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Edited By Hoon Ji

Of all the ways to experience fashion — from the runway to the pages of a magazine and the street — fashion films are one of the more interdisciplinary mediums. They transpose fashion into a visual world with characters, narratives, and music. As such, they convey not just the beauty and details of the season’s pieces, but also the creative sentiment behind the brand and its designer. We rounded up some of the standouts from this year’s Fall/Winter season — whether they are funny, sentimental, or surreal, they all speak to a larger vision contained within the collections.

Kenzo

Nobody does a fashion video quite like Kenzo. Having tapped into the creative worlds of directors like Greg Araki, Sean Baker, and Spike Jonze for previous projects, they’ve set the bar high. Their latest was written and directed by Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, who explores the ridiculousness of social media by turning it literal.

The film follows actress Laura Harrier on a bizarre adventure that begins in the shady ‘Institute of the Real and Really Real.’ We first see Harrier greeted at the establishment by a group of her ‘followers’ and an authoritarian Rowan Blanchard. As two of Harrier’s followers walk away, Blanchard explains the rules of the institute and social media.

Since Harrier once called Natasha Lyonne the social media jargon, “mom,” on Instagram, the institute makes Lyonne Harrier’s actual mom. It spirals into a hot mess and Lyonne gets into a fight with Harrier’s birth mom. The short also has cameos from Kim Gordon and Mahershala Ali.

McQueen

Alexander McQueen’s creative director Sarah Burton and photographer Jamie Hawkesworth look to the brand’s original vision of dialectical oppositions for its fall/winter 2016 video campaign: shots taken in both back and white and color, the night theme of the clothing vs. the bright sunny day, the quick rolling shots of road juxtaposed with long shots of calm nature, and the delicateness of the garments paired against the rugged backdrop of the Shetland Islands. The film stars Mica Arganaraz, who is joined by three Scottish sisters, Daisy, Emily, and Lily Brodie.

The girls playing in the remains of a house and car bring us to focus. One of the sister’s voice floats over the video, talking about school and meeting Mica, “I just go into a dwam, and like block out all sound, basically. So, someone will say my name in maths and be like, ‘What’s the answer to this,’ and I’ll be like, ‘I didn’t listen to any of that.'” Their voices compete when they talk about Mica, “She’s got brown curly hair with a fringe, and she’s got an amazing tan, amazing eyebrows. I thought she wouldn’t talk to us, but she did actually talk to us.” The film ends with the sisters and Mica walking to who knows where in beautiful,gothic dresses, as a folk song sung by them drifts in the background.

Marc Jacobs

Anyone remember Marc Jacob’s iconic spring 1993 grunge collection at Perry Ellis, featured in the Sonic Youth’s video, Sugar Kane? It pissed off just about everyone and got him fired (shout out to Chloe Sevigny and Kim Gordon). From his earliest years designing, Marc Jacobs has pushed buttons with panache and has had a very special relationship with music. His fall campaign video, Beautiful Freaks, is a testament to that.

Set to Man Friday’s thumping “Love Honey, Love Heartache” and directed by legendary music video director, Hype Williams, Beautiful Freaks is a glorious showcase of Marc Jacobs gothic fall collection. Jacobs has the best cast and has brought in Missy Elliot, Susan Sarandon, Sissy Spacek, Anna Clevland, and Marilyn Manson (just to name a few). He even sneaks a cameo in there.

Gucci

Gucci’s fall/winter 2016 film campaign feels like Lost in Translation. Creative director Alessandro Michele continues the work with Glen Luchford on visuals. The video stars Petra Collins and a gaggle of models, driving around Tokyo in a Japanese light truck until they get to a pachinko, which is surreal AF. “The ongoing dialogue between the traditional and the modern – between calm and chaos – that characterizes this vibrant place creates a psychedelic assault on the senses that is echoed beautifully in the vivacity of creative director Alessandro Michele’s creations,” states the house.

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