Fashion in Film: Clothes to covet from the big screen

In his new book Fashion In Film, Christopher Laverty explores some of film’s most memorable costumes, and the designers responsible for them. 

Stunningly illustrated, the coffee table-worthy book features the likes of Ralph Lauren’s memorable masculine styles created for Diane Keaton in Annie Hall to Tom Ford’s take on James Bond’s suits. Delve in to discover the history of the iconic Hermes bag in cinema, and Dolce & Gabbana’s stand-out designs in films like Romeo And Juliet (1996).

Here, we feature four of the designers with extracts from the book and some of their most beautiful creations for the big screen.

Gucci

“Since its creation in 1921 by former hotel porter Guccio Gucci, the house of Gucci has skirted tremendous success and near failure. From its flourishing as the choice of leatherwear for the jet set in the fifties, to its peak as the utmost flashy designer label in the seventies, then artistic saturation throughout the eighties, revitalisation at the hands of a young Tom Ford in the nineties, and to the present day – this has always been a brand in love with its heyday yet trying to forge an innovative future.” – Christopher Laverty, Fashion In Film

Pictured: Amy Adams wearing a Gucci signature horsebit necklace in American Hustle (2013)

Hubert de Givenchy

 

“While is is not fair, or accurate, to claim Hubert de Givenchy was defined by Audrey Hepburn, their extraordinary bond as designer and muse was essential in forging both careers. Their working lives were completely intertwined.” – Christopher Laverty, Fashion In Film

Laverty highlights the fact that while many believe it was Givenchy behind Hepburn’s iconic Breakfast At Tiffany’s costumes, it was Edith Head who costumed the movie. But she took inspiration for the stand-out little black dress from Givenchy’s original.

Pictured: Edith Head’s copy of Givenchy’s black dress for Breakfast At Tiffany’s (1961), worn by Audrey Hepburn / The Givenchy woollen coat worn by Audrey Hepburn in Charade (1963), recreated in yellow especially for the film

Tom Ford

“Even on the strength of just one completed feature to date, it is possible that Tom Ford’s skills as a film-maker might eventually outstrip those as a designer. What sets him apart is a comprehension of how clothes communicate – something that many fashion designers who dip their toes into cinema fail to grasp.” – Christopher Laverty, Fashion In Film

Pictured: Daniel Craig wears a brown hopsack, single-breasted Tom Ford suit with double vents in Quantum of Solace (2008)

Dolce & Gabbana

“Do not doubt Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s ability to surprise; they like to keep fashion on its toes. Their appearance on film charts their evolutionary nature, from flashy, even tacky origins, to the epitome of black-dress chic in the noughties and beyond.” – Christopher Laverty, Fashion In Film

Pictured: Costumes for the Capulet gang in Romeo And Juliet (1996) took inspiration from the loud and flashy (now defunct) D&G diffusion line

 

Christopher Laverty is the founder of the popular Clothes on Film blog. Fashion In Film is out on 10th October 2016, £30, published by Laurence King.

 

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