November 14, 2019 |
What’s a good film without a great wardrobe department? It’s been the job role for some of the best designers of our times to ensure the costumes of silver-screen classics look timeless in their excellence. Jean-Paul Gaultier was behind the sci-fi couture of The Fifth Element, Giorgio Armani was responsible for the dashing tailoring in American Gigolo and Ralph Lauren was the deft hand behind The Great Gatsby’s swinging 1920s fashions in the 1974 release. Miuccia Prada then offered distinct interpretation for the 2013 remake. But what happens when the roles are reversed and the film industry influxes the fashion world?
For your everyday film buff, movie collaborations with fashion brands are a prime opportunity to rep your favourite new release or one of the front-runners on your best-of-all-time lists. But gone are the days of a film’s logo slapped onto a jumper or a tee. Instead, the next generation of fashion-film collabs is all about the interaction between two aesthetics of the two very worlds, coming together in the form of a capsule collection.
May the force be with Levi’s, who have mastered this balance with an inter-galactic flare, pairing up with Disney on a capsule collection just in time for Star Wars: The Rise of The Skywalker. Levi’s signature denim has been an on-screen mainstay across all film genres, so it’s only fitting the heritage brand is the go-to for the Star Wars enterprise. After all, Luke Skywalker’s own pair of tan jeans were crafted by Levi’s in the original Star Wars trilogy. The collection sees t-shirts and hoodies stamped with fan favourite characters, denim doused in galaxy print and an excellent trucker denim jacket plastered with a vintage poster of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia and co. In a galaxy far far away, we do hope more fashion film collabs match the precision of this. But in the meantime, take a quick detour through the fashion and film pairings that have become instant classics:
Kenzo x Disney’s The Jungle Book
We miss Carol Lim and Humberto Leon. They’re not dead. They’ve just left a tiny hole in our hearts, crushing our technicoloured dreams when they left Kenzo in June. A prime example of the pair’s brilliance came through when they celebrated all things The Jungle Book. Marking the release of the 2016 remake, the pair borrowed sketches from the original 1967 flick for a capsule of jackets, jumpers and t-shirt dresses. Mowgli, Baloo the bear and the rest of the gang swim within a sea of archival Kenzo floral prints emblazoned in vivid hues. The design duo even swapped out the house’s signature tiger motif for Shere Khan’s tiger face. It’s a marriage of childlike playfulness with Kenzo technical brilliance. Carol and Humberto, please design a collection for all our favourite flicks?
Supreme x Larry Clark’s Kids
Larry Clark’s seminal title Kids isn’t for the faint-hearted. Released in 1995, the film was a rude awakening to what life was really like for teens living in the nitty-gritty corners of the Big Apple. A victim of avid re-blogging across the Tumblr stratosphere, Supreme were crafty back in 2015 by sticking a selection of stills from the film on tees, hoodies and (of course) a family of skateboards. Marking the film’s twentieth anniversary, stills of Casper stealing a bottle of booze sit next to the kids who are sat smoking a joint at the film’s ending – the back of each piece of clothing asking: “Jesus christ, what happened?”
V-Files x Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring
Sofia Coppola’s The Bling Ring is a socialist cinematic masterpiece. It’s a contemporary Robin Hood story of stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. But in this case, the rich are Linsday Lohan and Paris Hilton, while the poor present a gaggle of suburban teens including a pseudo-American Emma Watson. It’s a totally true (and rather ridiculous) story of a group of students who became Hollywood hill’s most wanted burglars. To mark the release of the film, New York bases V-Files produced a mini-capsule of goodies including stick-on nail art, a transparent evidence bag and three sets of shorts stamped with some of the film’s most memorable quotes. Each pair infused with a noughties hot pink, they embody the era so accurately they could have been robbed from Lohan or Hilton’s wardrobe.
Olivia von Halle x Disney’s Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
As opposed to adopting key quotes or graphics pulled directly from the film, Olivia von Halle produced a collection of loungewear and going-out dresses based on the aesthetics of Maleficent: Mistress of Evil. Inky black slip dresses and silk gowns appliquéd with faux feathers channel the wicked ways of Angelina Jolie’s character, whilst lavender robes and pyjama sets splashed in florals take on the role of embodying the luscious green landscapes that spread within the film’s fantasy lands. Slick as they are sublime, we wouldn’t be surprised if a few of these pieces were in Jolie’s wardrobe as we speak.
Bobby Abley x Wizard of Oz
Whilst some members of Ten Towers favour spending our Friday mornings analysing the latest episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK, Bobby Abley likes to use his watch-list as the focal point to his campy take on sportswear. The London-based designer’s Wizard of Oz SS20 collection was a particularly strong outing – not simply for the cape with Xtina’s face on (#Justice4Bionic), but also his ability to channel Oz’s most peculiar characters into a chorus of street-centric desirables. Our favourite pieces? The Dorothy checkered dungarees are a knock-out, as are the Tin Man silver chaps, a must-have for all the hunks dancing the balmy summer nights away at Adonis and/ or Chapter 10 next July.
Photograph Jason Lloyd-Evans
The Levi’s X Star Wars collection is available online now and in selected Levi’s stores.
