Diane Pernet: ASVOFF shakes up the old rules of fashion

Today, in Milan, is the first day of the fashion film festival, “A Shaded View on Fashion Film” (ASVOFF). Being present here, i talked with Diane Pernet (successful blogger & journalist, one of the most influential person in world fashion and also founder of ASVOFF) which has given me this interview exclusively for Romania. Diane told me about ASVOFF Milan, what is new at this edition of the festival, about the films present here, her collaboration with Vogue Italy, about blogging and how is she as a person.

Is this the first festival in Milan for you? Why did you choose Milan?
Yes, it is the first ASVOFF screening in Milan. It is a collaboration with Italian Vogue, I cannot think of anyone I would rather collaborate with so I’m very happy that we can work together.

Who are the festival directors?
Miho Kinomura, Zaiba Jabbar, Elisha Smith-Leverock, Andrea Splisgar, Semira Belkhir & Federico Tinelli, Sophie Delaporte, Jason Last, Griffin, Mattias Montero, Antoine Asseraf & René Habermacher, Vincent Gagliostro, Pierre Debusschere, Igor Zimmermann, Yoann Lemoine with Shaun Ross…

What’s New Festival in Milan?
We wanted to do something special for Milan so I commissioned some directors to make a film with the brief LIGHT and also Italian Vogue had an open call on their site and Franca Sozzani and I chose the winners who will be announced on their site today.

How is the acces made? By ticket or by invitation (auditioning)?
The event at the museum is open to the public, naturally the opening is by invitation, but the exhibition lasts for 5 days and anyone that is interested should come.

Except films the festival will also have exhibitions?
There will be video installations only.

How did Blogging impose?
When I started ASVOF in February 2005, I don’t know if there were any other fashion blogs. In the beginning it was more of a personal diary with me taking images from my mobile phone and using life blogging technology to immediately post it on to my site. At that time the technology was so new that if I had a problem my SFR server had no idea of what to do, we had to call the mobile company in Finland. After using the life blogging for a few years I decided that the images were not that great and my phone bills were getting much to high. The last time I used that technique was with Eley Kishimoto on the Gumball 3000 when I life blogged from London to Monte Carlo for the launch of his menswear. My phone bill was 900 EUROS and I decided that it was really much too much.
My point of view has developed over the years. I don’t think that I ever had a strategy. I’d been writing for Elle.com, Vogueparis.com and one day I decided that I’d like to have my own platform and so I started my blog. I did not have any big plans for it in the beginning. I have 300,000 unique visits a month.

The sculpture in the photo is the ASVOFF trophy

What does this festival, ASVOFF, means for Diane Pernet?
“A Shaded View on Fashion Film” (ASVOFF) shakes up the old rules of fashion by putting the focus on the moving image, in an industry long dominated by the “still” photographic medium.
It’s just the beginning. Of course fashion films have existed since a long time there was William Klein’s Who are you Polly Magoo and Guy Bourdin made a series of films as a kind of work in progress but it’s only been in the past few years that designers are appreciating the value and the reach of their films. If you think about the 300 people invited to a show and the thousands upon thousands a day that a film can reach then you think about the budget in comparison with what one has to pay even for a not so expensive fashion show , it makes much more sense to do a film and an installation and for the most part forget the catwalk show or make it something that is done as a spectacle open to a paying public and at the same time as the clothes hit the stores. Something like Tokyo Girls where people order directly from their mobile phones. I think fashion films will continue to build in momentum.
As for what it means to me, my degree is in filmmaking, I love fashion, was a designer for 13 years so putting together the fashion film festival is like completing a circle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhODn6y2c-U
What do you think is the future in online? Videoblog, niche blog (highly targeted), general blog?
Blogging, the internet, e commerce, Youtube.com and google have changed the landscape of fashion. Almost every magazine or newspaper demands their writers to not only do their day job but also they are required to have a blog and get on twitter. They know they have troubles so they are doing their best to catch up. AnOther Magazine has just launched their digital magazine, I posted something on them last week (May 19th), that is a good indication of the future of magazines/videoblog.
There is room for everyone, however no one can deny the power of the web.

Are you present (with personal account) on social networks like Facebook and Twitter?
I am on several social networks, facebook, twitter, luxury society, linked in….

Who is Diane Pernet? How would you characterize her, in a few words?
A woman of mystery…. True to herself, independent, strong, honest and fair.

Photos by Miguel Villalobos