Fashion and film get along like a house on fire, with costume being key to carving out a character’s identity. Movies can make fashion items into a moment in time and catalogue clobber’s role in defining an era. Take Giorgio Armani, who, as well as revamping red-carpet dressing, has had his fair share of on-screen costume wins with his big pants and power-shouldered suits, or Yohji Yamamoto whose clothing has appeared in a load of Japanese cult classics. If we’ve wet your fashion-meets-film whistle, see our roundup of on-screen designer moments below.
Miuccia Prada - The Great Gatsby (2013)
Miuccia Prada pulls on a massive range of influences to cook up her mean blend of minimalism, from art to science to cinema. In 2013, Mrs Prada collaborated with Academy Award-winning costume designer Catherine Martin for The Great Gatsby, where 40 dresses from both the Prada and Miu Miu archives were selected to be reworked for the film. Get a bit of this: the party dress Daisy wore to attend Gatsby’s party was inspired by Look 33 from Prada’s SS10 runway collection to reflect the European influences that punctuated the wardrobes of East Coast socialites during the Roaring Twenties.
Miuccia Prada - The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)
Prada and Wes Anderson have worked together on numerous projects, and it’s a match made in movie fashion heaven, given the pair both possess an immaculate eye for detail. In 2014’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Willem Dafoe’s character Jopling wore a custom-made Prada leather trench featuring a stealth chest pocket for his gun. Miuccia Prada also produced a series of custom-made trunks for the movie, inspired by archival Prada pieces from the 20s and 30s.
Yohji Yamamoto - Boiling Point (1990)
As if a movie about two revenge-hungry baseball players planning to take on the Yakuza wasn’t sick enough already, gang member Kitano is dressed in Yohji Yamamoto. The power-shouldered pinstripe suit paired with a Hawaiian suit is relaxed and casual enough to ensure any chaotic gangster moves are catered for and appears at odds with the craziness of Kitano’s character. Fun fact, the Hawaiian shirt worn in Boiling Point was later worn in Kikujiro and Sonatine.
Coco Chanel - Last Year at Marienbad (1961)
1961 Coco Chanel costumed the French New Wave classic Last Year at Marienbad. The French designer flexed her design muscles, crafting house signatures for the big screen, which included pearls and dresses in a range of luxurious materials, including tulle and lace.
Giorgio Armani - American Gigolo (1980)
It would be weird to write about fashion designers and film and not include this one. Giorgio Armani, who unveiled his first collection five years before the movie in 1975, cut his teeth with his trademark relaxed approach to luxury. For the film, Armani outfitted Richard Gere’s character Julian Kay, a high-flying male escort, dressing him in some steezy ‘80s suiting.
Yves Saint Laurent - Belle de Jour (1967)
In the 1967 classic Belle De Jour (1967), Catherine Fabienne Dorléac, who plays a housewife living a double life as a prostitute, does so while wearing Yves Saint Laurent outerwear and dresses. A vinyl coat and satin minidress are standout pieces that go as hard today as they did back then.
Raf Simons for Jil Sander- I Am Love (2009)
Luca Guadagnino’s 2009 romantic drama I Am Love charts Tilda Swinton’s character, the wife of a wealthy textile manufacturer who pursues a love interest with her son’s friend. And what do you wear when you’re bougie and on a secret, extramarital mission? Raf Simons, of course. Simons designed the wardrobe of this secret love affair during his tenure at Jil Sander, which saw his technical-tinged minimalism brought to the big screen.
Jean Paul Gaultier - The Fifth Element (1997)
There’s costuming a film, and then there’s designing over 1,000 costumes for a big-budget extravaganza. If you’re wondering if that’s possible, it is, and that’s exactly what Jean Paul Gaultier did for the 1997 sci-fi action thriller The Fifth Element. At the time, it was the most expensive film to be made outside of the USA and had a budget of $90 million. The costumes were bright and colourful, building on previous collections and adding to them materially. Think “Thunderbirds are going to fashion week” and you’re on the right track.
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