Fashion labels deepen links to Cannes film festival

FLORIDA: Luxury fashion labels are increasingly reaching beyond the red carpets and exclusive parties of the cinema world, becoming partners with filmmakers and production companies.

At the Cannes film festival this year, which starts Tuesday, labels will be looking to showcase not only their outfits, but also their credibility as investors.

Alongside corporate heavyweights such as Chanel and Dior, trendy Paris-based label AMI and its founder Alexandre Mattiussi have linked up with the festival for the first time.

AMI is set to present a new award for emerging talent –- the Grand Prix AMI Paris –- at the secondary Critics’ Week section of the festival.

“We’re going there humbly, in support of cinema and its actors, to accompany artists,” Mattiussi, who serves as creative director of his brand, told AFP.

But AMI has also co-produced several films such as “The Beast” in 2023 by Bertrand Bonello, starring French actress Lea Seydoux, or “Enzo” by Robin Campillo which will premiere in Cannes this year.

Fashion and cinema are “in a way, the same job. I also tell stories through clothing. A runway show has a context, music, and this idea of spectacle – it’s a narrative process too,” added the 44-year-old.

But Mattiussi stressed he doesn’t “consider myself a film producer. That would be pretentious.”

“I don’t get involved in the scripts or creative decisions,” he said.

His label contributed to costumes for “The Beast”, much like Jonathan Anderson — newly appointed creative director of Dior Homme and formerly at Loewe –- did for Luca Guadagnino’s 2024 movie “Queer”.

For years, Anderson’s runway shows have also served as gathering spots for cinema stars, from Timothee Chalamet to Tilda Swinton.