Fashion In Film: Animal Matters

About

Inspired by the dialectical montage of Soviet cinema, this programme stages a visceral collision between two opposing views of fashion: as sublime allure, and as a global industry rooted in extraction and violence. Featuring a sequence of short films produced between 1910 and 1950, Animal Matters juxtaposes glamorous garments and accessories crafted from skins, furs and feathers with documentaries exposing the hunting and processing of animal materials, also including human hair. This deliberate contrast, designed to unsettle, forces fashion’s disconnected narratives to sit side by side, illuminating what is typically obscured. The programme culminates in a lighter note with the recently restored film The Dancing Fleece, a charming ballet-fashion film commissioned by the British wool industry in 1950.

Content warning: this programme includes images of dead animals and scenes involving animal skins, which may be distressing for some viewers. It also showcases colonialism at work.

The New Fashion: Rattlesnake Skin Footwear (La Nueva Moda: Calzado de Piel del Serpiente de Cascabel) | USA, 1918. Dir. Unknown (Gaumont America), 45sec

The Snake Leather Industry (De Slangenlederindustrie) | The Netherlands, 1925. Dir. Unknown (Pathé Amsterdam), 4min44sec

A Fitting at the Furrier Henri Vergne by Miss Varesca (Un Essayage Chez le Fourreur Henri Vergne par Mlle. Varesca) | France, 1913. Dir. Unknown, 40sec

Clothing Factory, Česká Kamenice (Ošacovací závody, Česká Kamenice) | Czechia, 1928. Dir. Unknown, 6min (clips)

Untitled | France, c.1915. Dir. Unknown, 2min1sec

Paris Fashions: Hats of the House of Francine Arnould | France, 1912. Dir. Unknown, 1min17sec (clip)

Paris Fashions: Latest Creations in Hair Dressing | France, c.1912. Dir. Unknown, 13secs (clip)

Hunting for Egret Feathers in Africa (Chasse a l'aigrette en Afrique) | France, 1911. Dir. Alfred Machin (Pathé), 5min17sec

Untitled (Birds of Paradise) | France, c.1925. Dir. Unknown (Pathé), 8min22sec

Hair and Frills (Cheveux et Chichis)

France, 1911. Dir. Unknown (Pathé), 4min30sec

The Dancing Fleece | UK, 1950. Dir. Frederick Wilson, 20min | Newly restored in 4K from 35mm nitrate Technicolor film elements preserved by the BFI National Archive

A delightful blend of promotional film and avant-garde dance, this vivid Technicolor production celebrates British wool manufacturing through every stage of its journey. Commissioned by the National Wool Textile Export Corporation and costumed by Norman Hartnell – then a rising star in British couture – the film juxtaposes meticulous, tactile close-ups of wool yarns and fabrics with Lotte Reiniger’s animations and expressive dance choreographies (including a sheep ballet). The film’s dreamlike, quasi-surrealist aesthetic unfolds through scenes where mannequins are ritualistically dressed. Various sequences highlight wool’s transformation: shearing, spinning, dyeing, and weaving, culminating in a glamorous fashion show finale.