Are Film Festivals the New Fashion Week?

Film festivals have long been intertwined with the fashion world, and it makes sense. Think about it, the biggest celebrities promoting their latest films on a red carpet? Of course, they're going to be dressed in the latest and greatest. However, with the insurmountable level of creative director debuts on the horizon, it feels like this year's film festivals have had a front row seat to the latest collections, well before fashion week has.

At Cannes Film Festival, both Louise Trotter and Matthieu Blazy made their newly appointed debuts for Bottega Veneta and Chanel, respectively. As things progressed to Venice, we saw the return of Bottega boy Jacob Elordi sporting even more newness from Trotter, with Ayo Edebiri showcasing more of Blazy's Chanel. At the same time, Jonathan Anderson's Dior stepped up to the plate, dressing the likes of Greta Lee and Mia Goth, while Versace's stunty Seyfried and Roberts moment formally introduced us to the work of Dario Vitale.

Fast-forward to the Toronto International Film Festival and we've seen even more of Anderson's future, landing in the form of Anya Taylor-Joy in a woven baby blue dress. Now surely we can all admit, for an event that's not fashion week, that's a pretty big amount of designer debuts on the red carpet...

Given the sheer amount of showcases at fashion weeks like Paris, it can be a tricky place for designers to stand out, even for the world's biggest luxury brands. Film festivals offer a slightly lower-pressure environment, where most crowds and attendees are art and film lovers, as opposed to fashion critics. As a result, it allows these designers to have a bit more fun with their clothing and focus on dressing a few select attendees instead of 30-plus look catwalk shows.

Some fashion lovers may argue that the debut pieces don't quite garner the right attention if the fashion industry isn't there to see it, and multiple teasers ahead of fashion week can lead to fatigue when the time to officially debut finally comes. With that said, it's also a nice environment for us as fashion editors to pay attention to and cover, one that's slightly less chaotic and PTSD-inducing...

On the flip side, some film fans argue that the increase in fashion focus detracts attention from the purpose of the film festival and takes away from its intended audience, not to mention resulting in an increased presence of fashion week attendees, similar to Milan Design Week (which, this year, resulted in extra-long queues and increasingly hard-to-get-into exhibitions).

Ultimately, though, as a brand or designer, teasing a vision before an official show does have its merits. After all, why should only films, books and music have promo tours? With that lens, drip-feeding new designs and silhouettes at these pivotal cultural moments in the calendar is no different from the way that other creative industries promote their new releases. It garners attention, creates hype and anticipation and perhaps most importantly, allows a brand or designer to road-test their ideas before putting them on the main stage.

Though next year will (hopefully) see less of a fashion industry shakeup, it's safe to say that for the fashion crowd, all eyes will be on the film festival circuit in the future.

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