A Short History of the Front Row — Vogue
A short documentary tracing the evolution of the front row of fashion week from the industry showcase of the 1950s to the meta performance art of a post-millennial media circus. EP: Rahel Gabreyes, AP: Anissa Kennar, Recreation/Vignettes DP: Martyn Sezniak, Stylist: IB Kamara, Editor: Kate Owen, Color & Finishing: Studio RM, Archival Producer:
https://framerusercontent.com/assets/lIEWxGB7rGJiC1RCxSKooUozI.mp4
This is a directors cut of a short film for Vogue's immersive exhibition in London. The Vogue team and I collaborated for several months (so many Google Docs!) with archival research libraries to tell an internet-friendly, distilled overview of the front row of the fashion industry.
Alongside the changing body language due to the proliferation of cameras, the industry itself shifted from commerce-first presentations in the 50s to the camera first, story-second lens of today, upping the speed of everything (seasonal collection numbers, showing to the public versus fashion insiders) on all sides (please see the cerulean blue scene in The Devil Wears Prada: that sweater is now at Zara within weeks, not months).
We sought clear, dissonant, delightful evidence of the speed of the loop, alongside eye candy and enough cultural context to not completely lose the plot. A McKinsey report and several pieces of news coverage (pulled by the incredible producers) informed our positioning of the final sequences. When the Schiaparelli outro footage was shared in the Excel doc, we all did a double take. Liana Satenstien's piece on Chloe wedges was the incisive, charming unlock of this collision, for me.
The process was an organized, evolving Rubiks cube: a puzzle. My guess is much of the archival we sifted through was never-seen. It's rare to dive deeper and still want to say: this material could easily hold a feature length film, you'd laugh, be amazed, cringe, be moved by the disarming, generous insights offered by people who are often flattened by the media's carnivorous appetite. Naomi and Cindy, you deserved better!
Above all, I was reminded everything is cross-pollinating all the time. And while fashion may appear to be purely aesthetic medium, it is also translating craft, tradition, class, self-expression in a business that touches everyone whether you notice or not.
CREDITS
Director: Catherine Orchard
DP: Martyn Sezniyak
Stylist: IB Kamara
Editors: Evan Allan, Ryan Jeffrey
Producers: Rahel Gebreyes, Bety Dereje
Archival Researcher: Lilli Karkowski
Writer: Laia Garcia-Furtado
Narrator: James Faulkner
Associate Producer: Marisah Yazbek
Creative Production Coordinator, Assistant Director: Anisa Kennar
Production Coordinators: Ava Kashar, Tanía Jones
Production Manager: Natasha Soto-Albors
Line Producer: Romeeka Powell
Senior Director, Production Management: Jessica Schier
Assistant Editors: Fynn Lithgow, Justin Symonds
Post Production Coordinator: Scout Alter
Art & Graphics Lead: Léa Kichler
Supervising Editor: Erica DeLeo
Post Production Supervisor: Alexa Deutsch
Associate Director, Post Production: Nicholas Ascanio
Director, Content Production: Rahel Gebreyes
Senior Director, Video: Romy van den Broeke
Senior Director, Programming: Linda Gittleson
VP, Video Programming: Thespena Guatieri
Footage Courtesy of Video Fashion
Image Courtesy of Steven Meisel
DC Edit: Kate Owen
Color & Finishing: Studio RM
Recreation vignettes were shot on Mikael Jansson's set. Respect and thanks to his lighting tech and Anissa Kennar for AD'ing.