Sean Frank has become a name in fashion, whether that was his original intention or not. His films for the fashion world have kept people talking and naturally have led him to become one of the most respected names in the business. His latest work comes from a collaboration with Westfield and it highlights the great debate I spoke about earlier this week – heels vs. flats. {Watch the video}
Sean Frank took some time to answer some hard-hitting questions for me about this vision for the video, his career and, naturally, his style. He’s very “straight-to-the-point,” shall we say?
I have to ask, as we are discussing Heels vs. Flats, have you ever worn a pair of heels, or did you do so to get into the vibe of this video?
I left that one to the ladies – hats off to them for dancing in them without falling over.
Can you start from the beginning and tell us how exactly you’ve found yourself where you are today?
I started making films about 4 years ago, working with various fashion houses and magazines. Its a great creative output for expressing ideas and working across lots of different areas.
And how did you find yourself working with Westfield?
They got in touch with the idea of commisioning 4 films. I submitted a treatment around the idea heelsvsflats and soul train and we went form there. I met Anthony Portas a few years ago when i was starting out, so it was great to get to work with them on this project.
In looking at the video, there is a lot of concentration on head to toe style. While we’re all supposed to be concentrating on the feet, somewhat, how did you go about putting together the fashion for this video knowing you were trying to focus your audience on some serious rhythmic feet?
Although the film is shoe focused, it was about creating an overall scenario – individuals getting together and having a dance party. In the film, each character dances off against themselves as their alternative alter ego “heelsvsflats”. It was important to show two distinct styles; a more casual and relaxed style for flats and a polished/smart style for “heels”. Kim Howells (stylist) did a brilliant job creating these looks.
While we’re on the topic of style, tell us what you really think…. how important are shoes to an outfit?
Aside from being practical, They are usually the fine line between looking smart and casual.
Do you have a pair of shoes you’d never like to see die?
At the moment i’m quite partial to a comfortable trainer. unrivalled comfort. literally like wearing socks.
This post is writing in collaboration with Westfield London.
