LA Fashion Week 2018: An Inside Look With Motion In Fashion

BEVERLY HILLS, CA –Los Angeles Fashion Week is New York Fashion Week's cooler younger sister. With similar glamour and eccentric style, LAFW blended indie designers and well-established clothing creators in a less pretentious, equally unconventional way. Fashion was the obvious focal point, but other forms of art including live painting, furniture design, dancing, and music performances, helped elevate the main attraction.

The chic NeueHouse Hollywood co-working space was the backdrop for the runway shows, complete with a black carpet (because black is the new red, obviously) and big names like Amber Rose, television host Karamo Brown, and singer/songwriter FKA Twigs.

Motion in Fashion, a creative agency with a focus in video marketing was the team that made LAFW opulent. Photographers crouched and videographers rushed to get the right angles as Creative Director Cristian Mercado managed the team, watching Motion in Fashion's vision slowly unfold as the night went on.

Patch sat down with Motion in Fashion to learn more about their role in LAFW:

Patch: So, what exactly is Motion in Fashion?

Cristian Mercado: Motion In Fashion is a creative agency dedicated to injecting story into images and video marketing. A group of people that want a marketing campaign to visually say something through storytelling.

Patch: How does video and movement enhance the way that fashion is displayed?

CM: It brings it to life. Like most things, if it doesn't move it seems dead. Any study will show how important motion is in engagement. It's about tension really, if something moves it indicates in our head that there is something going to happen next, and if it's done well we pay attention to find out what that thing is. That drawing out of the mind into the future is why movement is so powerful.

Patch: How did you get involved with LAFW?

CM: I sent them a DM on Instagram. Try it, it really works.

Patch: What was Motion in Fashion's role before and during LAFW?

CM: Before Fashion Week, Motion In Fashion created a video campaign highlighting influencers and designers around LA. The goal was to tease a diverse audience into tuning into LAFW's live postings and streams. During, we were in charge of all visual's with the team at Vixi. We also streamed the event on Facebook, captured interviews, behind the scenes and runway coverage.

Patch: What separates LAFW from other Fashion Weeks around the world?

CM: LAFW is future proofing. Most other Fashion Weeks haven't realized that the traditional purpose of Fashion Weeks have fundamentally changed, and that's why they are dwindling. Before the rise of streetwear and e-commerce, the shows were about buyers scouting looks, so the money was at the show. Now, the scouting happens online, or the process just skips straight to the consumer. The money is outside of the show and that's okay, you just have to be real with the state of things.

Now and forever more, the power of Fashion Weeks are in the advertising of emerging brands and the development of great shows. It's about helping a designer realize the expression of an idea through sound, set design, and choreography. LAFW knows this, and this is a part of why we have created such a great partnership – we both care about the depth of the experience.

Patch: At Fashion Week there was all different types of art aside from the actual runway walks: dance, painting and drawing, music, and more. How would you describe the connection between fashion and these other forms of art?

CM: The connection is based on attention. As humans, we like people, so we pay attention to what's on them. Fashion is powerful that way, it's an art form that is really close to us physically. As long as you have people in your art you'll have a connection through fashion to the art.

Patch: There was a range of indie and well-established designers. What's the benefit of showcasing both?

CM: It creates a balance. Bigger designers draw an audience, and small designers are given a chance.

LAFW Influencer Photoshoot Video from Motion In Fashion on Vimeo.

Check out the Motion in Fashion website, or give them a follow on Instagram @motioninfashion.

All photos courtesy of Joy Watanabe/Motion in Fashion