And The Prize Goes To
The weather was crisp on Wednesday night but that didn't prevent the city's fashion crowd from attending the Fashion Film Festival Milano award ceremony held at the Teatro dal Verme venue in central Milan.
Inclusivity was the topic du jour at the festival, as many filmmakers explored the theme by questioning gender, race and disability.
“We've championed inclusivity and diversity since Day One, our mission was to make fashion as accessible and democratic as possible,” said Constanza Cavalli Etro, the festival's founder and the wife of Etro's men's wear creative director Kean Etro.
The audience cheered as the 16 winners of the sixth edition of the event took the stage and were handed the awards, created in partnership with Fornasetti.
The top prize for best fashion film was bestowed on Italian-Canadian director Floria Sigismondi for the “72 Hours in André Balazs' Chateau Marmont With Kenneth Anger” movie, in which the American underground experimental filmmaker gives insights on his career and talks about writing the the 1959 book “Hollywood Babylon,” about the movie industry's best kept secrets. The movie was realized in partnership with System magazine and Gucci.
Guests at the gala included Veronica Etro, women's wear creative director of Etro; Margherita Maccapani Missoni, creative director of the M Missoni line; designers Marcelo Burlon and Andrea Pompilio; Vogue Japan's creative director at large Anna Dello Russo; model and transgenderrights activist Lea T, and Elizabeth von Guttman, among others.
Lea T praised the work of director Jess Kohl, who took home the best documentary award for “Nirvana,” which spotlights the largest gathering of transgender women happening annually in the small village of Viluppuram in Tamil Nadu, India. “It's so important that such a topic is gaining attention, as I, myself, can recognize the struggles and identify with those women,” said the Brazilian model and activist in her moving speech.
Inclusivity to Dello Russo also means going back to human relationships as “our technologyobsessed society is tearing us apart and alimenting loneliness,” she said. The fashion editor was particularly impressed by the message promoted by the movie “Where is Sunnei?” by Russian filmmaker Van Khokhlov, who took home the best new Italian fashion film prize.
As reported, the jury spearheaded by Giorgio Armani — who was absent due to a work commitment as he prepares to unveil his pre-fall 2020 collection next week — included photographer Cass Bird; Osklen's founder Oskar Metsavaht; model and human right activist Waris Dirie, and Pirelli HangarBicocca artistic director Vicente Todolí, among others.
Following the invitation-only award ceremony, the Fashion Film Festival Milano officially kicked off on Thursday at the Anteo Palazzo del Cinema theater. The four-day event runs through Nov. 10 and will host, among other initiatives, the European and Italian premieres of “The Times of Bill Cunningham” and “Peter Lindbergh: Women's Stories” documentaries, respectively. — MARTINO CARRERA decorations, I loved it. The only problem is that it feels so empty when you take them down.”
Ferragni was chosen by Printemps to participate in what has become a Parisian tradition: The unveiling of the department store's festive display, which this year has a Kawaii theme.
In partnership with Pomellato, for which Ferragni is an ambassador, the windows feature 60 playful articulated puppets in the shape of animals, imagined by Printemps and created by French puppeteer Pantomime. Each window will feature exclusive silhouettes and accessories created by brand partners for the Christmas season and will be on display until Jan. 6.
Minutes before the windows were unveiled to the public,
Ferragni, wearing a beige Max Mara suit and Pomellato jewelry, stepped in front of the still-shrouded display, where she was greeted with shrieks emitted by a gaggle of teenage fans eager to take selfies with the Italian social media star.
She was joined by Printemps chief executive officer Paolo de Cesare, Printemps artistic director Franck Banchet and Pomellato general manager for Western Europe Emmanuelle Marque to cut the satin ribbon marking the launch of the Christmas campaign. The group then posed for pictures in front of the Printemps' main display, a giant model of the building's historical Art Deco cupola overrun with mischievous mice puppets.
But before she gets fully immersed in the Christmas spirit — like every year, Ferragni plans to spend the holidays skiing in the Italian Alps with her family — the entrepreneur behind The Blonde Salad digital platform and the Chiara Ferragni Collection label has something else to look forward to: Her documentary, “Chiara Ferragni — Unposted,” will start streaming on Amazon Prime on Nov. 29.
“We're doing a premiere next week in New York, which will be followed by one in Rome, and then the rest of the world will get to see it,” she beamed.
“At the premiere, there was everybody I loved in the same room,” she continued. “Then it was released for three days on Italian screens and 170,000 people saw it. Those three days were amazing, because I was scrolling through my Instagram messages and everybody was writing me such positive things. That was my main goal: To inspire people to do their best, dream big and achieve their goals.”
The documentary also features a very special guest star: Ferragni's son, Leone.
“He has seen parts of the film, but as he's only one-and-a-half years old, he gets bored after a while; he prefers cartoons,” said Ferragni, who is married to Italian rapper Federico Lucia, known as Fedez. “But he loves the scenes he is in. At home we spent a lot of time filming him and he loves to watch himself. He is obsessed with himself.” — FLEUR BURLET