French dressing

HOLLYWOOD'S EDITH HEAD may have taken costuming in movies to great heights by making an icon out of a Givenchy-clad Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's. But when it comes to films making true fashion statements, few can compete with French directors.

From Chanel's little black dress to Jean Paul Gautier's pseudo-bondage designs, fashion designers have added more than just a touch of style to French films. According to Patrick Bensard, director of the French Cinematheque (French Film Archive), the two elements have almost progressed in tandem.

'In France, it's traditional for fashion designers to be involved in films, whereas in Hollywood it is more about costumers,' he says in his stylish office on Rue de Longchamp in Paris. 'It's about how to achieve the total effect, fashion formed an invisible part of a character.'

At the end of the month, film and fashion aficionados in Hong Kong will see the real drama between designer and director when Le French May presents its annual mini-film festival 'When Cinema Meets Fashion - 35mm Of Chic & Glamour'. A total of 18 films will parade some of the best in both businesses.

'It's all about the idea of beauty in films,' Bensard says. 'How fashion helps make cinema a dream.'

Bensard, who is Le French May's adviser in selecting the films, is working to establish a fashion archive in cinema with renowned French fashion journalist Laurence Benaim. They already have a collection of 200 dresses worn in films, but the archive will collect everything associated with fashion and cinema. 'The movie industry is all about clothes, just look at what the stars wear to the Oscar ceremonies,' Bensard says. 'Our goal is to help promote general knowledge and respect about their relationship.'

The film festival will highlight how the best of Paris' catwalk have sauntered on to the silver screen. Through films released from the 1930s to as recent as the 1990s, audiences are given a refreshing way of charting the careers of Parisian designers through their film work.