Fashion Labels Deepen Links To Cannes Film Festival

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Luxury fashion labels are increasingly reaching beyond the red carpets and exclusive parties of the cinema world, becoming partners with filmmakers and production companies.

At the Cannes film festival this year, which starts Tuesday, labels will be looking to showcase not only their outfits, but also their credibility as investors.

Alongside corporate heavyweights such as Chanel and Dior, trendy Paris-based label AMI and its founder Alexandre Mattiussi have linked up with the festival for the first time.

FILE: US actor and Honorary Palme dor of the 76th Festival de Cannes Michael Douglas (C) arrives with his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones (R) and daughter Carys for the opening ceremony and the screening of the film “Jeanne du Barry” during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 16, 2023. (Photo by CHRISTOPHE SIMON / AFP)

AMI is set to present a new award for emerging talent –- the Grand Prix AMI Paris –- at the secondary Critics’ Week section of the festival.

“We’re going there humbly, in support of cinema and its actors, to accompany artists,” Mattiussi, who serves as creative director of his brand, told AFP.

But AMI has also co-produced several films such as “The Beast” in 2023 by Bertrand Bonello, starring French actress Lea Seydoux, or “Enzo” by Robin Campillo which will premiere in Cannes this year.

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FILE: US actor Johnny Depp arrives for the opening ceremony and the screening of the film “Jeanne du Barry” during the 76th edition of the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, southern France, on May 16, 2023. (Photo by Patricia DE MELO MOREIRA / AFP)

Fashion and cinema are “in a way, the same job. I also tell stories through clothing. A runway show has a context, music, and this idea of spectacle – it’s a narrative process too,” added the 44-year-old.

But Mattiussi stressed he doesn’t “consider myself a film producer. That would be pretentious.”

“I don’t get involved in the scripts or creative decisions,” he said.

His label contributed to costumes for “The Beast”, much like Jonathan Anderson — newly appointed creative director of Dior Homme and formerly at Loewe –- did for Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 movie “Queer”.

For years, Anderson’s runway shows have also served as gathering spots for cinema stars, from Timothee Chalamet to Tilda Swinton.

Expanding

Other fashion houses are expanding their presence in the film industry with Saint Laurent running a division devoted entirely to cinema, called Saint Laurent Productions.

Run by current artistic director Anthony Vaccarello, the division aims to co-produce two to three films per year.

It has already backed works by Paolo Sorrentino (“Parthenope”), David Cronenberg (“The Shrouds”), and Jacques Audiard’s 2024 smash hit musical “Emilia Perez”.

FILE: US actor Michael Douglas acknowledges the audience after he received the Honorary Palme dor of the 76th Cannes Film Festival during the opening ceremony in Cannes, southern France, on May 16, 2023. (Photo by Antonin THUILLIER / AFP)

Kering, the owner of Gucci, Saint Laurent and Balenciaga among others, is also the sponsor of a major Cannes prize — “Women in Motion” — which recognises figures who “advance the place of women in cinema and in society”.

This year’s winner will be Australian actor Nicole Kidman.

L’Oreal, the festival’s official make-up partner for 28 years, also sponsors a prize supporting “women in cinema”.

In return, its logo appears behind stars including Eva Longoria, Helen Mirren, Andie MacDowell, Viola Davis, and Aishwarya Rai.

A new sponsor this year will be French carmaker Alpine, which has teamed up with another major parallel section of the Festival, the Directors’ Fortnight.