But what makes a good fashion film? And are these the same primary concerns that go into a good fashion photograph? While these questions have been circulating since SHOWstudio’s early experiments in moving image, this season, as the medium of fashion film matures, we saw the debate condense around two distinct points of view.

Some industry figures say that creating a successful fashion film is very different to creating a fashion photograph and underscore the primary importance of elements like narrative and acting. “What makes a good fashion film is exactly what makes any good film: direction, lighting, acting, script, sound,” said Diane Pernet, influential fashion blogger and founder of A Shaded View on Fashion Film. “These are elements that go beyond a static photo shoot,” she continued.

Ms. Pernet’s emphasis on the fundamentals of filmmaking was echoed by Alistair Allan, Digital Director at Dazed Group: “Anything near or over two minutes needs to have some form of narrative to keep the viewer engaged. The pace of editing is also important, as is the correct use of cinematography technique, which sadly a lot photographers don’t understand or sympathise with.”

Others think that great fashion films are driven by exactly the same concerns as great fashion photographs where the visual or stylistic story comes first. “I don’t think there are any rules when it comes to communicating a feeling, but for me, a fashion film is always led by the fashion — the lines, the colours,” said pioneering fashion filmmaker Ruth Hogben, who frequently collaborates with Nick Knight’s SHOWstudio. “Rather than film, it’s better to think about fashion: what makes a good fashion communication? It’s exactly the same as a photograph,” she emphasised.

Over the last two fashion cycles, we’ve brought you our seasonal ranking of the Top 10 Fashion Films. This season, the Top 10 includes powerful narrative films, like Karl Lagerfeld’s “Remember Now” for Chanel, as well as stunning films driven primarily by a stylistic story, like Ruth Hogben’s latest film for Gareth Pugh. We’ve also included “Act da Fool,” Harmony Korine’s controversial piece for Proenza Schouler, a piece that, we think, manages to place equal importance on narrative and visual storytelling. As you sit back and enjoy the films, let us know which approach you think works best.

(RSS and Email subscribers, click here to view the films).

1. Gareth Pugh S/S 2011 by Ruth Hogben

Starring a future-forward, silver-haired Kristen McMenamy, Ruth Hogben’s 11-minute geometric epic for Gareth Pugh captivated hundreds of editors, buyers and other industry insiders at Paris Fashion Week, where it was projected at giant scale in the Palais Omnisports in Bercy. Since then, it’s been beamed across the world via SHOWstudio and video sharing sites Vimeo and YouTube, entrancing thousands more. Directed by Ruth Hogben and conceived in collaboration with a close-knit team that included artist Matthew Stone, stylist Katie Shillingford and set designer Simon Costin, this is a film that puts fashion first, exploring Mr. Pugh’s S/S 2011 collection with laser-like focus. But the film also demonstrates with great effect how a designer can leverage abstract, visually-centered storytelling to perfectly communicate a collection and articulate a broader brand vision in one powerful communication.

2. Proenza Schouler “Act da Fool” by Harmony Korine

Proenza Schouler gave Harmony Korine, writer of “Kids” and director of disturbing features like “Gummo” and “Julien Donkey-Boy,” carte blanche to create this controversial film about teenage angst, resulting in what is possibly the most controversial fashion film released since the movement began a few years back. Shot in Nashville, Tennessee (where Korine lives) the film follows a group of African-American girls in as they drink, smoke, write graffiti and skulk around a schoolyard in Proenza Schouler’s Fall 2010 collection. “It’s about girls who sleep in abandoned cars and set things on fire,” said Korine. “It’s about the great things in life. The stars in the sky and lots of malt liquor.” While the film has attracted both severe criticism and praise — provoking a raging debate and discussion online — we rate it highly because it feels like an authentic piece of cultural content and perfectly integrates both narrative and visual storytelling by threading a poetic and mesmerising voiceover through a series of beautifully composed “moving stills.”

3. Chanel: Remember Now by Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld’s “Remember Now” for Chanel is a great example of a successful fashion film that’s driven primarily by narrative. Pascal Greggory stars as a veteran playboy who encounters a young and glittering group of friends played by a high-wattage cast including Elisa Sednaoui, Baptiste Giabiconi, Heidi Mount, Abbey Lee and others. We think the film nicely complements Mr. Lagerfeld’s nostalgic, Riviera-inspired 2011 cruise collection and tells a powerful brand story that perfectly captures the gilded and care-free hedonism of summer in Saint-Tropez. Mr. Lagerfeld’s cameo appearance is fun. But our favourite part is the brief intro sequence where Leigh Lezark plays Coco Chanel.

4. Iris by Barnaby Roper

Barnaby Roper’s techno-robotic “Iris,” starring Iris Strubegger, is a stunning visual experiment that dissects a range of fall looks from Stella McCartney, Miu Miu, Givenchy, Céline and Proenza Schouler. We love the way Roper — who has directed music videos for bands like Razorlight, Snowpatrol and Moby, alongside his work for fashion magazines — hypnotizes the viewer with his surgically precise editing technique. “It’s the rhythm of the edit that’s the key to the film, the key to all films,” said Roper in an interview with Nowness, where the film first appeared.

5. H&M Designer Collaboration Teasers (series)

H&M developed a brilliant short video teaser campaign to get consumers excited for the launch of their annual designer collaboration. Featuring stereotypical designer types like a man in a skinny dark suit and a woman in an extreme blouse and chunky jewelry, the series of black-and-white videos engaged viewers in a collective guessing game on the identity of the yet unannounced designer, dropping a sequence of clues specifically designed to lead fashion-savvy viewers one way, then another. Discussion raged on YouTube, spilled onto Twitter and sparked countless posts in the fashion blogosphere that named Carolina Herrera and Thomas Maier of Bottega Veneta among suspected collaborators, before the identity of the real designer was revealed to be Alber Elbaz of Lanvin. Overall, we thought this was a fun and highly effective use of the short video format that was intelligently conceived to generate positive conversation across the social web. Bravo.

5. Holly Fulton by Quentin Jones

“Holly Fulton” by London-based illustrator, animator and director Quentin Jones is a riot of flash bulbs, humming birds, lions and Manhattan skyscrapers that brought a great big smile to our faces, and recalled the signature aesthetic of one of London’s rising design talents. Commissioned by British Vogue art director Jaime Perlman for her experimental fashion platform TEST, we think the film is a perfect complement to Fulton’s bold and graphic, 60s meets Art Deco collection.

7. Burberry Acoustic (Series)

Debuting three days before the brand’s menswear show last June, the “Burberry Acoustic” series cleverly highlights the brand’s longstanding connection to British rock bands with a collection of nicely styled music videos that populate the brand’s YouTube channel and Facebook page. The short films feature Burberry product, integrate with in-store happenings and function as a kind of digital support platform for emerging British music talent. Plus, the music selection is great.

8. Chronology by Luca Guadagnino for NOWNESS

NOWNESS commissioned Luca Guadagnino, director of “I Am Love,” to create this abstract, surrealist film featuring a stunning Mariacarla Boscono in tightly edited highlights from the fall 2010 collections of luxury fashion etailer Net-a-Porter, styled by Cathy Edwards. In a characteristically sharp move from Net-a-Porter, famous for their shopable weekly web magazine and accompanying iPad app, the video content leads consumers directly to commerce opportunities. When the film launched, all the looks seen on Boscono — including fashion from Christopher Kane, Chloé, Miu Miu, Valentino, Yves Saint Laurent, Sigerson Morrison and Azzedine Alaïa — were available for instant purchase.

9. Nike Gyakusou (Dark Edit) by Jamie Morgan

Jamie Morgan created this evocative film to launch the first collaboration between Nike Sportswear and Jun Takahashi’s cult brand Undercover: the Nike x Undercover Gyakusou performance running collection. The slow-motion visual treatment and playful yet deliberate soundtrack brilliantly capture the surreal sense of pace, stamina and inner focus that lies at the heart of performance running. We think the rain and smoke looks amazing as well.

10. Black Light by Suzie Q & Leo Siboni

Commissioned by Diane Pernet in collaboration with Vogue Italia, Suzie Q and Leo Siboni’s Blacklight appeared at A Shaded View on Fashion Film in Milan last May as part of a special series of one-minute fashion films inspired by “light.” The film plays on codes of fantasy and sporadically immerses the viewer in a blacklit netherworld to dramatic and haunting visual effect.

Did we miss someone? Which fashion films captured your imagination this season? Let the BoF community know which films you liked most.

Dubai Skyline | Source: ecopolis

Middle East Retail Returns to Growth Track (WWD)
“The retail pulse is back in the Middle East. Fashion brands point to positive trends in the region, including the return of tourists, particularly in Dubai.  Wealthy Chinese are streaming in… shoring up a fast-growing destination for Europe’s luxury players even though business isn’t near pre-recession levels.”

Debenhams refinances, sees lower interest costs (Reuters)
“Britain’s No.2 department stores group, has completed a refinancing of its debts, signing a new 650 million pound ($997 million)agreement that will cut its interest bill… the deal comprised a 250 million pound term loan and a 400 million pound revolving credit facility.”

Luxury Retailers: Cautiously Shoptimistic (Brand Channel)
“Luxury retail in general took the hardest hit during this recession…Our customers pulled back dramatically from spending… that being said, we are very happy to see that business is coming back. The customer is definitely back in the stores.”

Britain’s regional tailors (FT)
“The pre-eminence of London’s Savile Row as the centre of tailoring expertise is well documented. Yet outside the capital there are tailors the length and breadth of Britain who cut, sew and fit to the same bespoke methods. Their numbers, however, are dwindling.”

What women want (Independent)
“A unique approach to women’s fashion: Whether they’re inspired by skyscrapers, schoolgirls or Joan Collins, London Fashion Week’s female designers have a unique approach to women’s wardrobes.”

Shanghai Tang iPhone App | Source: Shanghai Tang

Connecting Digitally With Chinese Consumers (Jing Daily)
“In recent years, as Chinese luxury consumers have gotten younger and more sophisticated, and the marketplace has become more crowded, digital outreach in China has become critical for major global luxury brands.”

Italian menswear gets young, bold and beautiful (Reuters)
“Designers shrugged off the global economic slump at Milan’s menswear fashion week, opting for bold, impeccable suits to woo demanding buyers keen on wearing something more than once.”

Shape Shifters That Mutate With You (NY Times)
“‘Modern’ is a term so routinely invoked in fashion-speak that it lost its meaning long ago. But without quite intending it, JNBY, a new loftlike boutique in SoHo, has revitalized that concept, lending ‘modern’ a near-prophetic ring.”

Ferlisi For McQ (Vogue.com)
“Pina Ferlisi has been named creative director of Alexander McQueen’s diffusion line McQ. Ferlisi will reportedly work under the newly appointed Sarah Burton.”

Scottish Fashion Awards (Telegraph)
“Jonathan Saunders was named the Scottish Designer of the Year… while Holly Fulton, the young Royal College of Art graduate, whose jewellery-and-architecture inspired designs have won praise from Alber Elbaz of Lanvin, was named the Young Designer of the Year.”

Peter Pilotto, Holly Fulton and Marios Schwab, A/W 09

LONDON, United Kingdom — Today marks the start of London Fashion Week, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the British Fashion Council and heralding the return of big brands like Burberry and Pringle and star talents who had left the city to show elsewhere, like Jonathan Saunders and Matthew Williamson.

But the strength of London has always been its emerging designers, whose creativity is born out of the unrivaled energy, top fashion schools and international fabric that make up London’s recipe for truly innovative fashion design. So, while it’s great to have the big brands back, we are also looking forward to seeing what’s in store from the newest crop of young designers.

The first place to look is Lulu Kennedy’s Fashion East, which has an uncanny track record of picking out London’s future fashion stars. This season’s line up includes Heikki Salonen, who previously worked as Assistant Designer at Erdem, Central Saint Martins MA alumnus, Michael van der Ham, and Holly Fulton, who is showing for the second season under the Fashion East banner.

Fulton is excited about the coming season. “The intention is to continue the signature elements established within my first collection in order to consolidate my label. To create an association with the name which represents my design ethos,” she says.

Her key concept for Spring/Summer 2010 centres around the Eduardo Paolozzi image ‘Wittgenstein in New York’,  “when I saw this picture, it perfectly encapsulated the ideas and imagery within my head. The use of vibrant colour, skyscrapers and an homage to Art Deco.”

“There is constantly such an exciting array of designers coming out of London and over the last couple of years, they have been at the forefront of innovative print design,” says Thea Basiliou of Blonde Venus in Brisbane, Australia. “Designers like Mary Katrantzou and the amazing Peter Pilotto have been creating prints and designs that will always identify with fashion of our time.”

Katrantzou, who wowed the fashion flock with her Autumn/Winter 2009 collection of above-the-knee dresses with bold necklace motifs, delivered an aggressive feminine vision, steeped in modernity and graphic foreplay. Her collection was not for the faint of heart.

“I think print allows you to be bold. It’s more daring,” Katrantzou affirms. “Because of the recession, every piece you invest in should either be a great timeless garment or make a strong statement. A print will do that for you, it’s free spirited.” Katrantzou will show her new collection tomorrow, featuring prints inspired by “blown glass and the intensity of sound-waves.”

Print specialists Peter Pilotto and Christopher De Vos, who met whilst studying at Antwerp’s influential Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 2000, will open Tuesday’s shows. “We like a modern wardrobe to be sort of timeless,” they say. “It is the woman’s spirit that attracts her to mix colour and prints.”

And finally, challenging notions of traditional knitwear has become the forte of designers like Louise Goldin, known for her short, body hugging knit dresses and swimwear, and most recently the Canadian designer Mark Fast.

“I believe that there is a growing attention to craftsmanship in fashion these days, as opposed to quick-fix disposable pieces. I am focusing on timeless classics,” says Fast.

And with that we look forward to what is shaping up to be the most promising London Fashion Week in years — for both the big brands and the up-and-coming talent — giving London a new creative and commercial edge that, with the right results, could place the city firmly back on the fashion map. Stay tuned.