What is it with fashion and film this week? Two fashion TV premieres, a move behind the camera for a designer and now this: Kering, a.k.a. the parent company of Gucci, Saint Laurent, Balenciaga, Bottega Veneta, McQueen and McCartney, among others, has announced a five-year stint as an “official partner” of the Cannes Film Festival.
The company will become the first official fashion sponsor of the film festival in France, joining the beauty brand L’Oréal and the jeweler Chopard, which raises the stakes among glossy brands when it comes to the fight for red carpet representation and cultural kudos.
“Film, as a universal, contemporary and diverse art form that mirrors society and is accessible to all, represents Kering’s choice of cultural engagement,” said François-Henri Pinault, Kering’s chief executive. “We are enthusiastic about joining forces with the Festival de Cannes to bring our commitment to the next level.”
Translation: Other big luxury groups may be pushing themselves as patrons of highfalutin art (yes, that is you, LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton and Prada), but we take a different, more democratic, but equally high-profile and long-term approach. So there!
Then Kering points out that it is “a natural extension of the historical and artistic dialogue between fashion and film, both industries devoted to create emotion using savoir-faire and technology for a creative purpose.”
Just in case, you know, you thought I was reading too much into it.
Kering says its focus will be on the role of women in film, “behind and in front of the camera,” and it will be organizing numerous talks about the topic. The luxury giant also will, of course, get the requisite sponsorship signage and lots of ready-to-wear opportunities on the red carpet — though not for jewelry.
To make sure there is no confusion, the collaboration, Kering notes, enables its clothing and accessories brands (except jewelry and watches) to also become partners of the festival and “benefit from an exceptional media exposure throughout the event.”
Chopard, a long-term Cannes partner, owns the jewelry area, so I guess the Kering brands Pomellato and Boucheron need to look elsewhere for their celeb moment. However, you can expect lots of McQueen, Gucci and Saint Laurent during premier nights come May.
The Cannes partnership caps smaller film initiatives on the part of Kering, including the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, a partnership with Martin Scorsese’s Film Foundation to restore old classics and the Gucci award for women in film, given at the Venice Film Festival.
Put ’em together, and you could say the group pretty much dominates the film festival circuit, though there are still Toronto and Sundance to consider. Perhaps the puffa-jacket aesthetic of Sundance insulates it from fashion a bit, however. Or perhaps it should see this announcement as opportunity.