Film and fashion: Observing the resurgence of custom-made alliance

Despite any claims to the contrary, fashion always aspires to a high standard — far above the cut beneath which society’s stock supply of culture is housed.

Fashion is always dished to those who have the access to the front rows before it permeates down the line and influences the style one ends up seeing on the person sitting in their neighbouring cubicle or the Instagram story of someone trying to make the most of another mundane day out.

To best represent this formula, fashion has often extended its artistic aspirations to the world of film, which has gladly welcomed the intersection time after time — its own flaming ambitions often fanned by the inspiration directly provided by the world of couture.

Thierry Mugler once said: “Fashion is a movie. Every morning when you get dressed you direct yourself”, and film stars came out in full force this year ready to be directed by the best of the best in fashion.

What makes for a good case of exploration right now is fashion’s well timed pivot in the direction of one of its most trusted allies after the wasteland of the influencer celebrity era nearly smoked its foundations.

Prêt-à-porter partnership

As the glittering soiree of Venice Film Festival came to an end last week, September 6, so did the daily servings of a silver platter assortment of various red carpet looks.

When a number of stars touched down to present their films at the gala, an interesting number of them were dressed in looks from designers who are yet to debut their collections for their new fashion houses — Jonathan Anderson at Dior, Matthieu Blazy at Chanel, Dario Vitale at Versace.

What The Guardian described as “the art of the promotional sneak peek” has been nearly perfected during this festival circuit, and just in time for the Spring 2026 collections which are ready to hit the runways across New York, London, Milan, and Paris in the coming weeks.

Whether the fashion itself landed well with critics and insiders from the industry is not the point for us to consider — what’s considerable is the fact that rather than couture creations (made to fit), the designs promoted through movie star appearances seem to be prêt-à-porter (ready-to-wear).

Best evidence for the case is presented through Amanda Seyfried’s conversation with her stylist Elizabeth Stewart, which occurred in the Instagram comments for all to see.

So enamoured did Amanda feel with Julia Roberts’ look at the festival, that she asked her stylist to dress her in the same exact one, which she eventually did and effectively confirmed that the ensemble was not a custom creation.

Other looks promoted at Venice included Tilda Swinton and Ayo Edebiri’s outings in Chanel, Greta Lee and Mia Goth’s in Dior, as well as Julia’s other appearance in a (rather tame) Versace.

If most of the looks do not seem tailored with threads borrowed from a sort of flashy glam, it is because they aren’t.

The minimalism of the creations gives way to the effortless influence of film stars, who need not be dressed too extravagantly when their mere appearance in any design will do the trick.

That is also perhaps why the new looks don’t appear to be custom-made — even the ill fitting, loose garments have worked so far, like the costumes which are modelled by runway professionals, the kind whose appeal is in the model rather than the design itself.

That sheer power is what the current fashion launch is counting on, and by the looks of it, it seems to be reverting to a precedent that should never have been diminished in the first place — a worthy association between two established forms of art.

Gone seem the days of influencer and YouTubers turned fashion’s it girls (sorry Emma Chamberlain), momentarily at least.

While one can only hope that this truly rejuvenating cultural moment is only celebrated further, the peak of this return to roots may be reached within the folds of a new release.

Couture (2025)

Angelina Jolie stars in the upcoming film titled Couture, from French director and screenwriter Alice Winocour, which will see the Oscar winning actress play a filmmaker on “a life-and-death journey” during the Paris Fashion Week (from IMDb).

The film just had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) on September 7 and amid a flurry of mixed reviews, what’s clear is that the promotional tour for the release is bound to include a great deal of blend between film and fashion.

While the Parisian edition of fashion week will commence on September 29, Couture will be making multiple rounds across the global festival circuit, since its general release schedule is still not available.

Expectedly then, Angelina Jolie is likely to be making her way down several red carpets, dressed to the nines in what fashion has to offer right now.

A poignant reflection

The aforementioned observations aside, why should we care?

Why should we care if fashion and cinema are indeed celebrating a high moment?

Perhaps one may consider that art should be restored to its spot among the culture’s lofty ceiling, which only inspires those observing from beneath to aim higher.

Art is not at its most useful when it panders to the majority — the expression represents the best it has to offer when it punches above the weight of even that audience which it expects to nurture. And the coalescence of these two mediums can ensure that.

Film and fashion — the creative mold of imagination is limitless.