The launch of a new quarterly DVD "magazine," FLY,has set out to re-imagine the fashion editorial - those photo spreads typically found in magazines featuring models enacting in a fashion scenario - as a moving image.Think music videos for the fashion set.
If fashion designers have become rock stars – as Vogue's Andre Leon Talley rightly pointed out in the December issue of Vogue – then it makes sense that they should be exploiting the possibilities of video to promote their brand and the image of their collections.
After all,the other promotional devices used by the fashion industry mirror the hype machine of the music indus-try. Rock stars have wild concerts,while our designing idols have their own version of that in the form of a runway show. Glamorous tales about their lives unfold in magazines and tell-all unauthorized biographies. And,of course, for both industries there is merchandising, merchandising and more merchandising. Designer and musician have even become one and the same – witness Gwen Stefani's L.A.M.B., Sean "Diddy" Combs' Sean John and J. Lo's Sweetface, all successful clothing lines.
Yet fashion, a form of mass consumed culture like pop music,seems to slag when it comes to taking advantage of video and television to communicate its message. While fashion has always figured largely in the entertainment industry, whether in a music video or on the red carpet,fashion designers and their collections have only recently become the entertainment themselves,what with the popularity of Style.com's runway photos and cable channels devoted to fashion like the Style Network or programs like "Project Runway."
With more and more emphasis on giving viewers "backstage" and "insider" access to fashion shows through these media outlets,it's not surprising that to many,scoring a ticket to a fashion show would be akin to getting tickets to see to a Broadway musical.
But watching a taped version of that same runway show? About as exciting as watching a taped theatrical perform-ance that uses only one static camera.
Enter FLY,whose founders think that film can do much more with fashion. FLY pairs top designer collections with filmmakers who are given creative license to present the current season's collection in any way they chose, and in most cases, set to music, including tracks by Colder, Devendra Banhart, Philip Glass, Elliot Smith and Output Recordings.
"It's a platform where we can allow different people from different creative fields to collaborate with each other," says Nima Abbasi, FLY's publisher."We're allowing people to experiment and to go beyond 2D media."Unlike most fashion editorials,which mix and match designers to illustrate a particular trend or style story,FLY’s moving editorials highlight just one designer.
"It allows that collection to stand out," says Abbasi."It communicates the theme of the collection through the pres-entation."
While that may sound likenothing more than a commercial for the designer,the high-end production values and the spirit of experimentation and freedom with the material that FLY encourages of its filmmakers lends the short seg-ments a more high brow quality than a mere advertisement – imagine what would happen if you saw a Marc Jacobs collection filmed as though it were part of a David Lynch movie,for example.
Plus,says Abbasi,as with any other magazine,there's an editorial process of selection."It's highly curated – some-thing we hope people want to keep and collect and share with their friends," he says.
While it's a lot pricier than your average high-end glossy – individual issues are $45 in the USA while an annual sub-scription is $190 – with a total running time of just over 2 hours,it's a worthwhile investment for the fashion-for-ward media junkie who wants a cool DVD to play in the background at a party,or a retailer looking to show collec-tions in a more refreshing light. Or,for anyone who wants to be the first to collect something that could turn out to be a pioneering direction for fashion editorials.
FLY's Zero Issue features 14 fashion films,six interviews and documentaries and nine music videos with contribu-tors including John Malkovich, Alex Cayley, and Dutch fashion photographer Martien Mulder. The DVD comes encased in a nicely designed low-tech but high-style cardboard packaging the size of the magazine and is stocked on the shelves of the world's most stylish retailers such as Moss and Seven in New York and Colette in Paris. They've also commissioned artist Ryan McGinness to design one hundred unique covers for the first issue,selling at a limit-ed edition price of $500.
FLY's distribution in the first year will be 50,000-60,000; by the second year Abbasi says they hope to reach 100,000-150,000. To view a trailer from the DVD or to purchase,visit www.insidefly.com.
What others are saying about Fly Magazine:
This is conventional storytelling by fashion standards, but the format has changed. The quarterly magazine, called FLY, is presented on a DVD, which adds to the traditional two-dimensional paper format the components of motion, dialogue and music...The first issue offers a slick and seamless presentation of 14 collections and numerous features" - New York Times
“FLY...presents New Romantic and decadent atmospheres dressed by a glacial and elegant soundtrack:a remix of‘Fade to Gray’by Steve Strange’s Visage.” - Be Cool
"the high-end production values and the spirit of experimentation and freedom with the material that FLY encourages of its filmmakers lends the short segments a more high brow quality than a mere advertisement – imagine what would happen if you saw a Marc Jacobs collection filmed as though it were part of a David Lynch movie....with a total running time of just over 2 hours, it's a worthwhile investment for the fashion-forward media junkie....or for anyone who wants to be the first to collect something that could turn out to be a pioneering direction for fashion editorials" Fashion Wire Daily / Yahoo Fashion News
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