The Fashion in Film Festival takes place at the BFI Southbank, the Barbican, Horse Hospital and Ciné lumière from Friday 10th May – Sunday 19th May 2013. This event seeks to highlight the common ground shared by the industries of fashion and film and promote new ideas, encourage critical thinking and pay homage to the fashions and films of the past.

The festival draws on a rich range of genres and revels in the cinematic spectacle of costume and its highly significant role in the movie world. Many of the films previously showcased have been from the black and white and even silent movie eras, where the clothes worn have a truly significant emphasis. The costumes in these early movies reveal clues as to the nature of the characters wearing them and help to create an atmosphere reminiscent of the eras they portray.

The festival sees a special season dedicated to one of France’s most innovative filmmakers, Marcel L’Herbier, this year. This avant-garde director aimed to collate architects, artists, set designers and costume designers and have them work together in one cinema totale; a multi-disciplinary system which he hoped would elevate cinema into a new art form.

The incredible Marcel L’Herbier long held a fascination with fashion and cinematic style and the festival seeks to explore this further through screenings of some of his classic silent films, such as the 1928 film, L’Argent. This fantastic 1920’s adaptation of a 1890’s novel by Emile Zola will be shown with a live musical accompaniment and displays the art deco style in its element.

If Arts and Culture in London is of interest to you then click here for a list of great venues across the city.