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Armani Extends Support to Young Filmmakers

BoF was pleased to be the official media partner for Films of City Frames, a new initiative backed by Armani at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Toronto International Film Festival | Photo: George Pimentel
By
  • Imran Amed

TORONTO, Canada — In recent years, companies from across the fashion industry have developed a series of initiatives aimed at supporting emerging fashion designers, from the LVMH Prize to the International Woolmark Prize to the provision of the Armani Teatro show space to a young designer in Milan each season.

Over the weekend, Mr Armani extended his own support beyond fashion to six young filmmakers, from six prestigious film schools at the Toronto International Film Festival, as part of a new initiative called Films of City Frames.

"I find that in many areas there is young talent that is to be encouraged and supported. I think it is a duty," Giorgio Armani told BoF. "The encounter and exchange with young people and their work, whether they are promising directors or designers, is also an incentive: new and different perspectives are always enriching to one's own vision," he continued.

I was honoured to spend some time with these talented students, as well as Roberta Armani and the Academy Award-winning director Edward Zwick, who acted as a kind of mentor to the young filmmakers hailing from schools in Paris, Rome, London, Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles, the same cities featured in each of the short films.

Toronto International Film Festival panel | Photo: George Pimentel

But why support filmmakers and why now?

"I wanted to offer an opportunity to young students of cinema, an area that has always interested and fascinated me," said Mr Armani. "There is a close relationship between fashion and cinema, as both possess great power of fascination. Not surprisingly, costumes and accessories are crucial in the success of a film and it isn’t rare that a film launches a fashion."

Indeed, Giorgio Armani's connection to film goes back to the 1980 film American Gigolo, the breakout movie which launched the career of Richard Gere and brought the Armani brand into the mainstream.

"When I started to dress Hollywood stars, it was a time of a strong and widespread change," he said. "Stars wanted to wear clothes that enhanced them but weren't over the top and it was exactly this kind of fashion revolution that I was pursuing. The dialogue is born in a spontaneous and natural manner and American Gigolo sealed the deal."

Imran Amed and Roberta Armani | Photo: George Pimentel

But Films of City Frames wasn't about brokering Hollywood deals. Speaking with the filmmakers during a panel discussion following a screening of their work, it occurred to me how their journeys mirrored those of the young fashion designers I have come to know in my time working in fashion. Indeed, they share the need to find a unique creative voice, the struggle to make things work financially and, most of all, the passion that draws them (and binds them) to their creative fields in the first place.

"My hope for this project is that it provides an excellent opportunity for students to study, observe reality and work with passion and consistency," explained Mr Armani. "It is important that creative talents find their own code with which to express themselves. It’s a journey that requires application, effort and above all perseverance."

Imran Amed travelled to Toronto as a guest of Armani.

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