About Fashion in Film
Fashion in Film is an exhibitions, research and education project based at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London. Our festival launched in London in May 2006 as the first film festival of its kind, and has since become a leading international project exploring the common ground shared by fashion and film. At the heart of our mission is archival and scholarly research, combined with accessible and wide-reaching debate.
In our programming we draw on a rich history of the moving image and bring together documentary and fashion films, commercials, newsreels, early cinema and experimental film as well as classic and forgotten gems in European, American and World cinemas. Through a focus on fashion and film costume, we mix the worlds of cinephilia, popular culture, design, art and the underground.
Interdisciplinary by design, Fashion in Film promotes collaborations and dialogue between curators, historians, archivists, fashion designers, artists, filmmakers, musicians and writers, aiming to explore the connections between moving image and clothing, and more broadly, questions of design in film.
Mission
Our mission is to promote a deeper understanding of the convergence between the moving image and fashion, showing how cinema in its broadest sense has represented and interpreted fashion as a concept, an industry and a cultural form. We also aim to raise awareness of the role of costume design in cinema.
Fashion in Film’s key project is a biennial festival, launched in May 2006, which combines screenings with lectures, talks, events and special projects. The festival has toured internationally since 2006, collaborating with venues small and large, including Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, BFI Southbank, Barbican, ICA and The Horse Hospital in London, Museum of the Moving Image in New York, Arnhem Mode Biennale in Arnhem and Det Danske Filminstitut in Copenhagen. We also host symposia and produce publications.
More than just a celebration of fashion in film, the festival encourages critical response to its content, and addresses current practices in the context of film’s long history. Dedicated to promoting new ideas and experimentation, FFF also commissions new work in contemporary “fashion moving image”, bringing together artists, designers, photographers, filmmakers, performers and musicians.
History
The Fashion in Film Festival was founded in 2006 by Marketa Uhlirova, Roger K. Burton and Christel Tsilibaris, and has since continued to grow its reputation and international profile, establishing itself as the leading festival of its kind.
Its highlight is a biennial festival season in London, with a touring schedule which has in the past included Museum of the Moving Image in New York, the Arnolfini in Bristol, The Danish Film Institute in Copenhagen, Kino Svetozor in Prague and Mode Biennale in Arnhem.
Through its publication work, website and collaborations on film seasons, conferences and exhibitions, FFF offers vital resources for the study of fashion and costume design in the moving image. Having successfully run five editions in the UK, and four in the US, the festival has grown in size and scope, gaining major support from critics as well as key industry and academic figures.
We have maintained partnerships with some of the world’s most prestigious arts venues (Tate Modern, Victoria and Albert Museum, BFI Southbank, Barbican) and education organisations (Yale University, CUNY, University of Chicago).
Our festivals have been featured and profiled in The Guardian, The Independent, New York Times, El Pais, Time Out, Sight and Sound, SHOWstudio, US Vogue, Women’s Wear Daily, Harper’s Bazaar, So-en, AnOther, Dazed, Wonderland, Fashion Theory, and many others.
Festival Board & Honorary Members
FFF is partnered and supported by a number of major cultural institutions internationally, including the University of the Arts London, Arts Council England, Arts & Business, Film London, Institut Français, Tate Modern, BFI Southbank, SHOWstudio and New York’s Museum of the Moving Image and Tribeca Grand.
Funders & Supporters
Fashion in Film partners with, and supported by a number of international organisations and major cultural institutions including the University of the Arts London, Arts Council England, Arts & Business, Film London, the ICA, Institut Français, Tate Modern, BFI Southbank, SHOWstudio, New York’s Museum of the Moving Image, Tribeca Grand, Gladstone Gallery and the Museum at FIT. We also collaborate with a number of commercial partners and brands in the past including Oasis, Bond No. 9, Kirin Ichiban and 10 Cane Rum. We’re delighted to work with fellow creative companies in visual art, film production, fashion and the media around the world.
University of the Arts
Fashion in Film was founded at The Horse Hospital and now has its home at Central Saint Martins, part of the University of the Arts London. Within the university, the festival also has close links with London College of Fashion. The Horse Hospital continues to be an important collaborator and a venue.