The concept of fashion films has been around for a while, but the medium presented itself as the need of the hour for Indian designers, last year, when India Couture Week went virtual. Meeting with the challenge head on, couturiers came up with mesmerizing and transporting presentations for their stunning collections. The ritual only continues this year, as the couture week is held online, yet again.
Fashion weeks used to be all about runways, red carpets and front row seats, but only for selected people. “Fashion shows in the flesh were very special, but only for the invited people. General public was watching shows virtually only since a long time. Now with the changes that took place last year, the presentation is not just models walking up and down the runway, it’s this one video, for everyone; which changes the whole game, we are putting our heart and soul into it now,” quips couturier Rahul Mishra, who is closing the India Couture Week 2021.
Agreeing with Mishra, couturier Amit Aggarwal, who has been very happy and excited about creating fashion films, says, “Runways and films both have their own exciting moments. It cannot be a comparison. Both of them needs equal amount of efforts and creativity. Fashion films are the primary presentation comes with a wider democracy, because there is no front row seats or third row seats, there is no disparity. It has made fashion more approachable and accessible to the masses, like never before.”
Working on fashion films has been a very enriching, new and learning experience for designers. In search of the right location, designers went from abandoned hamlets to luxurious hotels. Mishra, who shot his collection amidst a torn down, architectural beauty in Rajasthan, says, “While doing a runway, you create an ambience to transport the audience to a place you want to take them. But, while filming these fashion presentations, we actually went to those places. These films are all about creating emotions, to touch hearts of many.”
Echoing the same thoughts is ace couturier Manish Malhotra, who shot his collection at a luxury hotel, “I wanted to evoke emotions with this film. Picking inspiration from real brides, like what is she thinking on her wedding day, what is going through her mind? Is she thinking about her ex boyfriend? That’s all the boxes I tapped, for this form of story-telling,” Malhotra told us.
And, Aggarwal’s collection is shot in a transitional space, “Where there are no boundaries. And, there are no humans in the vicinity,” he told us.
With what the world went through these past few months, a virtual fashion film was the right thing to do, designers collectively agree. To be responsible, the limited crew’s health could be monitored and RT-PCR tests could be done to shoot in a healthy and safe environment. “You can’t ask for a RT-PCR from all your guests,” they say.