ADVERTISEMENTS Fashion shares top billing with stars in motion picture

Designers use movies as vehicles for promoting products.
BALTIMORE SUN
There is a pivotal moment in "Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & amp; Blonde," when Reese Witherspoon as Elle Woods stands before a mirror in her dream wedding gown, frustrated that the scalloped hem she wants simply won't work using the fabric of the dress.
She pouts and whines before it occurs to her -- "If the fabric doesn't work with you, then don't work with it. Don't fight the fabric!"
The scene fleshes out Witherspoon's spunky, clothes-obsessed character, pushes along the plot and encapsulates fashion's growing status in 21st century moviemaking. Once largely in the background -- except for the occasional couture tale like Robert Altman's "Ready to Wear" or the forthcoming "Garmento" -- fashion has started to share top billing in all sorts of movies.
In the new "Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle," the gals' 40 costume changes are, in many scenes, vastly more interesting than their heroic antics. The sleek black trench coats and must-have shades were such a big part of the "Matrix" movies they've been talked about as much as the actors themselves.
Designers and cosmetics companies have wised up to this, latching onto movies like never before, using them as vehicles to not just promote products -- but also develop them.
Special creation
Like Cameron Diaz's Angel shades? No problem, Ray-Ban ads let you know how to get them. Loving Elle Woods' nail polish? It's a line of colors O.P.I. created just for the movie that are now available in salons across the country.
"There's been more attention paid to fashion by the general public, and anybody who works in a visual medium is aware of that," said fashion historian Valerie Steele, director of the Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York. "From 'Down With Love,' which had very cute and retro fashions, to 'The Matrix' to 'Moulin Rouge,' there are a lot of movies now that have a very strong costume presence. People are becoming visually more literate and they can appreciate this."
Fashionable characters in movies aren't new. Cary Grant always cut a stylish swath in film and Grace Kelly and James Dean both set trends in the roles they played. And companies have been outfitting characters since Audrey Hepburn donned a pair of Ray-Ban Wayfarer Cats in "Breakfast at Tiffany's."
Get clothing cues
A change became apparent, however, with the advent of style-driven TV shows such as "Sex and The City." With viewers flocking to the HBO series for clothing cues, designers and beauty companies began the hard sell to land their products in fashionable movies. In "Legally Blonde 2," it's not just Versace that is plugged -- the fashion house's U.S. publicist gets a shout-out when Elle says, "You can contact Billy Daley, head of Versace customer relations!"
"Movies used to be sacrosanct -- you did not have commercials in movies," said Gary Edgerton, co-editor of the Journal of Popular Film & amp; Television.
But then E.T. was lured out of the closet with Reese's Pieces candy, and companies from Coca-Cola to BMW began lobbying for placement in film.
Bridal designer Reem Acra said she was thrilled when "Legally Blonde 2" approached her about using her dresses.
"Having a celebrity wear your dress at the Oscars affects your business -- this is the same thing," said Acra, who provided a bridal gown and three lavender bridesmaid dresses for the film. "People are looking more and more to Hollywood for fashion trends, who got dressed in what and what was on the red carpet. Hollywood is becoming a big advertisement."
Suzi Weiss-Fischmann, O.P.I. executive vice president and artistic director, said she pushed to work on "Legally Blonde 2" after the first movie made $137.7 million worldwide at the box office.
Hot summer
"When they came to us before the first one and said, 'Would you like to partner with us?' we said 'sure' but we didn't know that this was going to be the hottest movie of the (2001) summer," she said. "And the salon is so important in that movie -- when (Elle) breaks up with her boyfriend she goes to get her nails done and the nail technician becomes her psychoanalyst. It was just the perfect association."
More of these companies are creating products especially for movies. Besides the O.P.I. nail colors for "Legally Blonde 2," Stila has created eye shadows and a cheek color for the movie and Sephora has a book teaching women how to look like Elle. And designers whose outfits are used in a movie are making sure the clothing and accessories are available in stores as soon as the film opens, noted Tom Julian, fashion trend analyst for Fallon Worldwide in New York.