I’ve been fascinated by the new (or, at least, new to me) trend in the “fashion film.” Spurred in part by ongoing developments in the DSLR market, fashion lines are more and more frequently pushing their branding and advertising efforts into moving-image media. Usually, these amount to little more than technically marvelous, all-style-no-substance displays of gorgeous vapidity. However, I was really blown away by the film City Limits (2010), created by Australian filmmaker Kris Moyes for the Autumn/Winter 2010 “Nightmare on Wall Street” collection by fashion label Romance Was Born.
The film reads as a bizarre combination of Wall Street and Kill Bill, written by Ryan Trecartin and directed by Dario Argento. What’s more: City Limits rises above the limitations of the fashion film as a form/genre. Rather than being another shallow and soulless extension of a luxury brand, it manages to poke fun at the shallow and soulless nature of fashion as a whole through its hilarious dialogue (“Whenever I play deep house, it’s always: Chicago, Detroit, Detroit, Chicago.” “Who here has been to India? You may go.”) and over-the-top violence. Congrats, Kris: you may have made the only fashion marketing film appropriate for the days of #Occupy.
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