Thom Browne Hits the Slopes in Fantastical Avant-Garde Film for Fall Runway 2021 Collection

American fashion house Thom Browne has today launched its Fall Runway 2021 collection with a striking avant-garde film. With Paris Fashion Week’s on-site show cancelled in January due to the Coronavirus pandemic, designers have had to adapt the ways in which they showcase their new collections. For Thom Browne and production company Drive Studios, this was with a fantastical story of one woman who leaves reality behind, embarking on a journey through the surreal snowy world of haute-couture. 

The fashion house, famous for challenging and modernising the suit, once again entrusted Drive Studios to showcase its new collection, having previously collaborated with the production company on their Samsung collaboration for Galaxy Z Fold 2 and also on a fashion film for their Spring Collection 2021.

Directed by Carissa Gallo and starring US Olympic Gold Medal Skier Lindsey Vonn, the 10-minute film draws inspiration from classical Hollywood aesthetics, channeling a fairy-tale style with references to L.Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. The monochromatic colour scheme combined with a calming mixture of instrumental leitmotifs invites the viewer into the fantasy world. 

Shot in February in two locations in Solitude Mountain in Utah and New York, with the director on site, the film opens in a snowy cabin, as a woman inside drifts off to sleep. In her dreams, she is transported to an imaginary world. Like Dorothy Gale, the protagonist embarks on a journey where she has to leave the familiar behind, exploring an unusual new world as she heli-skis from the top of a mountain. Whilst sliding down the slopes, she encounters different models, who represent the poles/gates on the slopes in slalom skiing. This is when the new collection is revealed. The camera pans to each model, focusing on the intricate details of the clothes’ designs. The film finishes in the same room, where it started. We see our protagonist awakening from her sleep with a smile on her face. After having a look around the room, she slides back into sleep and into the imaginary world.

Ned Brown, EP at Drive Studios, comments: “Thom had visualised the idea of Lindsey Vonn jumping out of a helicopter and skiing down a mountain wearing his designs. As she skied, she would be passing models in the collection as though were gates on a slalom course.  He also wanted this all to live within a dream state as in The Wizard of Oz. We were tasked with the reality of shooting on a mountain and came up with the plan of shooting the models in NYC and adding them in post. The shoot took place over two weeks at the end of February and early March and was completed in five days, but it took us days of pre-visualisation to come up with the exact angles to shoot both Lindsey and the models so they matched up, but the end result is seamless and we are thrilled to have had another opportunity to work with Thom and his amazing team at Thom Browne New York!”

A teaser trailer was released earlier last week, starring US Olympic Ski Jumper Kevin Bickner.

The film launches on Sunday 7th of March on Thom Browne’s social media channels.