January 24, 2014
Italian fashion house Gucci hosted a private screening of its brand documentary during Paris Haute Couture week to become part of the festivities.
The film “The Director: An Evolution in Three Acts” follows the brand’s creative director Frida Giannini for 18 months. By screening the film for the couture fashion show attendants, Gucci has a prime audience and became part of the schedule, even though it was not showing a collection.
“Gucci is trying to create excitement about its label in the fashion and film worlds via the documentary’s private screenings at a high-profile festival like Tribeca and now at the prolific Paris couture week," said John Casey, senior vice president of Havas Public Relations, New York.
"Through the documentary, Gucci is seeking to highlight the work and life of it's creative director Frida Giannini under the direction of one of the brand's high-profile faces, James Franco," he said. "The strategy provides insight into the work of one of fashion's biggest names through the eyes of one of Hollywood's biggest stars."
Mr. Casey is not affiliated with Gucci, but agreed to comment as an industry expert.
Gucci did not respond by press deadline.
Brand direction
“The Director” was directed by documentary filmmaker Christina Voros and actor James Franco, who has modeled for the brand in the past. The pair shadowed Ms. Giannini for 18 months, capturing her at work and getting intimate interviews with the designer.
Gucci first screened the film at the Tribeca Film Festival in April 2013. At the same time the brand released a two-minute trailer for the film.
The trailer includes footage of Ms. Giannini casting models, meeting with Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour and attending events. In an on-camera interview, the designer talks about the surprise of how her career turned out, since she never expected to be the creative director for a large label.
Video still
In between clips, the trailer shows the copy, “The Story Behind the Logo, the vision behind its future, the woman behind the label.”
The trailer had been viewed approximately 27,000 times as of press time.
Trailer
When the film was again screened for an exclusive audience in Paris, the brand posted a snippet of the film to its Facebook, giving its fans 16 seconds of video clips.
Facebook post from Gucci
Fashion on film
A number of fashion brands are choosing to tell their story on the big screen, filming documentaries that delve into the brand’s history and present day operations.
For instance, New York department store Bergdorf Goodman partnered with Web platform Tugg Inc. to bring its “Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s” documentary to cities around the country.
The retailer was looking to build new relationships with consumers outside of its home city by leveraging decades’ worth of treasured memories that are presented in the film. The Matthew Miele documentary depicts the hidden world of the Bergdorf department stores both professionally and recreationally (see story).
Additionally, jeweler Tiffany & Co. also tapped Matthew Miele, director of “Scatter My Ashes at Bergdorf’s,” for a documentary chronicling its history to be released in 2015.
The documentary will shed light on how Charles Lewis Tiffany developed the brand following its inception in 1837 and then travel through pivotal moments in its history. Unlike social media followers, for example, audiences of a documentary have a higher tolerance for absorbing information, which gives Mr. Miele plenty of slack when capturing the brand’s lengthy background (see story).
Fashion week presents an ideal audience for branded fashion films.
For example, Italian jeweler Bulgari is collaborating on a short film contest in which entrants must use the house’s gems as inspiration for their art.
A Shaded View on Fashion Film, a traveling film festival that begins its tour in Paris, has combined forces with Bulgari and AltaRoma AltaModa, the fashion week in the Italian city, to host a screening of the Bulgari-centric film. With this film screening and entry process, Bulgari will boost its awareness among a fashion-forward audience (see story).
The full length film is not available to a large audience, but that is probably for good reason.
"Releasing a film like this through wide distribution channels isn't necessarily going to benefit the brand," Mr. Casey said. "Usually docs are aimed at specific audiences, so in this case the film is meant to excite fashion and Gucci aficionados, and the strategy behind its screening reflects that."
Final Take
Sarah Jones, editorial assistant on Luxury Daily, New York
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