Founded in 2019 by Mignon Gould, CEO of Mignon Media, FashFilmFete™ is a premiere film festival exploring the history, and future, of fashion storytelling through the curation of Hollywood, indie, experimental and documentary films to showcase the significance of fashion in filmmaking.
FASH: Short for fashion, relating to wearables.
FILM: A story or narrative in movie format.
FETE: French for festival or elaborate party.
Our goal is to bring together a global community of fashion and film aficionados to explore style in cinema and its influence on pop culture, fashion design, contemporary art and beauty standards; with a mission to spotlight historically underrepresented voices in film and fashion, specifically people of color and women.
Mignon Gould has been intrigued about the role of fashion in film since watching two of her favorite sartorially impactful films, “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” (1961) starring Audrey Hepburn and Mahogany (1975) starring Diana Ross. Both featured charismatic characters, with a penchant for style. She was introduced to these films long after they made their silver screen debut, but they have lived on in her mind, as they have in popular culture.
It wouldn’t be too farfetched to say that these films sparked Mignon's love for cinema style, and led her to launch TheChicSpy.com, an online style and entertainment magazine. The popular site featured interviews with film and fashion aficionados including filmmakers Cary Fukunaga and Tate Taylor; actors Selma Hayek and Octavia Spencer; and costume designers Mary Zophres (Babylon) and Madeline Fontaine (Jackie).
Inspired by her work with the online publication, Mignon launched FashFilmFete, to celebrate the role of fashion in helping tell a compelling story in film.
Mignon has a BS in Communications from Arizona State University and an MFA in Fashion Journalism and Multimedia from Academy of Art University in San Francisco.
We are excited to have the world renown Phoenix Art Museum as the host venue for the inaugural FashFilmFete™. Phoenix Art Museum is the Southwest’s premier destination for world-class visual arts. The Museum has provided access to visual arts and educational programs in Arizona for nearly 60 years and is the largest art museum in the Southwestern United States.
In addition to an annual calendar of exhibitions, Phoenix Art Museum’s permanent collection galleries are drawn from more than 19,000 works of American, Asian, European, Latin American, Western American, modern and contemporary art, and fashion design.
The Museum's fashion collection, which is maintained by Arizona Costume Institute, is comprised of more than 9,000 American and European garments, shoes and accessories. It houses important fashions from the 18th to late 20th centuries and emphasizes major American designers of the 20th century including Adrian, Norell, Galanos, and Claire McCardell; and European Designers such as Balenciaga, Chanel, Dior, and Yves Saint Laurent.Exhibitions that focus on clothing both as an art form and cultural phenomenon are rotated regularly, underscoring the significance of fashion as it relates to social and economic history.
Pictured: London's V&A Hollywood Costume Exhibition. Eliza Doolittle, James Bond and Elle Woods are just a few of the chic characters that were featured during the Hollywood Costume Exhibition at the Phoenix Art Museum in 2014. On loan from London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, the exhibition was a compilation of the most iconic film costumes from the past century including the opulent period costumes from "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" (2007). Photo Credit: © V&A Images
