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Once named “one of the World’s best editors” by Highsnobiety, Tim Noakes is the editorial director behind transformative editorial at The Future Laboratory, Dazed Media and Boiler Room. He has created content for Nike, Levi’s, Calvin Klein, BBC, Beats By Dre, Frank Ocean, Channel 4, Mr. Porter, Amazon, British Airways, MediaCom, It's Nice That, Global Radio and more. And he’s currently working as a consultant for select clients, specialising in editorial positioning, content strategy, and Web3 innovation.
Having witnessed first-hand the rapid evolution of fashion film, working for publishers and brands at its forefront, for the D&AD Annual 2022, Tim Noakes writes a pit-stop tour of the genre, from the 1960s to the present day.
Do you ever dream of flying? If so, what outfit do you select for a spot of cloudbusting? Superhero spandex or a puffer jacket?
Perhaps it’s just me processing the last two years of para-demic lockdowns, but since Burberry released their Yellow Pencil-winning Open Spaces film, I’ve found myself regularly drifting skyward once my head hits the pillow. A dream analyst would say that my lucid flight fantasies signify hope, possibilities, and freedom of expression. These could equally be the reasons why Megaforce’s masterpiece has resonated so powerfully with the D&AD judges and consumers alike. After two and a half minutes you feel like you can go anywhere and achieve anything.
Ah, the power of advertising. Or should I say the power of fashion film? From Guy Bourdin and Erwin Blumenfeld’s experimental films in the 60s through to the heyday of MTV in the 80s and 90s, fashion has always looked chic on screen. And over the last 20 years, we have witnessed the adoption of a more cinematic format, with technological intermediality enabling bigger and bolder style manifestations to be shared over the internet.
“if seasonal catwalk shows are an assemblage of perfect physical silhouettes, fashion films are like a neural fever dream jacked straight from a designer’s frontal cortex”
But what is a fashion film? I think about them like this: if seasonal catwalk shows are an assemblage of perfect physical silhouettes, fashion films are like a neural fever dream jacked straight from a designer’s frontal cortex. Ranging from gritty documentaries and GIFs that last a few seconds, to illustrative montages and 20-minute epics, these diverse short-form movies have become key to setting the pulse of a new collection. In short, fashion films have become a portal to a realm of the impossible where imagination knows no bounds.
Luxurians, hype beasts and high street retailers all now use the format to push apparel and accessories in innovative, often subliminal ways. Designers relish the opportunity to portray something bigger than the clothes, and conglomerates are able to propel brand awareness into new uncharted dimensions.
What’s particularly fascinating is that the rise of this longer-form medium has coincided with the steady decline of our collective ability to stay focused. Records show that the attention span of the human race has decreased from 12 seconds to eight seconds in the past two decades, yet fashion films have never been more popular. To me, it’s because they facilitate pure creative escapism. They act like an amuse-bouche to cleanse our visual palettes from the hectic churn of the doom scroll.
Whereas fashion broadcasts were once confined to the gauche, cliched surrealism of the 30-second perfume ad, today brands are doing everything they can to engage with Gen Z and Millennial consumers who value evocative experiences over everything else. There has been a shift away from the unabashed product pumping of yesteryear, and a move towards creating one-off marquee moments that can be replayed and reacted to on YT, IG, TikTok and Discord ad infinitum.
“When I became the Editor-in-Chief of Dazed in 2012, we used Dazed Digital to move away from BTS bore-offs and give our stylists and photographers carte blanche to show off their individuality (and fashion credits) to a global on-demand audience.”
Participation, platforming and democratisation are hallmarks of the genre. Early on, fashion films became an essential tool for emerging designers who couldn't afford to produce a traditional catwalk show. When British photographer Nick Knight started SHOWStudio in November 2000, he aimed to create a destination where commercial and experimental fashion films could live in harmony. In 2010, LVMH and Dazed Media followed suit to create NOWNESS, a video platform that has commissioned and premiered the formative work of many influential new directors.
When I became the Editor-in-Chief of Dazed in 2012, we used Dazed Digital to move away from BTS bore-offs and give our stylists and photographers carte blanche to show off their individuality (and fashion credits) to a global on-demand audience. We didn’t place any rules or limitations on what or how we should create. In doing so producers like Jennifer Byrne were able to commission viral films like Kendall Jenner’s Burn Book, directed by Columbine Goldsmith, and Maisie Williams’s Kill List directed by Ozzie Pullin.
Experimentalism and anarchism were running themes – I once even found myself in a Parisian toilet with Scarlett Johansson recording her Baudrillard recital for Benjamin Alexander Huseby’s fashion film, but that’s another story. In the years since that encounter we’ve seen other Hollywood icons create memorable fashion films, with Wes Anderson and Roman Polanski directing for Prada; Sofia Coppola and Martin Scorcese for Chanel; Gregg Araki, David Lynch, and Spike Jonze for Kenzo; Sam Mendes for Louis Vuitton; and Jonathan Glazer for Alexander McQueen.
Perhaps more than any other designer, Gucci’s Alessandro Michele has helped redefine the oeuvre by commissioning auteurs like Gus Van Sant and Harmony Korine to create IMAX-worthy fashion clips. Collaborating closely with Christopher Simmonds, Dazed’s former Creative Director, Michele recently worked with Mert & Marcus to reproduce some of Stanley Kubrick’s iconic sets and scenes for the brand’s adidas collaboration. The results are spellbinding, with every Kubrickian detail painstakingly recreated. Always keen to platform new talent, in 2020 he launched GucciFest, a week-long film festival that included his own high-budget campaign films alongside the work of 15 independent young designers, including Stefan Cooke, Collina Strada, Mowalola and Ahluwalia.
“As the line between the real and immaterial blurs even further, fashion films will follow suit.”
The music video industry has also moved beyond the awkward product placement of years past (think clunky close-ups of Rocawear tracksuits, T-Mobile Sidekicks, Beats headphones and Ciroc vodka), to unashamedly embrace lucrative fashion partnerships. Now their biggest stars make more money from fashion than songwriting. Kanye’s Yeezy brand raked in $1.3 billion of revenue in 2020, whilst Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty lingerie films are streamed as annual extravaganzas on Amazon Prime. Most recently, Megan Thee Stallion’s official video for “Plan B” doubled up as an official film for Mugler, directed by the brand’s Creative Director Casey Cadwallader.
The medium has now started to expand into the wild world of Web3. When adidas launched their Into The Metaverse collaboration with leading NFT creators Bored Ape Yacht Club, gmoney and PUNKS – they did so with a fashion film of the trio flying through space and landing atop a huge adidas logo. Similarly, Balenciaga and Moncler have created short fashion films for their avatar collections inside of the battle royale video game Fortnite. It’s a smart move – as well as producing a set of limited edition digital skins for purchase, they have started building brand recognition with Gen A gamers. Of course, these 11-year-olds don’t know it, but they have watched their first fashion films – and many bought the products immediately afterwards too.
As the line between the real and immaterial blurs even further, fashion films will follow suit. In June 2022, tech giants such as Meta, Microsoft, and Epic Games formed an organisation called the Metaverse Standards Forum (MSF) to create open standards for virtual reality, augmented reality, and 3D technology. What this means is that one day – in the not too distant future – fashion films will have evolved to a point where instead of watching models spinning over the great British countryside, you’ll actually be hovering alongside them in your own bespoke Nova Check puffer, simul-casting the experience in real-time. You may even win a Yellow Pencil for your efforts. I’ll see you up in the clouds.