Lanvin Spoof Video | Source:

NEW YORK, United States — At BoF, we’ve been ranking the top fashion films of the season since 2009, when the genre was still just coming into existence. But even back then, set against the staggering rise of online video consumption and the growing importance of engaging young digital consumers, the medium’s tremendous potential was clear.

Fast-forward to the Autumn of 2011 and YouTube-friendly short videos are practically de rigueur for fashion brands, large and small. But interestingly, it’s not digital “Geniuses” like Burberry who have been creating the most compelling fashion films. Despite being labeled “Challenged” by a Digital IQ report recently released by LuxuryLab, we think the Prada Group is making some of the best digital films in the industry, working with top fashion image-maker Steven Meisel.

But this season, it was Lanvin’s viral sensation (also shot by Meisel), featuring Karen Elson and Raquel Zimmermann dancing awkwardly to “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)” by Pitbull, that proved to be the game-changer that propelled fashion film decisively into the mainstream. The film struck a chord with a broad internet audience, earning over 100,000 YouTube views in the first three days online, providing the spark for a real-life dance competition at a buzzed about and well-attended Fashion’s Night Out event at the brand’s Madison Avenue boutique, and even spawning spoofs, the surest sign of of viral success.

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When Amare Stoudemire and Rachel Roy hit a Hollywood Hills basketball court for a small one-on-one final week, the New York Knick was dripping with sweat, talking trash and baring his teeth in intimidation.

The fashion designer, on the other hand, was the model of calm, cool collectedness, clad in sweat pants, a T-shirt and flip flops, breaking her poise only at the last minute to throw a properly-placed elbow that sent Stoudemire player reeling off balance.

It was all for the benefit of a video crew that had decamped to Stoudemire’s rented house in the hills to film footage promoting the duo’s collaboration on a women’s clothing collection. Some of that video is slated to appear on in-taxi video ads in New York City beginning Sept. 8, when the fall and winter 2011 collection hits retail (which just happens to be the date of this year’s shop-stravaganza Fashion’s Night Out).

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