MULTIDISCIPLINARY ISSUE: IN CONVERSATION WITH DIANE PERNET

Diane Pernet. A pioneer of what we know as fashion blogging today, she started her blog A Shaded View on Fashion in 2005, and later on created “A Shaded View on Fashion Film”, the acclaimed fashion film festival that has become a very big source of inspiration for many creatives around the world and a launch pad for many emerging talents. Trying to briefly summarize the life of Diane Pernet is very difficult due to her diverse and rich background: she started off as a designer, having her own brand for 13 years, followed by her work as a blogger, journalist, critic, curator, photographer, filmmaker, costume designer, and a prolific talent scout currently based in Paris.

Images credits: IRIS BROSCH

We had the pleasure of e-meeting Diane Pernet to chat about topics such as fashion film and physical versus digital. 

The first question that we have addressed to her in the beginning of our conversation is: what does Diane Pernet think about the future of fashion film, how will look like and what subjects would she like to see portrayed more often?  

Calmly, yet with a fiery and passionate subtone, Diane Pernet answers: “I like things that are relevant. First off, I like storytelling; I love it now, I loved it before, and I will love it in the future. I currently am drawn to things like gaming, creating and portraying AI and the prowess of technology. I would like to see more gaming and future-related projects. I think there’s so much room for development.  A great example would be last year’s winners of A Shaded View On Fashion Film “everything is fake “; I don’t want it to be commercial, something real and relevant is important!” Remembering Prada’s fashion film directed by Roman Polanski, starring Helena Bonham Carter and Ben Kingsley, she considers that “that was and still is an exemplar fashion film, one that managed to create an atmosphere and a feeling that succeeded in staying in our minds even 8 years later.” In addition Diane Pernet says “Show us how you envision the future. Or deal with the current problems in the world.” Diane Pernet continues by telling us:

“We want to somehow document the time we live in, it’s like a time capsule. Take 2020 as an example: it will be a page in history, let’s have something that documents the time. It’s all about a time capsule” 

– DIANE PERNET

Following along the conversation we asked Diane Pernet; from her point of view what is the difference between fashion displayed on film and fashion displayed on the runway or the internet? How does it influence the way we perceive clothes?  

 “I can remember so many shows where I was so swept up in the atmosphere, shows like Alexandre de Betak, models walking through a tunnel of green light; it felt like I was at the cinema. I wasn’t necessarily remembering the clothes, but more so the atmosphere and the emotion.” She continues by saying “The thing now with physical shows is that there are just a few brands that even need to be a traditional show, most could be an installation, or they could be a film, something really immersive, whether it’s physical or available to the world digitally. I don’t think walking up and down the runway is relevant to our times anymore; it was in the past and I’m proud I lived through it.” After a short pause, she adds “I’m very happy with digital, I love digital, I am all for it. People teaming up and creating together, I love the idea. Whether people thought that Alessandro Michele and Gus van Sant worked well together or not, I liked the whole concept.”She bittersweetly remarks “It’s not even about the shows anymore, it’s more about where you are sitting more so than the clothes themselves or the show.” Regarding clothes more specifically, jokingly Diane Pernet adds:”It’s true that you can’t touch the clothes in a film, but I’m not touching them on the runway either”

Reaching the end of our conversation, a curiosity arises; if possible, how would Diane Pernet’s dream jury for A Shaded View on Fashion Film, dead or alive, look like? Who would she choose to share the responsibility of selecting the winners with? 

After a brief moment of silence, that felt very natural almost like it was her way of paying an homage to the great contemporaries  as well as to the exceptional creative minds of the past, Diane Pernet paints us the picture of her ideal jury: “I would love Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Pedro Almodóvar, Quentin Tarantino, Pierpaolo Piccioli, Alessandro Michele, Martin Margiela(even though he never shows his face), Andy Warhol, Federico Fellini, Anish Kapoor, Anna Magnani and Tilda Swinton.”

We ended the conversation in a joking manner; laughingly Diane Pernet opens up about her current desire “I personally would love to be an animation or a manga character.” The frozen day was warmed by a conversation that managed to harmoniously fuse together topics such as fashion film, digital portrayal of clothing, a shared passion for manga characters and the importance of being relevant in this time and age.