrs. Renn said she lost weight because of her healthier lifestyle. Either skinny or plus size,  she is quite talented and undeniably beautiful.

A very good example of this talent are these fashion films, product of a collaboration between Renn and StyleCaster, for a 3 part cover series titled "Crystal Renn: Identity". The first one, "Stand By" portrays a 60's mad version of Renn; directed by Jason Last, the film explores the crazyness that lays underneath apparent elegance. Inspired by Angelina's Girl Interrupted and the Sex and the City scene where Carrie is stood up, Renn goes from tranquility to a disturbing paranoia in just a few seconds. 
The second film was directed by Dusan Reljin and Hilde Pettersen Reljin, called "Surfer", where Renn is an all Marni flapper / surfer. It reminded me of the Prada SS11 ad with the Ratatat song.

Both films show exactly Renn's talent to portray different characters and to model different styles. She's one of my favorite models, and not because she's consider one of the first plus size models, but because she's defying the stereotypes and doing what she knows best, model.

Tribute to McQueen

To Lee, With Love, Nick - A Tribute to Alexander McQueen By Nick Knight from SHOWstudio on Vimeo.

To Lee with Love, Nick Knight.

Music: Björk
Styling: Edward Enninful

This is too beautiful, enojoy.

Fashion films of the week IV

Hello! So here are the fashion films of this week (not). Well maybe they're from past weeks too but they're definitely good material so you better watch them!


"Vive la fête" directed by Manuel Nogueira for Elle Brasil feautures Isabel Hickmann, ready to party, including mask and fishbowl purse. Styling by Renata Piza and Beauty by Christian Mourelhe.



Lindsey Wixson stars the new Versace campaign for Vanitas. Directed by Craig McDean.



Coup d'etat directed by Kevin Calero, Montreal student and a talent worth keeping an eye acording to Coute que coute, couldn't agree more. The photography is beautiful and the theme about opression is executed successfully.



More with Google Campaign. I'm seriously organizing a sleepover like this.



Ashley Smith stars the new Christmas Campaign of Topshop. The texture of the film is delightful and in my opinion, Ashley looks quite sexy with the topshop collection. Shot by Angelo Pennetta and styled by Francesca Burns.



Body Couture feautures Alessandra Ambrosio in a gorgeous and visually agressive film for Vogue Brasil.

Fashion films of the week III

Maria Peligro SS11: SEXUAL 
Meliae by Paul Luna -Hunting beauty 
Lost doll by Jacques Dequeker feat. Fernanda Tavares
Bijules Haute: Le Nez de Tycho, by Steamclam

Fashion Films of the week II

UNTITLED from EXITO on Vimeo.

Jason Last and Jaime Rubiano creates a monochromatic world of beauty for Emilio Cortazar con Éxito collection. Hanne Gaby Odiele looks earthly beautiful.





The lens of Will Davidson gives us a beautiful Malgosia Bela, showing us Cerruti's marvelous Spring 2011 collection. The aesthetics of the film are incredible, from the moving shots in a dolly to the visual contents. The epiphany theme works quite well, we are almost certain she is being enlighted while  wearing Cerruti.




200 portraits for Showstudio. This time is Naomi Campbell the muse in front of the camera. Nick Knight brings us again an iconic character of fashion and gives us the intimate portrait. She even looks friendly.




Burberry AW10 Childrenswear Campaign. This is just to cute to be described.




The Milk Group show us the SS11 shows were funnier than what we've thought.

Fashion Films of the week I

Marcin Kempski does an amazing job portraying the sublime work of stylist and designer Marta Sinilo. Model Marzena Pokrzywinska reminds me of a Harlequin, an invisible force playing to disrupt the order just for the fun of it, in an incredible red dress.





I can't think of someone better than Ellen Von Unwerth to make the Guess Autumn Winter 2010-2011 campaign. The brand is known for their exposed sexuality in clothes and advertising. With the collaboration of CEO Paul Marciano, Unwerth gave us a campaign that resemble to 1989 campaign featuring Claudia Schiffer.





Chanel presents this short film to show the magnificence of its accesories and detials of the Spring Summer 2011 campaign. The short film screams Lagerfeld, being in black and white with its mysterious ambiance and dramatic music.






Petronio Associates created the visual identity for Edition 24 by Yves Saint Laurent.

Gareth Pugh fashion film SS11

Gareth Pugh SS11, by Ruth Hogben & Showstudio

PFW: Gareth Pugh SS11

Images via Style.com

Yesterday I was expecting a runway show for Gareth Pugh. So you can figure how shocked (and delighted) I was when he presented his collection in a fashion film, in collaboration with director Ruth Hogben and ShowStudio. If you’ve read this blog before you know I’m a big sucker for fashion films. But, how good was that Mr. Pugh showed his collection in this way? There are many pros and cons of using new media to replace the catwalk (if you want to read more about this go here to read Suzy Menkes article in the NYTimes). Truth is, fashion film is a creative and fresh way to show a designer’s work in a closer reality to what they want to express with the garments, than what sometimes it’s interpreted by critics. The influence of the collection can be merged in this audiovisual aid and have a greater emotional impact in people. In the other side, fashion shows are a mayor part of the fashion industry, only from the business point of view it’s too much money to just stop doing it. 

What Gareth Pugh wanted to achieve with this film was to fully express the essence of his collection, going from futuristic to surreal with Kristen McMenamy representing a goddess of abstraction. About the collection, it was clean, minimalistic and futuristic all at the same time; the drama factor was lead by  the volume and fabrics used. I have to admit I’m not a big fan of futuristic silhouettes, but this time I completely enjoyed the way the collection was presented, so much, I can see myself in each and every one of the pieces. 

KM3D-1, Fashion film in 3D by Another Magazine

I remember when fashion film was a revolutionary idea. Born from the production of perfume ads and the combination between cinematography as an art and a commercial purpose, fashion film has evolved very quickly, gaining huge importance as a new expression for fashion. Nick Knight, Ruth Hogben, Diane Pernet, Nowness… all of them had boosted the fashion film, either with the production or the curation of it. The first fashion ad that cause an immense impression on me was Midnight Poison by Dior, directed by Won Kar Wai and starring Eva Green. I thought everything was perfect, the color, the cinematography, the sound design… the ability to transmit the essence of the perfume into a visual illusion. I still watch it and it takes my breath away. It made such a big impression that this film is the reason I fell in love with cinematography and fashion film and decided to dedicate my life to it. It is such a beautiful memory and that’s why I was astonished today. I watched KM3D-1 a fashion film created by Baillie Walsh, in collaboration with Another Magazine. Based in by her latest work with Kate Moss, the hologram at McQueen’s A/W 06 show, Walsh made this beautiful piece of art. “Suspended in time and space, Kate is caught inexorably in the parallax gap; a butterfly in a spider’s web” (Another Magazine). I can’t tell you how overwhelmed I was by seeing a fashion film in 3D. Luckily I had a pair of glasses, and I was able to watch it in its full splendor. Filmed with a phantom camera at 1,000 frames per second, Walsh shows why Kate Moss is considered a fashion icon and why she still brights in the fashion world, a metaphor achieved by Swarovski crystals flying all over the screen while she stares and screams like a modern goddess. I have no doubt fashion film is an art nowadays. Filming it in 3D was certainly the next step, a choice many other brands have taken such as Armani, with the Armani Exchange Speed Style film. Watching fashion cope with new technology is a delight, and I’m sure we will be seeing more films in 3D. After all, film was created to cause commotion, to show beauty, ugliness and reality, but most important, to take us to places we would never dream of, ravishing illusions of this world.

WATCH KM3D-1 HERE

Experiments in Advertising

Experiments in Advertising: The Films of Erwin Blumenfeld

WATCH THE FILMS HERE

” Drawing upon the full archive of Erwin Blumenfeld’s unseen film work, film-maker Adam Mufti and sound designer Olivier Alary have collaborated with SHOWstudio to create three, exclusive edits that focus on three discrete areas of Blumenfeld’s visionary motion image-making: Advertising & Layout, Surrealism & Process and Abstraction & Distortion.” (ShowStudio)

I was very thrilled to find these hidden treasures. I am a regular fan of the ShowStudio collaborations and this was no exception. The work of Erwin Blumenfeld is exceptional and through his lens he gave us different perceptions of various concepts, from beauty in fashion photography to Nazism and WWII with photo-montage.

The first film of Experiment in Advertising portraits the fashion advertising of the 1950’s-1960’s, with an abstract, complex composition. We can see a determined style in the clothes, in the woman’s attitude and even in the kind of shots this was filmed. Abstraction & Distortion, the third film, was my favorite. The use of ambiguous shots and diverse lightning styles gives the film a mysterious abstraction, which complements the meaning of fashion throughout the film, re-interpreting the old fashion into our present perceptions.