I love GIFs. A lot. And I know I’m not alone in my adoration for GIF images, since GIF Tumblrs have become so successful in recent times. Most times, the appeal of GIFs is simply the humour and ridiculousness it conveys. The more you watch, the more stupid it gets, hence the funnier it gets.
Showing once more that fashion is always paying attention to novelty, many fashion designers and brands, as well as fashion photographers have started to explore the format. Taking it a little “more seriously”, brands, designers and photographers are taking advantage of the format to display products, collections and campaigns in a more interactive way.
Miu Miu, for example, came up with a GIF series back in February that showed a limited edition of 46 bags that were revealed in several fashion capitals during their Fall collections.
Credit: Fashionista.com
Prada also teamed up with Vahram Muratyan, the artist famous for his posters Paris vs New York, in a series called Parallel Universes. The series shows men’s and women’s accessories from the Spring 2012 collection. In his words, the partnership “grows out of the drive to experiment with… new communications media and Prada’s semiotics”.
The Spring collection was inspired by Hot Wheels and had a retro vibe, also inspired by 1950s design. You can really get that funky vibe from the GIFs series. Take a look:
Credit: Hintmag.com
Also, Vogue Italia made a preview of the March editorial “Haute Mess”, shot by Steven Meisel, in GIF format. You can see Abbey Lee Kershaw and Coco Rocha practically unrecognizable but hey, it’s Vogue Italia! They can get away with that.
For this season, Nina Ricci called artist/illustrator Jo Ratcliffe to create a GIF campaign to celebrate the launch of the bag “La Rue”. The result is very romantic, girly with just a dash of oneiric, just the spirit of the brand. Check the images below:
Credit: Trendland
But a further research showed me that fashion related GIFs have gone way beyond! FASHGIF | Making fashion move is the Tumblr of Greta Larkins, a fashion forecaster living in Australia. She picks looks from runway shows and manipulates some aspects of it. The result is always funny and quirky, check some her works:
Diane von Furstenberg Spring 2013 collection with the collaboration of Google glasses
And then, there are Cinemagraphs. The concept was created and developed by artist duo Jamie Back and Kevin Burg. From what I understood they mix photo and film, hence the cinematic quality, and the name. The light in their Cinemagraphs is always very beautiful, the movement is subtle and languid. I’m in love with their work, check it out!
What do you think of GIFs vs traditional fashion photography or film? As fashion explored the full possibilities of GIF already or is there still more to explore? Do you think GIFs are here to stay or that they will be be replaced with a different media anytime soon?
PS1: If you still want to know more about GIFs and their story check out this article and video.
PS2: I would like to thank my boyfriend for his technical help and support with this post. ❤
by Sílvia
twistedfrank 