The Capitol and RMIT University present an exclusive online event for fashion victims, film fetishists and anyone with a haunting affection for department stores this weekend.
The triple bill includes an online screening of Peter Strickland’s seductive, consumerist satire, In Fabric (2018) on Friday 11 September, followed by a live conversation between the director and film critic, Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, on Saturday 12 September.
A public masterclass on Monday 14 September will see Strickland and In Fabric costume designer Jo Thompson (This is England, Little Birds) deep-dive into the topics of fashion victims, desire, bodies and consumption with Dr Ricarda Bigolin, Associate Dean of Fashion and Textiles Design at RMIT, and fashion artist Adele Varcoe. All events will screen at www.thecapitol.tv
With In Fabric, acclaimed British filmmaker Peter Strickland – writer-director behind the sadomasochistic romance, The Duke of Burgundy (2014), and the unnerving giallo-homage, Berberian Sound Studio (2012) – delivers a seductively frightening, darkly humorous tale.
In Fabric follows a lonely woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) who visits a bewitched London department store. Amongst the gothic strangeness there, she finds a perfectly-fitting, artery-red gown which in time unleashes a malevolent curse on all who wear it.
Shot by Australian cinematographer Ari Wegner (True History of the Kelly Gang, Lady Macbeth), and featuring a seductively unsettling score by Tim Gane (Stereolab, Cavern of Anti-Matter), In Fabric also stars Fatma Mohamed, Gwendoline Christie, Julian Barratt, Steve Oram, Hayley Squires and Leo Bill. It is Strickland’s most twisted and brilliantly original vision yet.
“As both high fashion thriller and bizarre fairytale, In Fabric cuts a very funny, and very vivid satire of sartorial desire,” says The Capitol’s Creative Producer, Ghita Loebenstein. “I’m thrilled to welcome The Capitol’s audiences to our ‘online stage’ for this spectacularly unhinged film event.”
“The film invites us into a particularly lurid sensory experience, and for those of us who are at home right now, it offers an antidote to the click-and-collect transactions of our lives. I can’t wait to unpack it all with Peter, Jo, Alexandra and Ricarda,” she says.
“There’s only one movie from 2019 that featured a murderous gown, a menstruating mannequin, and long monologues about washing machines that function as erotic ASMR.” – Vulture
The screening, conversation and masterclass takes place online: 11 – 14 September at: www.thecapitol.tv – For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit: www.eventbrite.com.au for details. Watch the trailer here!
Image: Marianne Jean-Baptiste stars in In Fabric (film still)