When fashion meets film: A marriage plot

Ever since Lupita’s phenomenal success in Hollywood, certain things about fashion have become more understandable. Such as the fact that being a red carpet star gets you Vogue covers, plenty of other fashion and film magazine covers, a blockbuster and brand endorsements with Prada and Lancome.

There is a flip side to these endorsements. When Kenyans keep asking, but why does Lupita not do more films? It is because roles for women in Hollywood are not exactly a plenty. And, the brand endorsements that come from being fashion savvy serve a dual purpose.

One, they keep you relevant by giving you visibility and keeping your face and reputation alive in the face of casting directors. Secondly, these endorsements are particularly useful in an industry where women’s careers have a somewhat limited shelf life.

When actresses get endorsements, they are said to be paid enough to allow them to pick and choose which projects to work on without resorting to a life of less.

Last Saturday, the Riverwood Academy Awards were held in Kisumu, the land of the Nyong’os. It had quite the red carpet.

The awards, sponsored by the Kenya Film Classification Board, with Dr Ezekiel Mutua as its CEO, and created by the Riverwood Ensemble, has done a good job of expanding categories.

However, the most notable exception had to have been Best Costume Design. Instead, there was the all-encompassing category of Best Production Design, which throws in every visual aspect from set to costumes.

Dr Mutua said: “We are still young and yes you make a very good point for including this category. We are looking into it. We are looking into the relationship between fashion and film and plan to include this category.”

A category so critical it winds its way into history through museums, inspires fashion and runway trends not to mention cosplay.

Wakanda, for instance had a sartorial world no one knew could exist created. Wakanda royalty became a mantra and source of inspiration to the African American community, and black pride was revived.

FASHION

Ruth E. Carter did a Pan African spin on fashion that I am pretty sure challenged designers globally. Phantom Thread won the Oscar for Best Costume Design in 2018.

A movie about a temperamental, isolated, moody yet brilliant fashion designer played by method actor legend Daniel Day Lewis.

Period pieces, epics, musicals and fantasy worlds are far more likely to win this award. Edith Head remains the unrivalled queen of costume design. She is also credited with designing what ultimately became the template for the ideal red carpet gown and its impact.

Best Costume categories link what is a basic need, clothing, by elevating it into a work of art. Fashion stops becoming whimsy and becomes a complete self-contained character that propels the script and tells the story.

At the 2018 Emmys, there were four different categories for reality/non-fiction (like SNL and Dancing With The Stars), contemporary (Blackish, Empire, The Assassination of Gianni Versace), fantasy/sci-fi (think GoT and Westworld), and period costume (such as The Crown or Genius: Picasso) which pick outstanding episodes as a bookmark.

On screen, fashion can either disrupt, describe, inform, express or punctuate the entire motion picture and the characters. It is an indicator the filmmaker thought through the details and every aspect of their story, making the clothes part of the narrative.

Perhaps it is the disconnect that exists between Kenyan designers and the Kenyan film industry that makes the world miss out on this opportunity, or it is the lack of understanding as to how perfect a relationship this could actually be.

It is, however, something film and TV awards need to investigate and dive into not just because this is an ingenious way to promote two industries at a go, but because it creates stunning visuals that can map the experience of being Kenyan.

Because it is exciting. Because it is an aspect of film Nigeria and South Africa are tapping into. Because it might just translate into music videos.

Because there has to be more than one female character on the red carpet — sexy; and because clothes design a woman into multitudes. Because fashion, believe it or not, is the strongest branding vehicle actresses have at their disposal.

It is not a superficial relationship but an artistic and a cultural one that must be cultivated. Because, well, it is yet another way creativity works.

And we all know creative minds move in mysteriously beautiful, elegant ways. Why not capture that?