Making movies / Los Angeles
Narrative threads
Film and fashion have long been co-stars but several European luxury houses are now moving into the producer’s chair. Launching their own filmmaking divisions, these labels are not only spotlighting their clothes on-screen but elevating their brands through the power of storytelling.
The past couple of years have been brutal for Hollywood, with the 2023 actors’ and writers’ strikes miring the big studios in financial difficulties and having long-term repercussions for production schedules. But there is a crack of light over the Santa Monica mountains. European fashion houses are planting their flags in the entertainment industry and making major investments that are re-energising Tinseltown and shifting industry dynamics.
In late 2023, François-Henri Pinault, the owner of French luxury group Kering, took a majority stake in Creative Artists Agency (caa) for $7bn (€6.6bn), gaining access to the biggest black book of Hollywood talent. A few months later, Kering’s competitor lvmh announced plans to establish a media arm called 22 Montaigne Entertainment, named after the group’s Avenue Montaigne office address in Paris. The venture’s ceo, Anish Melwani, told Variety magazine that lvmh is hoping to explore opportunities in TV, film and audio production “that will showcase unique portfolios and values” for its brands.
This increased involvement is starting to reshape how movies are made and who calls the shots. Fashion and film have long been partners but, until now, the relationship has tended to be transactional – think the politics and backroom deals that go into who dresses who on the red carpet. An association with the right label has long been a tool used to propel an actor’s career to new heights. “Certain stars really understand the way that it works,” says Valerie Steele, the director and chief curator of the museum at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology. “Marlene Dietrich always insisted on being dressed by Dior, both on- and off-screen.”
Now there’s an opportunity for the labels to develop these relationships and become more involved in filmmaking. “Brands currently invest more than ever in Hollywood but their budgets have been going towards red-carpet events and product placement,” says Lauren Sherman, the Los Angeles-based fashion editor of news start-up Puck. “The thinking is, ‘Why not make the films ourselves?’”
Saint Laurent, which is owned by Kering, has already launched a fully fledged subsidiary dedicated to filmmaking. In January, Saint Laurent Productions will release The Shrouds, a horror movie written and directed by David Cronenberg. It is one of three features that the company produced in 2024, all of which were screened at the Cannes Film Festival. “I want to work with and provide a space for all the great film talents who have inspired me over the years,” said the label’s creative director, Anthony Vaccarello, at the time. Vaccarello has also worked with the likes of Pedro Almodóvar and Paolo Sorrentino. Naturally, he gets the last word on the clothes in all of the pictures.
The big investments aren’t just making the love affair between fashion and film more public. They also reveal how swiftly and significantly the idea of marketing is changing. Luxury brands have traditionally spent vast sums supporting contemporary art, enjoying the prestige that comes with it. Today, however, some are no longer content simply to be patrons of culture – they want to be its creators too. And they are willing to invest more money in telling stories that draw from their values or histories.
There are already many films and TV series depicting the fashion industry, including La Maison (Apple TV1) and Cristóbal Balenciaga (Disney1). But none of these productions come from the actual luxury houses. Ridley Scott’s 2021 film, House of Gucci – which tells the damaging story of the 1995 murder of Maurizio Gucci – highlights what can happen when such brands aren’t in control of their own narrative.
lvmh has been quiet about what 22 Montaigne will do next but it is understood that it will be looking at films to develop. The entertainment arm’s founding partner, Superconnector Studios, is one of a growing number of agencies specialising in bringing brands and studios together. “It’s simple – entertainment makes a lot of money, whereas advertising costs you money,” says Jenna Barnet, the ceo of Sunshine, a brand consultancy based in London, Los Angeles and New York. It has helped Victoria’s Secret to shoot a full-length documentary in lieu of a traditional runway show; the company also developed a drama series with the UK’s Channel 4 for Parisian luxury house Balmain. “We find ways of getting world builders to talk to each other,” says Ed Warren, Sunshine’s chief creative officer.
Storytelling is a form of soft power, says Warren. He cites Apple TV1, which commissions films and series that communicate the idea of being best in class, from the calibre of the talent to the production values. This benefits the streaming service’s parent company, Apple Inc, even though the stories have nothing to do with the phones and computers at the core of its business. “It’s building status equity, not simply as a sponsor of culture but as an active participant,” says Warren.
In fashion, Tom Ford was ahead of the game. He directed and produced two successful films – A Single Man and Nocturnal Animals – while he was still in charge of his eponymous fashion house. Neither movie made any direct reference to the brand (aside from the clothes that the characters wore) but they invited the audience deeper into Ford’s world and his aesthetic. Crucially, the films linger in the mind longer than any conventional advertisement. “A film has to be something that haunts you,” Ford told Vanity Fair.
The challenge for brands seeking to dip their toes into filmmaking is to create something that’s worth watching. Critics panned the Apple TV1 show The New Look, about the life of Christian Dior, for its poor character development and tepid script. There’s an opportunity for brands to mine their archives and tell their own stories in more compelling and favourable ways. After all, audiences seem to have an insatiable appetite for depictions of the industry. These are plotlines that write themselves, full of power, glamour and politics – and usually the added spice of familial strife.
But if these luxury behemoths want to make a true mark on Hollywood, they should follow Saint Laurent’s example and take risks with the stories that they tell. “Will people take 22 Montaigne seriously?” asks Sherman. “That depends on whether it can make something good.” Given their enormous budgets, vastly wealthy owners and access to top talent, fashion groups have unique opportunities to start influencing what we see on our screens, just as much as they influence the contents of our wardrobes. If played right, they will occupy a place in our imaginations once held by the big studios during the golden age of Hollywood. Pass the popcorn. —
