BFA Fashion Design and MA Fashion Film & Photography Collaborate for their Final Project
As part of a collaboration, BFA Fashion Design student Marlena Marie Prast and MA Fashion Film & Photography student Alise King created a fashion film, which they shot at the Fondation des Etats-Unis in April.
As the first step of this cross-departemental collaboration, BFA Fashion Design student Marlena Marie Prast introduced her senior thesis to the Master in Fashion Film and Photography students. In her presentation, Marlena showed her collection and the themes and causes that inspired her, such as inclusivity and mental health, as well as proposals for ambiance, set location, music and models to showcase her work.
The students in the Master in Fashion Film and Photography who were interested to collaborate with her then had two weeks to prepare a visual presentation to pitch to Marlena, showing their ideas for a fashion film and a photoshoot that would match Marlena’s project. Amongst the group of students, Marlena chose to collaborate with Alise King, with whom she immediately felt a creative connection and whose ideas were exactly what she was looking for.
Once their collaboration was decided, Marlena made the request to the Fondation des Etats-Unis (FEU) – where she resides – to use their ballroom for the shooting. This idea emerged from her desire to keep the budget as low as possible, and because the room matched the mood and colors of her collection. FEU accepted the project, and despite the difficult Covid-19 restrictions put in place and the necessary adaptability they required, the team of students could make their projects come true.
The team consisted of Alise, who worked as the creative director and Marlena as the designer, but also of a hair and makeup artist, a drone pilot, two assistants and ten models. They managed in two days to gather in small groups to build the surrealist set and prepare everything for the shooting, which took place on April 20. Along with the shooting of the film itself, a collection of pictures were taken to document to whole event and complement the project.
The collection and the set intended to give off a dichotomous feeling of anxiety and calmness, as the background shows both the movement of people passing by and the dream-like shape of drapes. The pastel colors convey a soft mood, and the fabric of the clothes themselves is light and aims to provide stress relief to the wearer, who can play with it.
In the end, Marlena and Alise are very glad for this collaboration opportunity, as they feel they could trust each other and respect each other’s work. They are happy of how their project turned out and intend to have their fashion film and shooting out at the beginning of May.