From IHT http://iht.com/articles/2007/05/28/arts/fhollywood.php
Stealthy screen time: Prime placement for luxury brands
CANNES:
When the Chinese film director Wong Kar-wai opened the 60th Cannes Film
Festival two weeks ago, he wasn't just premiering his first English
language film. A purple haze cherry-blossom dress worn by his leading
lady, Norah Jones, in his hauntingly beautiful movie "My Blueberry
Nights" marked the beginning of a new kind of luxury branding, one that
takes place when the house lights go down and movie magic has
cinemagoers dreaming.
Making luxury labels an integral part of that dream is how brands
are reaching out to consumers. Dressing celebrities for their trips
down the red carpet is still the most popular way for high-end brands
to garner publicity, not least at Cannes.
The stakes have always been high. After months of preparation,
negotiations, fittings and the creation of one-of-a-kind dresses, it's
still a crapshoot, with many designers rolling snake eyes when a fickle
film star decides at the last minute to go with another fashion house.
Today, the sure bet in Hollywood is not dressing stars for a film's
premiere, it's getting screen time alongside them.
"Brand placement is touchy and it has to be done properly," said
Leeza-Maria el Khazen, the founder of Reelbranding, a company that
helps designers find the perfect fit in films. For Khazen, some of the
most successful collaborations are those that have grown organically
from a more personal relationship.
This was the case for Wong and Louis Vuitton. The director wore
Louis Vuitton suits while acting as the head of the festival jury last
year and then contacted the company when he started working on "My
Blueberry Nights," which is in competition this year.
Wong explained to the fashion company that the movie was a road film
and the brand, which has always been associated with the world of
travel, gave the director free rein to pick and chose what he wanted
for the film.
Just before seeing the final results at the premiere, Yves Carcelle,
the president of Louis Vuitton, explained why he decided to work with
Wong for the brand's first film collaboration: "The greatest voyage in
life is one of self-discovery, and we wanted to be a part of that," he
said. "It fit well with the identity of our brand."
In the end, the association is a subtle one: a set of keys that play
an important role have a Louis Vuitton key chain; that cherry-blossom
print dress from Vuitton's spring/summer 2005 collection is worn in a
pivotal scene; and bags with the Epi leather and LV logo are worn
casually in shots where the focus is on everyday life, not fashion.
Awareness of the Louis Vuitton brand seeps into the psyche over the
course of the film.
"A movie and a commercial are not the same thing," Wong said after
the premiere, remembering the moment he first spotted the dress he
chose to use in film. "It worked with the movie; we wanted that exact
shade of blueberry and when we saw the dress, we knew we had to have
it."
On the big screen, designers have a captive audience's undivided
attention. Brands get to become part of a story, forever linked in the
minds of the public with the film flickering in front of them. But as
jaded movie audiences become more adept at spotting brands and their
more blatant attempts to advertise on celluloid, top luxury houses are
turning to a softer sell with understated product placement.
"The worst thing that can happen is that the audience feels like it
is watching a commercial," Khazen said. "It can have a very negative
effect on the film and the brand because it draws the audience out of
the movie. Sometimes it's kind of shocking."
The powerful link between film and fashion can be seen as far back
as Hubert de Givenchy's work with Audrey Hepburn in "Sabrina," which
was the beginning of a lifelong partnership between the designer and
the star. There was also Catherine Deneuve wearing Roger Vivier's
silver-buckled shoes for her seminal film "Belle de Jour." The film
created a cult following for the shoes; now known as Belle Vivier,
which continues to this day. And in 1980 Giorgio Armani seared his name
into the collective American consciousness when he dressed Richard Gere
in the film "American Gigolo."
Recently, luxury brands have seen their products take a more central
role in films. In the Merchant Ivory film "Le Divorce" (2003), a Kelly
bag from Hermès carried by Kate Hudson throughout the film (until it
was unceremoniously thrown off the Eiffel Tower) was arguably another
character in the movie. The dark purple fox fur-trimmed cashmere wool
coat that Jennifer Lopez wore in a central scene in the movie "Shall We
Dance" was unmistakably a Versace creation. And who could forget Toni
Collette's repeated cries of shock and anger - "She broke my Jimmy
Choos!" - when she discovered her sister had snapped a heel off her
favorite pair in the movie "In Her Shoes."
But this more transparent style has started to give way to the
restrained choice seen in "My Blueberry Nights." And both approaches
can be seen in the latest James Bond film "Casino Royale," where the
lead actor Daniel Craig gives his watch the hard sell ("No, it's an
Omega"), but never mentions his well-cut suits created by Brioni.
With "the public zapping television commercials, product placement
in films has become even more important," Khazen said. "And most film
now are released worldwide, giving a brand more international exposure
that a commercial can."
While Louis Vuitton is just starting to discover the power of films,
Armani is a seasoned expert who has cultivated a strong connection to
Hollywood and its brightest stars since hitting the jackpot with
"American Gigolo." Armani got another chance to put his tailoring
skills on display in "Ocean's Thirteen," the third installment of the
heist-film series starring George Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon,
which premiered out of competition at this year's Cannes festival.
Armani collaborated with the Hollywood costume designer Louise
Frogley to create the onscreen looks for Clooney's character Danny
Ocean. The designer dresses the actor in custom suits from his
Hand-Made-To-Measure line and in his signature tuxedos. The decision to
work together was born from a long-standing friendship between the men.
In fact, the initial idea came while Clooney and Armani were having
lunch together at the actor's home in Lake Como, Italy, last summer.
"Dressing George Clooney is every designer's dream," said Armani,
"but being George Clooney's friend transcends business. It is a true
pleasure working with and knowing George. He inspires me, as Cary Grant
did a generation ago."
And it seems the feeling is mutual. Talking about his wardrobe in
"Ocean's Thirteen," Clooney said in a statement: "My long-time friend
Giorgio loves movies as much as I love those suits of his. So we
thought, hey, put the two together!"
Comment