Yesterday, Prada released the new short movie above directed by Wes Anderson in honor of their fall collection, but everyone knows by now that they've got the fashion film game pretty well figured out. Their latest, Castello Cavalcanti, is less of an ad than it is a grabbing display of like-minded aesthetics, directed by Anderson and starring Jason Schwartzman. And the film, set in Italy in 1955, doesn’t even feature any of the brand’s women’s clothes. Instead, the focus is on Schwartzman’s interactions with the locals, following his car crash, at a glowing caffe rife with the warm and muted colors that have become Anderson’s trademark. Like everything else Miuccia Prada does, she’s broken away from the template for fashion films and created something truly unique—watch above, and check out a few from the recent past that are just as dope.
Prada Candy by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Anderson and Prada—along with Roman Coppola—first linked up last spring in the name of their fragrance Candy. The film was initially released as a trilogy, which is fitting since its story is about a love triangle, and takes inspiration from the New Wave favorite Jules Et Jim. It’s witty, self-aware about its twee, and intentionally funny—which is to say, it’s maybe the first perfume commercial that doesn't have all the cliche slow motion and wind machines.
The Future of Flesh by Luke Gilford for Document Journal
In case there was doubt, Prada is super committed to the chicly unpretty and their recently-released visual for Autumn/Winter 2013 is further confirmation of that. Narrated by Jane Fonda, the futuristic clip is set in a world of plastic people. It’s an eerie venture.
Therapy by Roman Polanski
Prada’s films don’t take themselves too seriously which is all the more spectacular considering their high-brow roster of contributors. Therapy, which premiered at Cannes, brings together patient Helena Bonham Carter and her coat-fetishizing doctor Ben Kingsley for a stereotype-bulldozing short. As Polanski said about it, “It’s very refreshing to know that there are still places open to irony and wit and, for sure, Prada is one of them.”