It has become kind of trendy for the fashion industry to work with famous directors and movie makers to present the new collections. Prada and YSL are just the latest high end fashion brands that decided to go this way. It's a strategy I don't fully get as I miss a more integrated communication approach but I presume the "short movie" solution is paying back in terms of PR and possibly does a good job in filling the TV sets within the showrooms with content that goes beyond the usual catwalk.

Prada has worked with Chinese filmaker Yang Fudong to represent the new direction in its visual communication through a black & white journey in Shanghai during the 30s & 40s.

It seems like this person is saying that these short movies may or may not be as effective as a traditional print ad or media ad. High fashion brands seem as if they are going out of their way to recruit foreign movie makers to capture the essence of the new line. I agree with the blogger, I don't completely understand why a few well-known fashion lines are shifting to cinematic advertisements.

Posted by: Kelsey at January 27, 2010 02:14 PM

Are these brands completely shifting to cinematic advertisements? I find that hard to believe. I personally like this new type of advertising. And if I remember correctly, DKNY was doing something similar years ago; didn't they have this New York Stories series on their website? I've also seen similar cinematic advertisements by some Italian high end(?) lingerie brand.. I think that, done well, this could be quite entertaining. If the "longer" format is good for entertainers (remember Michael Jackson's iconic short films?), then I think it should be good for brands too; again, as long as it is done well. My only issue with the PRADA movie is that it had no dialogue, so, frankly, at one point I just became bored, viewing just images, and stopped watching. It was very stylish, however, and even dreamy. The YSL movie has been removed.

Posted by: Vinnie at February 7, 2010 02:54 PM