The Sense of Fabrication: Exploring Film and Fashion Industry

This essay explores the long-standing relationship between the film and fashion industries, highlighting how they mutually benefit each other. It delves into the concept of 'fabrication' in modern films, drawing parallels to the design process in fashion. The essay discusses how costume design contributes to the realism and audience connection in films, and how film trends influence everyday fashion. It examines the use of non-linear narration and visual effects in contemporary film, akin to the tailoring process in fashion, and how these techniques enhance audience engagement. The essay also touches on how costumes reflect characters' social positions and inner feelings, referencing films by directors like Wong Kar-wai and Quentin Tarantino. Ultimately, it argues that the integration of fashion principles into filmmaking has enriched both industries, creating a more immersive and visually gratifying experience for audiences. Desklib provides a platform to explore more such assignments and study resources.

Running head: FILM AND FASHION
The Sense of the Fabrication
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

1FILM AND FASHION
The film industry and the world of fashion had been sharing a harmonious
relationship since the 20th century. This is perhaps one of the main reasons for the unwavering
as well as continuous interest that some of the greatest fashion designers have shown toward
the film industry (Hakak and Holmes 2017). As opined by Taylor (2014), the symbiotic
relationship these two industries share manifests in the monetary gains they reap from each
other but also in the changing notion of the movie itself. Foster, Manning and Terkla (2015)
are of the viewpoint that this is due the fact that the contemporary movies have become
fabrics. The fabrication becomes apparent not only in the clothes worn by the actors but also
the screens are materialized or tailor-made to gratify the desire of the audiences. The
fabrication of the movies just like the process used by the fashion designers for the creation
of their designer clothes has equipped directors an instrument likely to enable them to gain
popularity and success (Hunt 2018). This paper deconstructs and interprets the process of
filmmaking to show that modern films can be conceived as a tactile material. Focusing on the
fabrication notion, we explore how the fashion and film industries and fashion industry
intertwine with each other over their similarities of desire and intention.
According to Campagnolo et al. (2018), the influence that the fashion has wielded on
the film industry is an area which is not generally discussed about. However, when an
analysis is undertaken, it reveals insightful information. For example, on the one hand, there
is the contribution made by Edith Head, who ended her career with eight Oscar awards for
the costumes that she made (Weale 2018). On the other hand, it is seen that the effective
utilization of the costumes created by Edith Head and other famous designers like Travis
Banton, Jean Louis, Coco Chanel have contributed to the verisimilitude of the films
(Wissinger 2015). This in turn has not only made the films over the years more realistic or
lifelike for the audiences but at the same time as the ones with which they are relate to. In
addition to this, the costumes and style featured in films has influenced the clothing worn in

2FILM AND FASHION
everyday life. In this regard, Elsa Schiaparelli, one of the greatest hat-designers of the 20th
century once commented that “The film fashions of today are your fashions of tomorrow”
(Weale 2018). We see the truth of this statement in the popularity experienced as the default
outfit for gangsters following the release of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992).
Subsequent gangster movies like Pulp Fiction, Top Gun and others feature gangsters dressed
in black coats (Dancyger 2014). In addition to this, it appealed to the general population in a
substantial way, with black coats becoming fashionable for men in the last decade of the 20th
century. In this regard, the opinion of Chris Hemblade, the editor of the Empire Magazine is
important to note “Film and fashion people have always been interlinked in the circles in
which they move. They’ve always had a symbiotic relationship. They are just exploiting that
more now” (Weale 2018).
Foster, Manning and Terkla (2015) are of the viewpoint that films just like literary
texts have been vehicles through which artists can convey their emotions to the audiences and
also highlight important issues. In this regard, it can be said that the films have a social
function in addition to their role as entertainment. This is perhaps one of the most important
factors driving change in the techniques which are being used in film direction. One of the
major benefits that the film industry has derived through its close association with the fashion
industry is the process of fabrication or tailoring which is being used for the direction of the
movie (Needham 2013). For example, when the prime focus for directors was entertaining
the audiences they used linear mode of narration. Contemporary directors are focusing on the
non-linear mode of narration (Evans 2011). The contemporary directors like Quentin
Tarantino, Guillermo del Toro, Alejandro González Iñárritu and others are increasingly using
the concept of tailoring to not only make the films technically effective but at the same time
more gratifying for the audiences (Hunt 2018). It can be said that film screens are themselves
materialized and are equipment on which the fabric of film is unveiled. In addition to this, the

3FILM AND FASHION
effective utilization of the various kinds of fashionable costumes has at the same time helped
films gain greater commercial success as well. According to Chris Hemblade “Fashion puts
films into another area of the media and gets the film talked about. Studio marketing directors
are grabbing at every opportunity. Take ‘Men In Black’ and the link with Ray-Ban. There’s a
lot of cross-branding, aggressive commercialism” (Weale 2018).
The emergence of the notion that the movies or the films are fabrics has not only
benefited the movie industry but at the same time the fashion industry as well. It has lead to
the increasing usage of different kinds of fashionable dresses in films and has lead to the
integration of dress making into the cannon of the film making techniques (Hakak and
Holmes 2017). In the same way that the fashion designers take a simple piece of cloth and
design and amend to it and subsequently design it to suit the needs and expectations of their
users so modern directors have had to consider the needs of their audiences. More
importantly, just like fashion designers are required to display their creativity and artistic
abilities in designing and creating their dresses, film directors are also required to do the same
for the films (Campagnolo et al. 2018). Furthermore, unlike the earlier times when the
directors used to shoot the entire film in a sequential manner, in recent times, scenes are shot
in a non-linear manner (Taylor 2014). In addition to this, tailoring is also being done to
amend the film and to make it more appealing for the audiences. This is also done to
channelize the movie in a much effective manner unlike the earlier movie. This has actually
made the art of narration of the contemporary movie much effective in comparison to the
ones of the earlier times. The movies of Wong Kar-wai are the most important examples of
this style of narration.
The tailoring process is not only used in film directing but also in cinematography
or visual effects (Dancyger 2014). For example, just like the fashionable or the designer
dresses show the association of diverse kinds of color or visual representation, the movies of

4FILM AND FASHION
can be seen as the association of visual and sound effects. In this regard, the effective
utilization of light and shadow becomes an important one to note in the contemporary
movies. For example, the movie “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” (2014) by Ana Lily
Amirpour an assemblage of black and white scenes, despite the presence of different color
picture techniques (Hunt 2018). In this context, mention also needs to be made about the
various contemporary movies like Raging Bull (1980), Cinderella Man (2005), The Artist
(2011), and others where the effective play of light and shadow has been used just like a
costume maker uses the same notion for the manufacture of different fashionable dresses
(Hunt 2018). Foster, Manning and Terkla (2015) have stated the effective utilization of this
techniques borrowed from the fashion industry provides dual benefits to the directors, firstly,
it enables the director to synchronize the scenes with the context in which they are shown and
secondly, it helps them make the films more visually gratifying for the audiences.
Furthermore, there are various movie makers who also use the concept of light and shadow to
show flashbacks or convey important information related to the past of the actors.
Commenting on the benefits of the use of tailoring process for the production of the
films a spokeswoman of Buena Vista says “We are trying to cross markets….We are trying to
appeal to people who would not normally think of going to see an action-type film. It’s a
small part of the overall film campaign. But it gets another element into the film” (Weale
2018). This comment has important connotations not only for the production of the films but
also from the perspective of the audience experience as well. In this regard, it can be said that
the haptic experience of the audiences is limited only to the eye touch that they make with the
moving characters or the image on the film screen (Needham 2013). Thus, it can be said that
during the course of the movie the experience of the audiences changes from the one of
optical experience to that of the haptic experience where they are being able to touch the
characters through their eyes. In a sense it can be said that the various fashionable costumes

5FILM AND FASHION
are being used by the various directors to break the fourth wall, a notion which has gained
increasing prominence within the modern movie making industry (Taylor 2014). The primary
motive of this process is not just to entertain the audiences but to make them participate in the
action which is going on in the screen. The use of the various costumes with which the
audiences can relate themselves to, has helped different directors and producers to achieve
this effect. In addition to these, the different costumes used by the directors actually help the
movie makers in a much more subtle manner. For example, in the earlier times, it was seen
that the movie makers had to devote a substantial amount of the screen time for the creation
of adequate mood or the setting for the scene (Hakak and Holmes 2017). However, presently,
it is seen that the different kind of costumes are being used for the same and this has actually
contributed towards the brevity of the movies in a substantial manner. This in benefits the
movie makers from the monetary perspective as well since in the present times it is seen that
just to shoot one scene the movie makers had to spend a substantial amount of capital. Thus,
in a way it can be said that the utilization of this process has in fact helps in the reduction of
the manufacturing cost of the entire movie in comparison to the one which the movie makers
would have incurred without the use of this method.
Campagnolo et al. (2018) have stated that the impact of the fashion industry on the
film industry is manifested in the use of outfits of the characters to indicate the social position
of the characters also inner feelings. In this regard, the movies of Wong Kar-wai like
Chungking Express (1994), Fallen Angels (1995), 2046 (2004) and others are important to
note (Hunt 2018). In these movies, it is seen that the protagonists wear western outfits in the
traditional background of Hong Kong’s society to note only indicate their western outlook on
life but at the same time to denote their modernistic feelings as well (Bruno 2011). More
importantly, the movies of Quentin Tarantino like Django Unchained (2012), Pulp Fiction
and others are also important in this regard. In these movies, the director utilizes the outfits

6FILM AND FASHION
of the characters to not only denote their social position but at the same time their attitude and
feelings as well (Hunt 2018). For example, the unorthodox costume worn by Christoph Waltz
in the movie Django Unchained not only represents his denial of the traditional opinions held
by the white dominated society but at the same time his disregard for the laws as well as the
customs of the society as well (Weale 2018).
As per Aristotle’s Poetics, cinema can be seen as a mimicry which intends to
represent the human beings and their feelings in its entirety (Snead 2016). It is with this
objective that the various producers as well as the directors try to take the help of the entity of
verisimilitude. Furthermore, they also try to make the characters and the feelings exhibited by
them in as realistic a manner as possible. It is precisely here that the process of tailoring
which is being used for the direction of the contemporary movies gains special prominence.
The major advantage that the use of the process of tailoring renders to the various directors is
the fact that it enables them to leave out the necessary sections of the movie and also to make
it more gratifying for the audiences (Wissinger 2015). Moreover, just like a fashioner
designer through its expertise and sense of art removes the pieces of the garment which are
aesthetically not appealing or pleasing the director or the producer does the same. This is
done with the removal of the sections or the scenes of the movie which do not add to the
visual or the aesthetic delight of the movie. Thus, in this regard, it can be said that the modern
films are a representation of the tailoring process which is being used in the fashion industry
for the manufacture of the designer dresses.
To conclude, the symbiotic as well as the harmonious relationship that the film
industry shares with the fashion industry has benefited both of these industries over the years.
On the one hand, it has lead to the acceptance of the fashionable dresses or the costumes
manufactured by the various fashion designers into the main stream cloths worn by the
common people. On the other hand, this has lead to the creation of the kind of movies

7FILM AND FASHION
wherein the audiences can relate themselves with the protagonist of the movie by virtue of
the dresses worn by them. In addition to this, this close association between the two has at the
same time drastically altered the direction or the movie making process used by the various
directors and producers. For example, it is seen that the tailoring method of film making has
gained extensive popularity in the recent times and is being extensively used by the different
movie makers. Furthermore, it is seen that the different kinds of costumes have been used by
the directors to reflect only the social class of the characters but also their feelings in the most
effective manner. This is important from the perspective of the movie makers since the usage
of these costumes has actually reduced the number of dialogues that they would normally
have to spend to convey the mood and also the setting of the scene to the audiences.

8FILM AND FASHION
References
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in Film, pp.82-105.
Campagnolo, G.M., Giannatou, E., Franklin, M., Stewart, J. and Williams, R., 2018.
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within the mainstream film industry. Information, Communication & Society, pp.1-18.
Dancyger, K., 2014. The technique of film and video editing: history, theory, and practice.
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Evans, C., 2011. The Walkies: Early French Fashion Shows as a Cinema of
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9FILM AND FASHION
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“Ritual in Transfigured Time”. Southeastern Louisiana University.
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