Luxury fashion houses are starting to expand into a new category: film production. Don’t forget to subscribe to the Glossy Podcast for interviews with fashion industry leaders and Week in Review episodes, and the Glossy Beauty Podcast for interviews from the beauty industry. –Danny Parisi, sr. fashion reporter
High luxury on the silver screen
Luxury brands are already the subject of feature films and prestige television series — like the 2021 film “The House of Gucci” and the 2018 TV show “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.” But increasingly, they’re also getting involved behind the scenes by producing films.
This year’s Cannes Film Festival, considered the most prestigious film festival in the world, will include three films in its official selection that were produced by Saint Laurent Productions, a subsidiary of Saint Laurent focused on film and TV production. The films are made by world-class directors, including David Cronenberg and Paolo Sorrentino, and aren’t necessarily related to fashion. Cronenberg’s film, “The Shrouds,” is about a man played by Vincent Cassel who invents a device allowing people to connect to the dead.
Getting three films selected for Cannes would be a major win for any production company, but especially for one that’s only a year old. Saint Laurent Productions launched in April 2023.
Other luxury brands are following suit: In February, LVMH announced the launch of 22 Montaigne Entertainment, a new division of the luxury conglomerate that will focus on incubating creative projects in film and television. Unlike Saint Laurent Productions, however, 22 Montaigne will specifically focus on stories related to LVMH properties. The first projects will likely be in the form of documentaries, as, throughout the years, LVMH has fielded numerous requests for documentaries on its various brands, including Tiffany & Co.
Other luxury fashion houses involved with film production have typically gone the same route. For example, Kering owner Francois-Henri Pinault was involved with the production of “The House of Gucci” — which co-starred his wife, Salma Hayek.
But the strategy of financing films that are works of art of their own, rather than glorified marketing campaigns for the brand, are often far more interesting. Going back to 2013, Prada produced a short film called “Castello Cavalcanti” written and directed by Wes Anderson. While the story has little to do with Prada or fashion, aside from being set in Italy, it allowed Prada to associate itself with the prestige of Anderson, an award-winning filmmaker.
Luxury brands are all about prestige, and with the vast and diversified holdings of companies like LVMH — with its fashion, spirits, hotels and restaurants, for starters — getting into film production feels like an obvious step. And with the rise of the corporate biopic in recent years, like “Blackberry,” “Air” and “Flamin’ Hot,” I predict it will not be long before we see a glut of docudramas about various luxury brands coming down the pipe.
