Sleater-Kinney guitarist and Portlandia creator Carrie Brownstein continues to demonstrate her sharp eye for satire with a short film for the French clothing company Kenzo. The film, written and directed by Brownstein, debuted yesterday during the show for the fashion line’s fall-winter collection at New York’s Fashion Week.
In “The Realest Real,” the hyperbolic, figurative language of the internet becomes literal: Internet followers are actual people walking behind you, and the cloud is a near endless stack of papers. After commenting “mom” on one of Natasha Lyonne’s Instagram posts (“a term of affection implying that you’re so fond of Ms. Lyonne that you wish she were your mother”), the film’s protagonist is given the choice to have the actress actually be her mom.
The seven-minute film stars Laura Harrier, who will portray Liz Allan in 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming; Mahershala Ali (House Of Cards, Free State Of Jones); and Lyonne (playing herself). Musician Kim Gordon, who’s no stranger to fashion herself, makes a cameo.
There’s also behind-the-scenes photos and an interview with Brownstein and designers Carol Lim and Humberto Leon on Kenzo’s website. Brownstein said this about the film:
I guess we started by talking about fandom and the way that fans converge with their idols through screens and technology in this much more complex and multifaceted way. It is about the idea that you can kind of insert yourself into the narrative of someone’s life, and into your idol’s life, through visuals, through songs, etc.
This isn’t the first time that Kenzo has enlisted a big-name creative talent to help advertise its wares—just last month, the company released a video directed by Spike Jonze for its perfume.