Cinémathèque suisse reveals close links between fashion and cinema

The close links between fashion and cinema at the Cinémathèque suisse Keystone-SDA

The Cinémathèque suisse in Lausanne is devoting a major cycle to the close relationship with fashion and cinema.

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The event features some 40 films from the 1930s to the present day.

A special evening will be held on January 14 with a screening of Robert Altman’s Prêt-à-porter (1994). This satire of the fashion world features film stars (Julia Roberts, Kim Basinger, Lauren Bacall, Sophia Loren), fashion designers and top models.

+ Audrey Hepburn valued the discretion of the Swiss Alps

The session will be introduced by Marco Costantini, director of mudac, which is currently devoting two exhibitions to fashion and textiles.

The cycle proper kicks off on January 1 with William Wyler’s Roman Holiday (1953). Audrey Hebburn, virtually unknown at the time, was dressed in the creations of costume designer Edith Head, who won an Oscar for the film.

In Josef von Sternberg’s Morocco (1930), Marlene Dietrich burst onto the screen in iconic clothes designed by Travis Banton. Falbalas (1944) by Jacques Becker, starring Micheline Presle, depicts the life of a large Parisian dressmaking workshop during the Occupation.

On the big screen, costumes reflect the dress codes of an era, reinventing the clothes of the past and imagining those of the future. Sometimes they elevate actresses and actors to iconic status.

Katharine Hepburn

In Howard Hawks’ The Impossible Mr Baby (1938), Katharine Hepburn, an eccentric heiress, embodied a model of the emancipated woman, as evidenced by the modernity of the costumes created for her by Howard Greer. In Woody Allen’s Annie Hall (1977), Diane Keaton herself chose masculine outfits, creating an androgynous look with high-waisted trousers, a white shirt and tie.

The great fashion houses were happy to invite themselves onto the screen: Coco Chanel contributed costumes to Jean Renoir’s La Règle du jeu (1939). Marlene Dietrich wore Christian Dior outfits in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Great Alibi (1949). Some stars have a special relationship with a designer, such as Audrey Hepburn with Givenchy or Catherine Deneuve with Yves Saint Laurent, who dressed her in Luis Buñuel’s Belle de jour (1967).

Brando in a perfecto

Fashion is also a vehicle for identity and narrative. In L’équipée sauvage (1954), Marlon Brando slipped into the skin of a biker. Brigitte Bardot’s clothes in Roger Vadim’s Et Dieu… créa la femme (1956) influenced fashion in the second half of the 1950s.

As a prelude to certain screenings, the Cinémathèque is offering short pre-programmes made up of little nuggets from the institution’s archives. These restored films deal with fashion in Switzerland, in the form of subjects from the Ciné-Journal or short silent films.

Adapted from French by DeepL/mga

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