When Brian Wolk and Claude Morais, the designers behind the Los Angeles-based Wolk Morais label, decided to present their Collection 8 with a short film, they couldn’t possibly have anticipated just how acclaimed their foray into Hollywood would become. But that’s just what happened with Screentest L.A.
The short won for Best Fashion Film Advertisement at the London Fashion Film Festival this past September, and it just made the official selection of the Miami Fashion Film Festival, set for January 11, 2020. That’s quite a feat – and something that gives Wolk and Morais, who had first made a name for themselves in New York with Ruffian before relocating to the West Coast, ample reason to feel proud.
“After living in Los Angeles for five years we decided it was time to explore the language the city speaks most fluently, film,” Morais said. “Entertainment is the constant that is inextricably linked to all facets of the city – it crosses all cultural boundaries, it is the fairy dust that unites the city of angels. It felt like the right time to explore a new medium to express our work.”
Wolk added, “We were most excited about how many more people we would be able to touch via a compelling piece of motion content. The idea of creating a narrative film about a collection versus a film of a runway presentation felt intuitive and right.”
Centered on the city they have called home for over five years, it features locals such as Rebecca Walker, Aimee Garcia, Moon Unit Zappa, Monica Ahanonu, Julia Dunstall, and Lydia Hearst in looks from the collection.
“The inspiration was quite simple…the tradition of wardrobe and screen tests from Hollywood movies,” Wolk explained. “They basically serve the technical function of seeing how clothing, accessories, and beauty look on camera before going into filming. The text that appears on the board next to the actor felt very relevant in the age of digital media where we are constantly presented text and images together on Instagram.”
The pair loved the casting process “with an inclusive community of some of our favorite Los Angeles characters and getting to see them wear our clothes,” Morais noted.
When they got the final cut, they felt a “sense of accomplishment after all of the months of hard work,” and it clearly paid off via the London Fashion Film Festival win.
“We were pleasantly surprised but most of all thrilled we were able to share the accolades with the entire crew who believed in the project and spent countless hours working on it,” Wolk said. “As American designers, it is amazing to see the authentic and emotional response of European audiences to our work. This is true joy! We are blessed to have a brilliant team including our friend and longtime collaborator Elizabeth Stewart and the talented team at Paul Mitchell, whom we have been supporting our work since we moved to Hollywood five years ago!”
Screentest 8 was directed by Sandro Suppnig with cinematography by Fiorella Occhipinti, and photography by Shelby Goldstein.
“Film has offered us a timeless way to show our work that has far more longevity than a traditional runway show,” Morais said. “A beautifully constructed motion picture allows us to express our multi-faceted design process and spirit of the collection. In a world where seasonal dressing seems passé and content is king, we prefer to invest in a way of story-telling that doesn’t have an expiration date.”
And they may have just caught the film bug. The designers are looking forward to creating a film version for Collection 9 – “a sequel, maybe even a franchise in the true Hollywood tradition,” Wolk offered.
Asked for their ultimate dream project, the two didn’t have to think twice : A Bio-Epic on Edith Head.
We’d love nothing more!
