Not content with the traditional fashion show set up and intrigued by the possibilities offered by the web for displaying fashion, the ever forward-thinking Tom Ford tapped Nick Knight to direct a fashion film featuring his S/S 16 collection. Released in conjunction with Paris Fashion Week, the video features Lady Gaga alongside models Mica Arganaraz, Lexi Bolling, Kayla Scott, Xiao Wen Ju, Valery Kaufman, Aymeline Valade, Lida Fox, Lucky Blue Smith, Alex Dunstan, David Agbodji and Tarun Nijjer.
Ford says, ‘Instead of having a traditional show this season, I decided to try something new. Having a runway show has become so much about the creation of imagery for online and social media and watching a filmed fashion show can be like watching a filmed play [which is never very satisfying]. I wanted to think about how to present a collection in a cinematic way that was designed from its inception to be presented online. I have always loved Soul Train which used to be on TV in the seventies; as it was as much about the clothes as the music. I asked Nile Rodgers to collaborate on a new version of one of his great hits from that time, I Want Your Love, and worked with Gaga to record the vocals. Gaga and Nile are both brilliant artists and the resulting collaboration between the two of them is, I think, very powerful. I then staged a full show in Los Angeles and filmed it with Gaga on the runway, Nick Knight directing and Benoit Delhomme as our director of photography. We pulled frames from the video that will be used for our look book, photographed the ad campaigns, and shot the beauty images all at the same time. It was a great deal of fun to do and I think that the video captures the spirit of the collection in a way that a filmed traditional show would not have.’
