The phenomena of the multi-talented, or at least, multi-ambitious actor is well-known. Actors make music (everyone from Eddie Murphy, to Lin-Lo); actors make clothes (Sienna Miller, Lin-Lo again); and actors write books (Steve Martin, James Franco). Besides a reverse tendency involving music-to-film moves, it is rare to see transformations such as former Gucci designer Tom Ford’s fashion-to-film transition. Critically speaking, Ford’s sumptuously sad A Single Man is an example of cross-industry success. Ford received praise for his directorial debut, and the film earned Colin Firth an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. On the heels of Ford’s success, THR reports, fashion designer Vera Wang has now expressed her own interest in becoming a film director.
When THR asked Wang recently why she is interested in making films, she said, “Because I can, because I think it’s a great time..I think in our fashion shows, we always try to tell a story even though it’s nine or 10 minutes, and to take it to another level with 3 dimensions or 4 dimensions is kinda groovy.”
As someone whose watched a few runway shows through the magic of television (Fashion Television), I can see Wang’s point. Fashion has…
The phenomena of the multi-talented, or at least, multi-ambitious actor is well-known. Actors make music (everyone from Eddie Murphy, to Lin-Lo); actors make clothes (Sienna Miller, Lin-Lo again); and actors write books (Steve Martin, James Franco). Besides a reverse tendency involving music-to-film moves, it is rare to see transformations such as former Gucci designer Tom Ford's fashion-to-film transition. Critically speaking, Ford's sumptuously sad A Single Man is an example of cross-industry success. Ford received praise for his directorial debut, and the film earned Colin Firth an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor. On the heels of Ford's success, THR reports, fashion designer Vera Wang has now expressed her own interest in becoming a film director.
When THR asked Wang recently why she is interested in making films, she said, "Because I can, because I think it's a great time..I think in our fashion shows, we always try to tell a story even though it’s nine or 10 minutes, and to take it to another level with 3 dimensions or 4 dimensions is kinda groovy."
As someone whose watched a few runway shows through the magic of television (Fashion Television), I can see Wang's point. Fashion has always been an important component of film (check out Rodarte's creations for Black Swan), but fashion itself is also theatrical in nature. Director Julie Taymor, for instance, represents an intersection of film and fashion in the original costume designs she creates for her films, which include 2007's Across the Universe and this year's The Tempest. When faced with an overtly avant-garde runway show, the uninitiated often question the reality of the clothes and presentation and miss out on the entertainment value of the show. Performance is as much a part of fashion as it is film. If more fashion designers can deliver like Ford has, then I look forward to their directing efforts.
[via The Hollywood Reporter; via OfTheNow]
