A fortnight after the TVC launch of Chanel No.5, Dior exposes a short film for their, by now, classic item- Lady Dior. Namely <The Lady Noire Affair>, directed by Olivier Dahan and featuring the current face of Marion Cotillard. The clip has a strong, well defined story line that Chanel’s production has missed. First of all, it is almost like a short film noir, it’s dark, stylish, mysterious for a six mins plus clip. Unlike Chanel’s silent, slow moving, lingering pace, this film is scripted and overall content is fast as the mood intensifies. Most importantly, not only you get to see the bag clearly, but probably by requested, Dahan also showcased a collection of small leather goods and accessories. Certainly Dior does want to stretch the power of moving picture’s visibility and reach to the maximum platform of audience, they also invite people to add their Lady Dior Twitter account, as there will be another New York backgrounded film <Lady Rouge> to follow – that is a clever, contemporary marketing take offered by an old French house; whereas Chanel’s was simply unsharable. 

To use short film screening to promote product or launch a show is not a new thing under the sun but relatively intriguing still. Prada, Yves Saint Laurent men, Chanel, Dior, Tod’s, all had their production in recent seasons. So far, I enjoy Louis Vuitton‘s <Journey> collection the most, especially Catherine Deneuve’s Paris.