G-rated for Gucci

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Left: an outtake from the underwhelming commercial David Lynch made for Gucci. Where were the little people and severed ears? See it here.

The fashion and film worlds share a schoolgirl crush on each other. Lynch and Roman Polanski were spotted at the fall shows earlier this year in Paris. Director Wes Anderson, too, has been seen on the sidelines of a Marc Jacobs show.

Meanwhile, the fashion houses are grabbing up sponsorships to film festivals. Just yesterday, WWD reported that the Italian designer and Tribeca Film Festival have teamed to create the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Award. It is, in essence, a few grants for indie filmmakers promoting social change through celluloid.

Gucci already has its own Gucci Group film artist award, which it established in 2006. Julian Schnabel nabbed it this year at the Venice Film Festival. Prada has a foundation -- created in 1993 -- that lauds artists in film and other art forms. Chopard practically owns Cannes as the official sponsor.

What I find most interesting is the fact that Chanel cosponsored the Tribeca Film Festival for the past two years and fest cofounder Jane Rosenthal explained the union to me this way: ‘A good movie has a good wardrobe.’ I wonder if Gucci and Chanel fought over the opportunity to be a part of this prestigious festival?

For a while, I have been predicting that fashion houses will figure out a way to produce films and hence, guarantee that their wares make it to the big screen. The red carpet isn’t long or wide enough to satisfy designers. Even Harvey Weinstein, right, who bought Halston, has noted that he plans to cross-promote his companies. Pass the Halston popcorn.

Photo credits: Gucci, Gucci.com; Harvey Weinstein, Getty Images