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>> I think I'm getting fash-vid happy at the moment because I've got nothing to do whilst I dawdle about, waiting to recover all my lost goods so that I can get back on the blogging track. Thankfully,cheap coach bags, the lovely people at Miu Miu have given me something for me to tease people with. If the refreshing pairing of Bruce Weber and Miu Miu in the new A/W 11-12 campaign wasn't exciting enough, for their second Women's Tales film that is not so much a campaign fashion video but a cinematic collaborative project where the clothes have an incidental presence, they have commissioned Lucrecia Martel, the Argentinian director of The Headless Woman to take on the next short. From the last slightly surreal powder room romp at Claridge's directed by Zoe Cassavetes, I think Martel's interpretation of the A/W 11-12 refreshed-forties collection is slightly more haunting and clearly film noir-inspired where you see glimpses of those imposing silhouttes that seduced me on the last day of Paris Fashion Week in March. The second teaser is out on the 11th July on the website with the premiere happening in LA on the 19th.
I wasn't going to give out the campaign lovin' seeing as EVERYONE else in the world already has done so but when the website makes it that much easier with saveable images,Soul by Ludacris Headphones, it's hard not to be utterfly floored by the refreshing change-up in Miu Miu's campaign format, bringing Bruce Weber and subsequently a lot more unpretentious natural warmth into the fold. No prizes for guessing my favourite shot out of the lot. To see a slice of gringy pizza in a Miu Miu ad campaign contrasted with a Gloria Swanson-esque sequinned shoulder dress just makes me beam.
**EDIT** I knew comments would come up that are the sort that echo the sentiments of this Daily Mail article which berates the campaign as inappropriate... I've replied in comments but I thought I'd add a note here...
This is a consenting young adult who is already acting in films where the subject matter is more harrowing than the premise of this fashion campaign. She's not being 'used' - she and her agent has signed a consenting contract where she's probably getting a sweet chunk of money in the same way that she has done with her acting jobs. She isn't some 'dumb kid'...
When she wears the clothes outside of the campaigns at events it's convincing enough to deem her a likely candidate for this campaign. If anything I'd be more horrified if it was someone else older who was not right for the brand at all..
I just think we need to divorce our eyes from the image of her as a 'girl' - this is someone who has been 'working' in a different capacity from most normal teenagers.
Also I don't feel we as fashion consumers need to project ourselves into the picture in order to see ourselves in the clothes. I don't buy this argument of "Oh this is a child selling clothes to grown up women". I love the images not because I see myself mimicking Hailee in any way but because Bruce Weber has brought something new to the table and actually, if he had shot with a normal model, I'm not sure the results would be half as arresting. In turn, if or when I come to buy the clothes, I should think myself or any women my age or older can see past the campaign and see the collection for what it is. With reference to the collection, I'm glad they used someone younger to hone in on the fact that Miuccia has looked to what can be aging Joan Crawford-esque silhouettes and given them a youthful update (apt for the brand and its demographic...)
We need to look at specifics here and not just write this off as the fashion industry being infantalists - there are far worse instances when children are used in fashion. This isn't one of them...
>> I've got me a few blogger/brand collaboration-y thingies coming up and this is the first of them. I say collaborate. That's too kind a word. Actually Anthropologie-owned brand Leifsdottir unwisely let me loose with a FlipCam without knowing that I am in fact an over enthusiastic 'dad' when it comes to video cameras - you know - the type of dad that gets a new gadget and thrusts it in everyone's faces determined to capture everything and everyone ending up with a truckload of useless footage. Hah. I pity the poor sod at Leifsdottir who had to do the editing.