Kenzo presents “CABIRIA, CHARITY, CHASTITY”, the 5th film from the French fashion house under the Creative Direction of Kenzo’s Creative Directors, Carol Lim and Humberto Leon. This film also marks award-winning actress and producer, Natasha Lyonne’s directorial debut where it follows Chastity (played by Maya Rudolph) as a modern-day Giulietta Masina (La Strada, Federico Fellini, 1954) and Shirley MacLaine (Sweet Charity, Bob Fosse, 1969) on a journey of self-discovery and self-acceptance.
It’s a star-studded list of actors and actresses too:
- Fred Armisen as ALDO THE INSTRUCTOR
- Greta Lee as NINA THE SHOWGIRL
- James Ransone as ANTHONY THE STRONGMAN
- Waris Ahluwalia as BOB THE BANDLEADER
- MattT Lucas as THE PANHANDLER
- Natasha Lyonne as JULES
- The film also stars, Macaulay Culkin and Leslie Odom Jr.
Featuring KENZO’s Fall-Winter 2017/18 collections, the garments play a key role as each piece is stripped and deconstructed, literally and symbolically, so as to question the semiotics of fashion as a political vehicle, and the place of women’s bodies in contemporary culture.
Through LYONNE’s surrealist eye, the lead character learns to reconcile with her Vaudevillian past in order to step into her life more fully. Witness Chastity’s journey as she explores the eloquence of incoherence; the illusion of significance in a surreal, often unintelligible and unjust world. She emerges finding meaning and retaining a form of hope despite it. Chastity finds her own, uncompromising way of coexisting with the knowingness that reality itself is a kind of absurdity. This feminine and feminist perspective delves into the subaltern’s battle to shift from object to subject, and regain control of her own narrative.
The campaign imagery was shot by photographer CASPER SEJERSEN.
On how was fashion incorporated into the movie, here’s what Kenzo’s Creative Directors, Humberto Leon and Carol Lim, and actress-director, Natasha Lyonne has to say:
HUMBERTO LEON
We had designed the clothes and we knew we wanted to give a platform to Natasha. We told her we had a design philosophy of what the collection was about, but which she didn’t need to incorporate. What was interesting for us wasn’t about following the commercial guidelines, but seeing what she would read in the clothes. It’s fascinating to see our designs reimagined and re-read by a totally different set of eyes. I’m not fan of brands who work with directors in ways you don’t see the latter’s vision come through; we really wanted to give the power to Natasha and let her show us her interpretation.
CAROL LIM
The show, the runway, the campaign are three different ways of communicating about the brand, but the directors we work with have the freedom to take the product and do whatever they want so it doesn’t feel forced and can just stand alone as an art piece.
NATASHA LYONNE
The scope of what that freedom meant ended being huge, that dialogue of creativity without boundaries became such a fantastic launching pad for ideas to really live. After all these years making movies, it was working with the legendary Arianne Phillips on this film that finally made me understand the scope and possibility that comes from costume design. It’s about translating the entire world of the film and elevating preconceived limitations in imagination. In this case, it was specifically exciting because of the distinctive
fashion element. All the pieces had so many levels and layers to them that could be deconstructed and reworked into something else. We could build these separate universes, dressing robes, and bespoke KENZO tiger logo nipple pasties of the showgirls; plaid prints to suggest a throwback world of Chastity’s vaudevillian childhood flashback: Harlequin-themed garments to build the texture of the clown school part of the film.
It brought such an elevated and exciting dimension to the film. My experience working with our astounding cinematographer Chung-hoon Chung was another integral, exhilarating and
transformative experience in creative outlook. The aesthetics of this film were the direct result of extraordinary collaborators having full creative freedom. It’s the most fun I’ve ever had in my life.
Lyonne has also drafted in a team of talents from the world of film to work on the project:
- Director of photography
CHUNG-HOON CHUNG (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) - Costume designer
Academy Award nominee
ARIANNE PHILLIPS (Walk The Line, Nocturnal Animals) - Make-up artist
KABUKI - Hairstylist
HOLLI SMITH - Music
JOHN MAUS - Production
WAYS & MEANS - BTS Pictures
JOYCE KIM
SARAH SOQUEL MORHAIM
See the “CABIRIA, CHARITY, CHASTITY” film here.
Read also: View The Complete Lookbook Of Kenzo X H&M Collection Now
