Textual Innovation of The Audiovisual Language in Fashion Film

In the last few years the spread of audiovisual productions with diverse links to the world of fashion has grown consistently, in particular regarding the dissemination of a phenomenon known as the Fashion Film (FF). From the point of view of the language being used, the FF shows clear elements deriving from pre-existing audiovisual forms, including the short-feature film, commercial, music video and art film. An in-depth analysis of the FF’s audiovisual language allows for a greater understanding of its functions, for or to whom, by which means and in which places it can be consumed, and moreover what are the aesthetic and ethical expressive constraints of such a product. The FF is a branded form, produced and financed by fashion brands and companies that invest in the film as a vehicle for dissemination and promotion. On the one hand the medium therefore serves the fashion world, allowing it to widen and enrich the expression and communication dimensions of their brand; on the other hand it helps audiovisual creators and producers to find financial partners for their artistic projects. The trends emerging in FFs and their explicit reference to precedent audiovisual languages and genres furthermore reveal several general dimensions, which are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For fashion brands the FF seems to be an effective tool to connect to innovative projects, often not only at formal level but also in terms of ethics and values. The FF has the potential therefore to become a mode of expression that redefines not only the pre-existent categories of audiovisual forms, but also the type of relations that the fashion brands establish with their target audience