Film Fashion
Festival event highlights designers
Costumes can make or break a film. They add that special touch that can help an actress dazzle or, in the wrong hands, dismay an audience.
So, two years ago, when the Black Arts Alliance was looking for a way to expand the artistic scope of the North Carolina Black Film Festival, ASHIKA PAYNE, fashion designer and owner of Sewfli, suggested adding an element that would highlight the importance of fashion in film.
And that’s exactly what it’s called.
FASHION IN FILM, in its second year, encourages designers to come up with new interpretations of designs from black films to show during the March 13-16 festival in Wilmington.
The selected designers will be featured in a fashion show as one of the events of the festival, which also includes film screenings and filmmaker discussions.
In last year’s Fashion in Film event, the movies Mahogany, Introducing Dorothy Dandridge, the 1976 version of Sparkle, Harlem Nights, and The Josephine Baker Story inspired the designs. The film featured this year will be the 1980s comedy classic Coming to America.
When asked why only one film this year, Payne says, “Coming to America has so many pieces to it, but I’m bringing out the African aspect of it. So the designers are taking any one of the African scenes and designing their mini-collections off of it.”
Applicants don’t have to be established – they can be amateurs with a passion for design. “I’m not going to be (there) with a magnifying glass, but it has to be quality,” Payne says.
And simply copying pieces from the flicks won’t do. If designers want to make the grade, Payne says they have to put their own spin on things.
“I’m looking for designers to have their own style,” she says. “I’m definitely looking for something that’s unique, and that they just run with it. When I put it out there I told the designers that this is a celebration of African fashions.”
The show itself can be a little nerve-wracking, as Payne doesn’t see all of the pieces beforehand. She put out a call for designers in October, and they have until the beginning of March to make their creations.
But as anyone who’s watched Project Runway knows, the final push can be the most hectic.
“They were sewing, literally, up to the last minute,” Payne says about last year’s show.
Still, that lends itself to some pleasant surprises, including the Harlem Nights suit collection last year. When they hit the runway, Payne was delighted with how well they turned out.
Payne says this year she’s looking forward to see designer LaurieAnn LaFlare’s pieces. “She uses materials that normally are not used in design,” Payne says.
While there are several returning designers, there are also new entrants this year, so who knows what sort of talent, and surprises, will crop up.W
Fashion in Film show
North Carolina Black Film Festival
3 p.m. March 16, Cameron Art Museum
Info: www.blackartsalliance.org
To view more of photographer Kristen Corley’s work, go to www.kristencorley.com.
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