Why and how fashion brands should be on Vine: Meagan Cignoli creative interview

We just can't stop watching our #vine #stopmotion #fashion @vineapp vine.co/v/bFdTKHrUTMw—
French Connection (@FCUK) April 16, 2013

 

When Vine, Twitter’s six-second, video-sharing app, launched earlier this year, a flurry of fashion content followed from brands as varied as Dolce & Gabbana, Calvin Klein and Burberry. Jump forwards a couple of months (and out of fashion week season), and content from those same designers has gone somewhat quiet – 78 days, 32 days and 20 days since they posted respectively.

What’s left however is a collection of brands that are working out how to use it more effectively. When the hype of a new platform inevitably subdues, sometimes it’s those that stick around and keep with it that end up the most successful, even if their path to get there is somewhat bumpier. Of course for fashion, the disconnect has been the distinct lack of control they are afforded in the app; Vine videos often look far more raw than the usual slick creative seen in the industry, and the logistics of posting is quite restricted.

Meagan Cignoli, a New York-based photographer who has made a name for herself for the stop motion work she is doing on the platform, says it’s for this exact reason however, that fashion should get stuck in. “[Brands] needs to let go a little and enjoy apps like Vine for what they are rather than trying to control the creative to such an extent that it loses its momentum,” she says.

She’s already been hired to create beautifully captivating Vines for big names including Puma, French Connection, Macy’s, Benefit Cosmetics, eBay Now and home stores like Lowe’s. I caught up with her to hear a little more about her thoughts on the platform and its application for this industry…

Your stop motion work on Vine is beautiful, how did it come about?

“Actually I’d never done it before. I shoot still, but I realised doing this on Vine is like shooting many many stills consecutively to create movement, so it was a very natural leap. Most of my inspiration comes from a still moment as a result. I think about something being really beautiful and then I make it move. I see a picture of a place, or a setting at a table, or a dress, and I think I can make that look really really cool if I move it around in a series of photos. It’s just a matter of readjusting them as you go, which is what photography is anyway really.

I get up to about 100-120 frames in each Vine I do, but I use my finger. You can apparently get up to 140-160 if you use a mouse or stylus.”

How did your brand partnerships first begin?

“I just started experimenting on Vine initially, and only a few months ago, but within the first week I got a call from Lowe’s. A lot of publicity followed that work, in Advertising Age and in The Wall Street Journal for instance. Since then I’ve had a different brand getting in touch with me every other day and wanting me to work on this advertising for them.

It’s a total dream come true because I’m given so much creative freedom. I’m not just coming up with the concepts but directing and shooting the Vines too. Every project is so different and that’s why it’s so fun right now.

French Connection’s PR team in London asked me to do it as a trial with just three Vines to begin, and people went crazy for it. It was a big learning experience for me – I’m used to working with a huge team and a big studio with stylists and the like, but with this I had to go and pick up the clothes from the store myself. I then had to shoot the thing alone as well. When I do my own Vines it’s a tiny space I’m operating in, using my own hands to adjust things. But once it gets bigger with items of clothing, I need the extra help. I quickly realised it was necessary to get a stylist and an assistant.”

Do you think all of the fashion industry should be thinking about Vine?

“I’m always so shocked that more companies aren’t doing it. They have accounts but they haven’t pushed it. It’s an incredible form of advertising and method of getting out there, so why wouldn’t you?

It’s so new and it’s rapidly moving – there are 2,500 Vines being uploaded per hour, and the people on it are just scrolling through it all day. The first minute I post I get 50 likes, that’s amazing to me. If your post becomes popular enough and gets picked up on Vine’s featured page, it’s like having a commercial all day that essentially you’re not paying for. There are roughly 40,000 people looking at that page every day at a minimum, I would say. And the content doesn’t change on it for 13 hours, so you just stay up there.

The issue is that it does take a level of commitment to do it properly – you need to be getting content out every week if not every day. French Connection and Puma are weekly deals for me. Other brands are just doing short campaigns, so a lot of content in a short amount of time and there’s a level of benefit to that too. But if you think about it, a TV commercial would run over and over and over; a Vine only has a span of half a day, so I can’t help thinking there’s more benefit in being in front of this audience on a daily basis.”

What do you think the restriction is for the fashion industry, how would you tell them to approach it?

“These brands have gone so long with everything having to be approved, checked and made sure it’s on-brand, it’s much harder for them to push out content on a daily basis. The way Vine is set up you have to upload immediately too, so that makes it more complicated.

They just need to let go a little and enjoy the app for what it is, the quickness and easiness of it. If they can find a way to do that, it’s going to be much more beneficial even if what’s going out isn’t always the most amazing piece of content.

Urban Outfitters for instance, doesn’t have the best, but they’re always doing them and it’s worked for them. Gap in comparison does beautiful Vines but you never see them because they’re not doing them enough. If they’re gorgeous but not so often, then they’re hidden away.”

How do you go about posting in a logistical sense considering Vine doesn’t allow you to save and publish at a later date?

“I shoot it on airplane mode, write the caption and save it to my photo gallery. I then send the file to whoever is my contact at the agency or brand. If they’re happy with it, I then switch back on and post it from there.

French Connection has been pretty good about me just uploading it. Puma is also incredible, saying I can just post as many as I want. Lowe’s in contrast flies in and every single one is approved. I then hold it on airplane mode and post the content a week later. I have five iPhones here as result, if I’m shooting multiple in one day then I have to have.”

Would you want them to change aspects of Vine to make this all easier then?  

“If you could choose what to upload when, that would be great. So if I could shoot five at a time, then stagger when they post; because no one wants them to all go at once.

But I think it’s great that you can’t upload what you didn’t create in the app. These sort of strict guidelines as to what you can do is great, it’s like a game, you have to work against the rules. It’s hard if you’re not on Vine to understand what is a good Vine. Once you use it yourself and know how difficult it is, that it can crash or that you can’t edit it, then it becomes all the more challenging and more fun to do.”

Meagan is hosting an online class from May 29 with Skillshare, which will provide tips for others on how to create compelling stop motion work on Vine. The challenge will be focused on “animating your wardrobe”.

Below is a continued selection of both her own Vine posts and those for numerous brands, as well as a video of several of them tied together. Be sure to look out for more of her work for French Connection and Puma going live on Vine throughout this week too.

Holiday beach vacation time! vine.co/v/bEB1J1VHT2W—
French Connection (@FCUK) May 14, 2013

Don't forget! Here's a reminder to send #YourMom flowers from @MeaganCignoli vine.co/v/b0e1vzh510H—
Vine (@vineapp) May 11, 2013

Easily organize scarves with shower curtain rings and a hanger. #lowesfixinsix #lifehack vine.co/v/bUr3JaQF2ww—
Lowe's (@Lowes) May 04, 2013

Stand out this season in head to toe monochrome. vine.co/v/bEuqQzTageV—
French Connection (@FCUK) May 14, 2013

Make your mom one happy lady this #mothersday with special @benefitbeauty gift sets through #ebaynow. (cc. … vine.co/v/b0eDWATHrjJ—
eBay Now NY (@eBayNowNY) May 11, 2013

Video highlight: Jean Paul Gaultier talks 2014 Barbican exhibition

There’s three types of good fashion films these days: the conceptual creative type (think features for seasonal campaigns), the product shots (more for selling, a lot shorter in length but ideally still tied to a story), and then the interview. That was an idea coined by Harriet Mays Powell of The Look Now (formerly fashion director at New York Magazine), speaking at the first Fashion Forward conference in 2011.

Her focus was that each needs investment, not just in terms of money, but in terms of a strategic approach. The better interviews for instance aren’t haphazard behind-the-scenes clips that don’t do a high fashion house any justice, but well-shot and insightful pieces in their own right.

This one (below) just released by The Barbican Centre in London serves as a great example. It captures designer Jean Paul Gaultier animatedly discussing his upcoming exhibition in its art gallery in April 2014. Set in his Paris studio, with shots of various items from his collections interspersed, he jokes about the retrospective being shown while he’s still alive, and highlights his appreciation for the city of London.

The entire video is such an enthusiastic insight into him and his brand, that when he says, “I am very lucky because I am living my passion”, at the end, the viewer truly believes him.

 

The exhibition itself also sounds like a winner. The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, as it’s called, will see more than 140 garments from 1970 to today presented. Included will be the infamous conical bra from Madonna’s Blonde Ambition Tour, as well as costumes for Kylie Minogue and films such as The Fifth Element.

The exhibition will also comprise catwalk footage, music videos, films, dance performances and snippets from Gaultier’s cult TV show, Eurotrash. It will be accompanied by an events programme and film season.

It has been initiated and produced by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts in collaboration with Maison Jean Paul Gaultier, and will tour worldwide.

New Nina Ricci campaign film evokes enchanted exorcism

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.

Check it out…

Nina Ricci handbag campaign turns artsy with GIFs

Nina Ricci is the latest fashion house to turn to animated GIFs in its advertising, launching a beautifully artistic campaign for its new La Rue bag.

There are a total of four images seen brought to life by the handiwork of British artist Jo Ratcliffe. Each is reworked into what the brand refers to as “a series of modern, poetic illustrations”.

Set in iconic places in Paris, the nature of each ad is said to illustrate the different characters of the bag.

“[Within] the Promenade Plantée – Paris’s answer to the High Line – it appears soft and romantic, while on the Rue de Verneuil on the Left Bank, it is bewitching and bold. Chic and charismatic on the Avenue Montaigne, it becomes mysterious and elusive at Pigalle,” reads the write-up.

The three other images are shown below…

Swarovski to generate content via Facebook and Twitter for store windows

Swarovski is inviting consumers to send in suggestions of how London inspires them to help build creative for its Regent Street store windows.

Part of the brand’s “Iconic London” campaign ahead of the 2012 Olympics, it is encouraging users to participate via Facebook and Twitter using the #IconicLondon hashtag.

Illustrative design duo Good Wives and Warriors will then be transforming the windows with a live art event taking place over two days from the evening of July 16, and again on July 31.

“The store will be magically transformed, from a crystal forest, into a surreal and kaleidoscopic world full of colourful, dreamlike illustrations inspired by London,” reads the write-up.

Fans will be able to discover if their suggestion has become a part of the artwork by watching it come to life online. Their names will also be painted into the illustrations.

The resulting designs will also act as an exclusive preview of Swarovski’s autumn/winter 20112/13 collection, Kingdom of Jewels. Other stores across London will feature a unique creative also designed by Good Wives and Warriors.

Swarovski previously launched a campaign inviting fans to interact with an augmented reality Facebook app.

James Bond exhibition kicks off with online documentary focused on tailoring and style

 

The Barbican Centre in London has released a short documentary looking at the tailoring and styling of James Bond in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the iconic character.

The spot was created to accompany an exhibition showcasing the design and craft behind the movie series. “Designing 007 – Fifty Years of Bond Style“, is a multi-sensory experience opening on July 6, documenting everything from the costumes, set and production design, to the automobiles, gadgets, weapons and special effects.

The film (as shown above) sees Oscar-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming alongside tailors such as David Mason, creative director at Anthony Sinclair, and Ritchie Charlton, managing director of Douglas Hayward, looking at the varying styles of Sean Connery, Roger Moore, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

Says Hemming: “Bond is a British icon, but he’s a world citizen, and he’s beloved all over the world and he’s iconic all over the world, so what he looks like has to not just suit England and Britain but it has to actually be acceptable to the world.”

The spot also describes details such as the silk turned-back cuff worn by Connery in the first film as a sartorial nod to author Ian Fleming’s own style.

The exhibition has been created in collaboration with EON Productions, with unprecedented access to their archives. It was designed by Ab Rogers and curated by the Barbican alongside fashion historian Bronwyn Cosgrave and costume designer Hemming.

There is also another short film available that focuses on the design and craft of the sets, vehicles and accessories.

Ted Baker to launch digital portrait service in-store, turning Instagram looks into original illustrations

 

Ted Baker is continuing to focus on bringing digital initiatives into the retail space with a new campaign that will see 11 top illustrators recreating consumer looks from Instagram as pieces of original artwork.

Following on from the brand’s “It’s Rutting Season” project last season, “Ted’s Drawing Room” will invite consumers to head in-store and try on pieces from the new collection, before being photographed in their looks.

Those images will then be sent to Ted’s London HQ, where a team of illustrators will be sat ready to draw the shoppers they feel the most inspired by. Those involved range from pure fashion illustrators like Jacqueline Bissett and Niki Pilkington; to watercolourist Michael Frith.

The other artists include Miss Led, Emma Lofstrom, Viet Tran, Harry Malt, Serge Seidlitz, Dale Edwin Murray, Damien Weighill and Matthew Green.

The initiative ties in with the brand’s spring/summer 2012 campaign “The Great Exhibitionist and his Private Views” (as the above video shows). It will take place across Ted Baker stores in the UK and New York on Saturday, March 17.

A film crew will also be on hand to capture the illustrators at work, with the footage being broadcast back in-store and on Ted Baker’s Facebook page.

100 customers will receive both a digital copy and a one-off, signed and framed version of their portrait. For some, there will also be a time-lapse video of their piece being created. The same will appear on Facebook, alongside the original photos that inspired them.

Three illustrators have been commissioned in advance to demonstrate the variety of styles that will be involved on the day. Pilkington has recreated a womenswear look from the season’s collection, Green has done the same with menswear, while Malt has produced an image of the elusive Ted Baker. Each are below…

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Alexander Wang showcases SS12 campaign video with New York installation

Alexander Wang’s spring/summer 2012 campaign video is being shown as an installation under the High Line in the Chelsea Gallery District in New York.

Starring model Liya Kebede, and directed by James Lima, it’s inspired by arcade video games and racing cars. The installation itself sees the video projected on the windows of fabricated crashed cars (as the above picture shows) using Spyeglass rear-projection film.

It was produced by Matthew Shattuck of Dissident Industries Inc. and  creative director Christopher Simmonds.

A short, teaser version of the video can be seen here:

New style and tech mag Matter launches

Think about it too hard, and it’s somewhat ironic watching the traditional printing process of a magazine dedicated to looking at art and style through the lens of modern technology.

But that’s perhaps the point. An accompaniment to the launch of a new biannual title for men called Matter, the below video is beautifully done, and as such, equally representative of the quality of the publication that’s just hit the shelves.

 

Created by the team behind arts and culture title Kilimanjaro, Matter focuses on the ways in which new and developing technology affects culture, lifestyle, fashion, and the arts in our ever-changing and increasingly sophisticated world.

“In doing so, it brings together the creative and the rational in a way which is rarely seen in the realms of printed matter,” reads the write-up.

The first issue features the incredible Aaron Koblin, Google’s creative director of data arts; a special collaboration with fashion designer Rick Owens called an Anthology of Colour; and a discussion with art critic Matthew Collings about art on the internet.

There’s also editor Jennifer Higgie talking about 20 years of Frieze magazine; Tate Exhibitions curator Tanya Barson on the Lyon Biennale; and conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner, shot by NY underground photographer Ari Marcopolous.

As shown below, it’s covered by iconic trip-hop artist Tricky, who inside talks about music, imperfection, and reinvention; and also includes fashion from brands such as Yves Saint Laurent, Tom Ford, Yohji Yamamoto and Jil Sander.

It retails at £8.00, and is available at select international bookstores.

Matter magazine, issue one

Fabergé to launch art journal iPad app

Nijinsky and the Diamonds, Mir Fabergé

Luxury jewellery house Fabergé is set to launch an iPad app in the form of an art journal centred around its world past and present.

‘Mir Fabergé’, as it’s called, is inspired by Mir Iskusstva, an art journal and movement founded by Sergei Diaghilev of the Ballet Russes at the turn of the 20^th century.

Key to Russia’s Silver Age, it “sought a reinvigoration and synthesis of the arts, be it literature, music, art or poetry”, read the notes. Influences were found too from artistic friends including Leon Bakst and Coco Chanel, while content spanned from noble to peasant culture.

Now, the Mir Fabergé app, which launches on June 16, likewise brings together a wide variety of artists, following in the footsteps of founder Peter Carl Fabergé’s vision.

His great-granddaughter, Tatiana Fabergé, said: “My great grandfather believed in working with people from all the creative fields – from designers and goldsmiths to artists (including miniaturists), from engravers to enamellers to stonecutters and sculptors. His creations would not have been possible without such a philosophy. All of the world of art both inspired and influenced his creative vision.”

Included are photographers, directors, film makers, actors, dancers, artists, illustrators, composers, writers, costume designers and Fabergé experts.

Between them they have created six stories about the brand, its legacy, its infamous eggs, its founder and his clients such as ballet legend Vaslav Nijinsky.