Russh Magazine

Designer Carly Hunter gave RUSSH the first look at her film, a collaboration with director Alex Goddard, which features her AW 11 collection.

RUSSH: The location’s amazing. Where was the film shot?
The film was shot at Lake Mountain, about 2 hours out of Melbourne, Victoria. We were actually hoping for fine weather but got the opposite; total fog, constant rain, clouds of doom... but it worked out perfectly and looks beautiful, dark and haunting. Unfortunately Courtney our model suffered a bit, but she looks amazing.

Why did you decide to shoot a short film for this collection?
I loved working with Alex Goddard on the first film we did together for the SS 11 collection and wanted to do another one with him. It's nice to be able to translate a collection through an artistic approach such as film. It's a great way to preview the collection before its becomes available to buy, as there is no autumn/winter fashion week in Australia.

How involved were you in the production? What's the process?
I discuss ideas with Alex until we come to an agreement about what we want to do, but usually we have the same ideas. We both wanted to do something outside and in the snow and had Gus Van Sant's style of dolly shots in mind. I was also the location scout and stylist and cast our model Courtney James, who we also used in the SS 11 film. We decided no hair and makeup because of the weather, there was just no point, and I like a totally raw look. We both agreed on Kane Ikin doing the music again because he's so great at creating the atmosphere and knows exactly what we want.

Is this something you’d like to do again?
Definitely, its a lot of fun and the outcome is always mind blowing.

How does shooting a film differ to the lookbook? What were the key challenges?
The film is like a moving lookbook I suppose. You are able to see the clothes moving on a body and you are able to translate the feel of the whole collection and create a mood or tell a story. But you can't show the entire collection on a film, so you have to edt it down to the best pieces. Our challenge was the weather, we had to keep the model warm because it was freezing on the mountain and it was raining constantly, so that's why there's plenty of wool.

 WATCH OBSERVATIONS IN HIBERNATION - CARLY HUNTER AW 11 ON RUSSH TV