Tom Ford Ditched His Runway Show For a Music Video Starring Lady Gaga
Tom Ford‘s skipping the traditional runway show at Paris Fashion Week, instead debuting his Spring 2016 offering by way of a music video starring Lady Gaga.
Directed by British fashion photographer Nick Knight, the clip runs for a little over three minutes and shows the 29-year-old pop star belting out Chic’s classic tune, “I Want Your Love,” alongside a group of Tom Ford-clad models.
While Gaga performs, models—including Tom Ford favorites Lucky Blue Smith, Xaio Wen Ju, Lexi Boling, and Valery Kaufman—twirl down a runway with high-energy, dance party vibes. Admittedly, there is more than a little bit of dad dancing, but these girls pull it off.
“Instead of having a traditional show this season, I decided to try something new,” Ford told WWD. “I wanted to think about how to present a collection in a cinematic way that was designed from its inception to be presented online.”
The video just landed online this morning, so watch it for yourself:
If you’re confused as to why Ford decided to release his line through what is essentially a music video, don’t be. Remember that the designer’s no stranger to film, and is actually an Oscar-nominated director. Right now he’s working on his second film, “Nocturnal Animals,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Amy Adams.
Ford also joins a growing trend of designers choosing to ignore the traditional runway show route this season. Instead of trying to generate hype on social media about their shows—which increasingly appears to be the objective of runway shows—a number of designers are going straight to the source by releasing collections directly through buzzy online campaigns.
Take New York designer, Misha Nonoo, as an example: Instead of holding a full presentation or show on the New York Fashion Week schedule this season, she debuted her Spring 2016 collection exclusively on Instagram.
Nonoo explained the appeal of a digital launch to us: “I love the idea that you can reach a global audience and you can really be inclusive about how you show. For me, that was really exciting and interesting from another level of engaging with people in what feels to be like an authentic way.”
Burberry also previewed its Spring 2016 collection on Snapchat first, showing the collection online to followers using the app for a full 24 hours before anyone in the front row spotted it on the runway. Louis Vuitton used a similar tactic in spring, using Snapchat to display its resort show in Palm Springs.
So if your chances of scoring an invite to Fashion Week are slim, don’t sweat it—with the direction designers are moving, you might only need an internet connection and a smartphone to see new-season collections first.
