RITUALS: A Fashion Short

The task: Creating a short fashion film capturing the zeitgeist from a uniquely female perspective. Personal production project.

The response: With an attraction to everything ‘girlesque’ I wrote, directed, produced and edited a fashion short in 2018. The film premiered in November that same year, on Oyster Magazine. I sought out and managed a competent crew of 20, including florist Brittany Asch (Met Gala, New York Times), stylist Sachi (Yeezy, Jute Magazine) and Make Up Artist Michaela Bosch (Fenty, Interview Magazine). Joshua Safran (Gossip Girl, Quantico) offered valuable advice, rising star photographer Sophia Wilson (Vogue, The Cut) captured a full day of backstage photography and Devacurl came onboard as sponsor.

See press release below.

ABOUT THE FILM: Swedish fashion designer Lina Michal gathered sixteen women in a Brooklyn brownstone to collaborate on a fashion short; their creation — RITUALS — suggests that femininity is the result of considered action, not a natural physical trait. Pastel hues, silks and jiggling orchids adorned in pearls are contrasted with sticky makeup, peeling face masks and the piercing of an ear with pin and apple. Here, the feminine is part sugarcoated treat, part sacrifice. The absence of men, in the film’s production as well as its imagery, inverts the expected audience for whom these rituals are performed. These feminine acts — glossy, cute, at times gross— are performed by women, for women. 

CREW & CAST:
Director: Lina Michal
Director of Photography: Snigdha Kapoor
Assistant Camera: Cidney Hue
Camera PA: Veronica Montgomery
Styling: Sachi
Make Up Artist: Michaela Bosch
Make Up Assistant: Miles Grover
Hair: Alexandra Olivero
Floral arrangements: Brittany Asch
Starring: Anzie Dasabe, Leyah Li, Rasha Fordice, Susanna Stahlmann, Shannan Herskovits, Tarina Ballard
Music by: Telecommuter
Special Thanks to: Carolina Alexander, Alexander Margitich, Jess Camacho, Joshua Safran, Sophia Wilson and Devacurl