In the new Diana Vreeland documentary, The Eye Has to Travel, designer Diane von Furstenberg refers to the memos written by the late editor and museum curator, as being like a blog. “[Vreeland] was, in fact, the first blogger,” she jokes.
The wit, precision and bite-sized content of those memos however, makes that idea, albeit in analog form, not too hard to imagine playing out successfully online.
Vreeland wasn’t of course around to witness the explosion of the social web, but had she been a part of it, she most definitely would have done it better than anyone else.
The film itself, is truly incredible. As the write-up reads: “Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel is an intimate portrait and a vibrant celebration of one of the most influential women of the twentieth century, an enduring icon who has had a strong influence on the course of fashion, beauty, publishing and culture.”
It continues: “During her fifty year reign as the “Empress of Fashion”… [she invited] us to join her on a voyage of perpetual reinvention and take part in the adventure of life. Through her trained and diligent eye, she opened the door of our minds and gave us the freedom to imagine. Her images and accomplishments are as fresh and relevant now as they were then, and her spirit is just as vibrant and relevant today.”
Part way through the film, one of the many high profile old colleagues, friends and family members (from Richard Avedon and Lauren Bacall to Hubert de Givenchy) featured, says: “She was about ideas, the magic of fashion.”
And it’s that that resonates.
It reminds us once again why the fashion industry can be so incredibly good at marketing: it’s all about storytelling and imagination. Or as Vreeland so aptly says in the film: “We live through our dreams and our imagination. That’s the only reality we ever really know…”
Most definitely something there to be learnt in how to approach digital strategy.
It might not be the industry’s most exciting story, but it’s great to see Chanel not only announce something digital-related, but do so with an exclusive on a tech site – Mashable.
The French fashion house launched a new miscrosite dedicated to the history of its founder and its legacy products on Friday.
Inside-chanel.com currently features a timeline of the brand from Coco Chanel’s birth in 1883, to its direction under Karl Lagerfeld in present day, as well as a section focused on the No. 5 fragrance.
“Chapter One”, as the latter is referred to, looks at how “a revolutionary scent created in 1921 continues to be the best-selling and most famous fragrance in the world,” according to the company’s Facebook page.
It includes chronological ads (print and TV) as well as a short film called For the First Time, as shown below.
According to Mashable, additional sections accompanied by films will be introduced to the site over time.
“Telling our history on the web and making it accessible to as many people as people is yet another way of marking our difference, reaffirming our values and forming emerging markets by enabling them to discover a world to which until now they had little — or no — access,” a Chanel spokesperson said. “We have always been an innovative brand — that is what we wanted to get across.”
Mashable adds: “Chanel, it’s worth pointing out, only sells its fragrance and beauty collections online, but the company has upped its investment in online content over the past couple of years, particularly in the development of short films.”
A couple of other examples worth checking out include Valentino’s digital archive, and Dior’s online magazine. Check out the No. 5 film below, as well as a number of images from the Inside Chanel site…
Condé Nast Britain has launched its first standalone iPad app with the annual GQ Watch supplement this month.
The “essential guide to the world of watches” comes in an interactive digital format complete with special animated cover, enhanced editorial content and media rich ads. It was designed in-house at GQ and is also the first high definition app for the company.
Meanwhile, the main November issue of GQ is a dedicated James Bond special. It marks the 50th anniversary of the franchise and this month’s release of Skyfall.
In case you haven’t yet seen it, Nina Ricci has just released one of the best films for the autumn/winter 2012/13 campaign season.
Directed by Inez & Vinoodh, it encapsulates a beautiful yet distorted dream sequence as model Kati Nescher undergoes a form of enchanted exorcism. Opening on expansive green gardens, it twists and turns to the sound of New York electro-pop group Avan Lava, and a stream of backward-playing vocals.
But it’s the tie-in of British artist Jo Ratcliffe’s work (also seen in the GIFs released for the brand’s recent La Rue bag campaign) that cements the mood – a delicate white line-drawn cobweb surrounds Nescher, before a deer emerges from her, floats into the sky and transforms into a flock of birds.
Chloé is celebrating its 60th anniversary with an interactive digital archive to accompany its Chloé.Attitudes exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.
The Alphabet, as it’s called, is an online exploration of the French fashion house’s heritage from 1952 to current day. Created by digital agency Guided Collective, it plays on the idea of founder Gaby Aghion’s own naming of her collections and garments, taking each letter of the alphabet and assigning it a relevant theme.
The first five letters were, unsurprisingly, C H L O and E. They launched simultaneously last week with a short film each (shown below) directed by Poppy De Villeneuve, Julie Verhoeven, Kathryn Ferguson, Stéphanie Di Giusto and Mary Clerté, who interpreted the themes of counter-couture, horses, light, O (roundness) and embroidery respectively.
The rest of the archive letters will be brought to life with further documentary films, previously unseen imagery, past advertising, sketches and collection references, editorial and even specially-commissioned music.
“Individually [they tell] a fragment of the story; collectively [they form] a mosaic of Chloé’s iconic moments, inspirations and heritage,” reads the write-up.
A new letter is currently launching every other day, revealed by a famous blogger worldwide before appearing on The Alphabet microsite. Once they are all live, users will be able to send friends an invitation featuring their own version of the heritage, relative to the letters that make up their name.
Referred to as playful, immersive, imaginative and compelling, the site is available in six languages worldwide and across multiple devices.
In case you haven’t yet seen it, here’s Lana Del Rey’s music video for H&M’s autumn/winter 2012/13 fashion campaign. Directed by Johan Renck, it features the US popstar covering Bobby Vinton’s 1963 hit, Blue Velvet.
It appears in a full two-minute version online, as well as in 30-second spots for television.
