Paris' Dover Street Market Welcomes A Shaded View of Fashion Film Festival
Now in its 15th edition, ASVOFF is one of the industry's leading fashion film festivals. This year, it's taking over Paris' Dover Street Market to bring you the best of fashion film.
Now in its 15th edition, ASVOFF is one of the industry's leading fashion film festivals. This year, it's taking over Paris' Dover Street Market to bring you the best of fashion film.
Although fashion film is an established medium, it's still a relatively new one, meaning there are no set rules for filmmakers to follow or annual events commanding the industry to bring creatives together in the way Fashion Week does. However, over the past decade, some major players in fashion film have been making noise, one of those being A Shaded View on Fashion Film (ASVOFF), which will celebrate its 15th edition this week.
ASVOFF is the brainchild of Paris-based fashion journalist Diane Pernet, who has spent many years crafting and sculpting her festival to earn its rightful place on the international fashion calendar. In the past, featured films by the likes of directors Sofia Coppola and Jim Jarmusch have made up the festival, as have brands and designers, including Alexander McQueen and Louis Vuitton. Continuing her pledge to fashion in motion, this year's edition of Pernet's A Shaded View on Fashion Film Festival takes over Dover Street Market in Paris, a new cultural space to promote new ideas founded by Comme des Garçons in 2021.
In 2020, the fashion film scene took an immense blow, with the pandemic proving to be the final nail in the coffin for those festivals that had been teetering on the brink of collapse for a while. Despite all this, ASVOFF continued, not only keeping afloat, but simply thriving thanks to Pernet's own ambition and dedication to the medium.
Speaking of her renowned festival, Pernet noted in a statement to press that, 'In a world where diversity and pluralism are the pillars of progress, ASVOFF stands as a luminary, guiding the industry towards a promising and resolutely more inclusive future.' Highlighting her pledge to the wider fashion industry through film, Pernet added, 'This cinematic odyssey is not solely about films - the core essence results in the sublimation of beauty, our differences, and the universality of our dreams.'
Marking a significant milestone in the festival's history, this will be the first time the festival will take place after obtaining the official homologation from the French Ministry of Culture, with the prestigious endorsement acknowledging ASVOFF's contribution to France's cultural heritage, along with its unwavering commitment to fusing fashion, style, and beauty with cinema. Support for ASVOFF 15 also comes from industry figures, including Comme des Garçons president Adrian Joffe, councillor in charge of Musée des Arts et Métiers, Sylvain Amic and exclusive sponsorship from the French Culture Ministry alongside Swedish singer-songwriter Jay-Jay Johanson, this year's acting president.
Up for grabs are a total of 16 prizes this year, chosen by a jury, which includes SHOWstudio contributor and GQ head of editorial content Pierre M'Pelé. 115 films make up the festival in total, ranging from fashion-focused editorials to documentaries, commercials and general shorts. Highlights include a three-film tribute to South African fashion designer Thebe Magugu in the opening edition as well as a closing documentary starring Tilda Swinton, Tilda Swinton: Le geste et le genre, weaving together clips from the actress' storied career with insights from those who have worked with her - filmmaker Pedro Almodovar and designer Haider Ackermann to name a few.
A Shaded View On Fashion Film is on between 9 - 12 November at Dover Street Market in Paris.
