The eyes of the fashion industry may be focused at the moment on the catwalk shows for the next season, but there are other equally interesting fashion appointments to take care of.
For example, if you're in Melbourne this week and you love film and fashion, you shouldn't miss "Fashion on Film" a fun event organised by the Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI).
Curated by James Nolen and screening as part of the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF), the programme features a collection of recent documentaries analysing designers, brands and fashion as an industry and a spectacle as well.
As you may guess, there is a bit of everything for everybody in the programme: Haute Couture connoisseurs and passionate fans of hand-made quality accessories will definitely enjoy Eric Pellerin's Hubert de Givenchy: A Life in Haute Couture and Enrica Viola's Borsalino City, a documentary about the famous Italian hat company.
Younger generations of fashionistas won't be disappointed by Loïc Prigent's The Legacy of Alexander McQueen that looks at the late designer through his last four collections, and by Vlad Yudin's Jeremy Scott: The People's Designer.
Fashion fans interested instead in discovering more about fashion presentations shouldn't miss Prigent's Dressed Up for Winter 2016 (Habillées pour l'hiver 2016) that analyses not just catwalk shows, but also dissects a key issue in contemporary fashion - the power of social media.
The documentaries are accompanied by a selection of short fashion films, handpicked from the 2016 VAMFF Film Competition that will give festvial goers the chance to get to know young and innovative directors.
Two special events will pay homage to hats, "Borsalino and Bubbles", a one-off event where people will be given the chance to learn the intricacies of hat making, and #HATMOB, that will follow the opening night screening of Borsalino City (on 25th February) and will be hosted by Melbourne milliner Annabel Allen, aka The Eternal Headonist. In today's interview Allen takes us behind the scenes of the "Fashion on Film" festival while sharing her passion for designing and wearing hats.
How did you get involved in the 10th anniversary of ACMI's "Fashion on Film" Season?
Annabel Allen: We've been lucky enough to have the amazing James Nolen, the ACMI programmer responsible for the wonderful "Fashion on Film" series, as a great advocate for our brand and hat mission. He'd attended some of our previous #HATMOB events and when the opportunity arose to do something at ACMI, he got in touch. It's so exciting that a hat film (a rare beast!) is forming part of the series this year and even better, the opening night. We, of course, jumped at the chance to collaborate and create an occasion that celebrates the fun of hat wearing!
The 10th anniversary programme will also be celebrating hats in a special way via Borsalino City: what fascinates you about this Italian manufacturer and what kind of hat will you be wearing at the opening night screening?
Annabel Allen: Borsalino is such an iconic hat brand, and one that's really stood the test of time through classic design and workmanship. It's a company that's been through its ups and downs but has so many great stories to tell, through its hats and the people that have worn them. Every Hollywood icon from the 1920s through to today has been seen wearing one. There's not many brands that have created and maintained such a suave legacy. I'm yet to decide on my hat for the screening, but it will either be something classic and vintage or something colourful and extravagant - there's no middle ground with me!
As a milliner, did you ever design hats for any films, or would you like to do so?
Annabel Allen: I haven't designed hats for films, but I would love to do so and when this opportunity arises it would have to be for some crazy, futuristic, sci-fi or fantasy film. I'm a bit of a sci-fi nerd, and would love to imagine what the headwear would look like in a future world or alternative galaxy - it's where you could get really creative. The first Hunger Games movie had some incredible headwear in the crowd scenes during the opening ceremony, but films like the 5th Element or 2001: A Space Odyssey (particularly interesting as the costumes were really projecting a '60s visualisation of the future, with big '60s influenced futuristic pillbox hats) had some amazing costumes. Doing something like that would be on my wish list!
Which are your favourite fashion films and who is your fave costume designer?
Annabel Allen: I love films about fashion characters, and Bill Cunningham - New York is a particular favourite, maybe I have a fondness for him as he started life as a milliner, or maybe it's just because he is really awesome! The last #HATMOB we had, we went to see Iris, the story of the incredible Iris Apfel, and it's hard not be truly inspired by her vision and love for life and fashion. All the (now famous) "Advanced Style" ladies really know where it's at when it comes to incredible headwear and how hats complete an outfit - just check out their instagram feed! I'm waiting for someone to make a film on the story of Elsa Schiaparelli: having read her biography her story is fascinating, she really got up to some incredible and daring adventures that need to be told, as well as her fashion story. Whilst I'm waiting for that, I'm looking forward to seeing the Alexander McQueen and Jeremy Scott films as well as Borsalino City as part of the "Fashion on Film" series this year. Costume-wise, designer Eiko Ishioka really caught my attention a few years ago with the incredible costumes she made for Grace Jones' "Hurricane" tour. Grace Jones is the ultimate "Headonist", and Philip Treacy made some show stopping hats for that tour, but Jean-Paul Gaultier's and Hardy Amis's work in the 5th Element and 2001 A Space Odyssey, as mentioned above, are among my favourites.
In your opinion, who are the greatest milliners in the history of fashion and who are your personal hat muses?
Annabel Allen: There's a a favourite milliner for every era, but the milliners of the early to mid-20th century are my absolute feminist icons. They were total trail blazers and created huge business empires at a time when women definitely didn't do that kind of thing. Caroline Reboux, Lilly Dache, Hattie Carnegie, Elsa Schiaparelli, Coco Chanel, were hugely driven and creative women who started life as milliners, and built huge fashion brands employing hundreds and sometimes thousands of people. Seriously, just wow! In contemporary millinery, you really can't go past Philip Treacy and Stephen Jones, they are unparalleled in terms of how they have advanced millinery in modern day fashion. Stephen Jones never fails to amaze in the catwalk looks he creates for Galliano and Thom Browne. I have several hat muses, and they are generally people who are fearless and unafraid to take risks with their headwear. Erykah Badu, Grace Jones, Lady Gaga and classic Audrey Hepburn are my daily inspirations.
Quite often people think you must have perfect facial features to wear a hat, but most times the opposite is true and people who may not be stereotypical beauties look better in a hat than many models on the runways, would you agree with this statement?
Annabel Allen: Absolutely, pulling off a killer hat look, is all about attitude, outlook and how you carry it. Yes. certain face shapes suit certain hat shapes better, but that is not saying anything about perfection - confidence is your greatest attribute when wearing a hat. If you've got a smile on your dial, or some cool in your attitude, that hat is going to make your outfit!
What are your plans for the future for your maison?
Annabel Allen: I want to get to a stage where fantastic Australian and contemporary millinery is available to all and for all occasions, not just Spring Racing. People love hats, but lack the confidence and occasions to wear them. The #HATMOB is all about creating events and occasions for people to wear hats. There's also very few places where fashion forward headwear is available all year round, so the dream is to be the go-to place for contemporary headwear and promote the talented designers and milliners we have in Australia.
What kind of hat would you suggest to wear to take part in some of the hat related events at ACMI's "Fashion on Film" Season?
Annabel Allen: Wear a hat that makes you feel special, one that makes your outfit look 1001%. It doesn't have to be big and crazy (although we thoroughly endorse that!), but something that makes you feel great inside and out!
"Fashion on Film 2016", ACMI, Melbourne, Australia, from 25th February to 14th March 2016.
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