On My Radar: Chad Sipkin
Consulate editor Chad Sipkin talks fashion films, FaderPorts and why 'short-lived assets' have brought confusion as well as creative freedom, as he reveals what's on his radar.
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What is the most creative advertising idea for a fashion brand you’ve seen recently?
Gucci’s campaign with Harry Styles. I love it when a brand can ignore itself and just be immersed in the bizarre. I suppose that was the trade of in this Gucci period. Great while it lasted. Another one would be Gucci’s Spring Summer 2019 campaign – the occasional need to showcase the brand is so well fulfilled. Throw on some Merman, choreography, and Glen Luchford, and that’s all you need to say.
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What website(s) do you use most regularly?
Well, the New York Times, but everyone says that. So, DoorDash – for obvious reasons.
What’s the most recent piece of tech that you’ve bought?
To be very geeky here, I’d say a PreSonus FaderPort mix controller, because sound is 80% of what anyone feels in motion picture. I need to be able to manually adjust mix in real-time. The irony of that is that, for someone in a very technological field, I don’t covet gadgets.
What product could you not live without?
Really? Live without? Not much, but I’ll play along and say vintage YSL suede boots.
What’s the best fashion film you’ve seen over the last year?
I think this is a bit older than just a year ago, but I love the Jil Sander film that Mario (Sorrenti) shot in Japan. It was a road trip film – traveling through the countryside documenting the landscape and the culture – explored with a very unique, honest, emotional tone.
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- Director Mario Sorrenti
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- Director Mario Sorrenti
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- Director Mario Sorrenti
What film do you think everyone should have seen?
Perhaps Richard Lester’s Petulia, or Funeral Parade of Roses by Toshio Matsumoto. Both are filmed and edited with extreme vitality. Both have wild scripts. Petulia is a classic experiment in an elliptical editing structure, where linear time is optional. Parade is incredibly relevant to our time now. It's rough and bold. Both films are extremely chic and an absolute joy to be whisked up into. Characters are simultaneously tough, but a mess.
What’s your preferred social media platform?
Instagram. Because it is of the minute and an archive at the same time.
What’s your favourite TV show?
Anything with Olivia Colman as its principal.
Who’s your favourite fashion designer?
Alaia.
What show/exhibition has most inspired you recently?
It has to be two: William Klein at ICP, and Hopper at the MOMA.
What’s the most significant change you’ve witnessed in the industry since you started working in it?
The need for perishable content has confused the monetisation of the work. Outfits that have to continually create clever, short-lived assets are having trouble rationalising paying for them. The good news, however, is that there is an absolute renaissance in creativity. The work is so much more wild and free. Because it’s short-lived, it can be fleeting and specific. Most of the time, the work is not so overthought. Much more visceral. Much more spontaneous and rewarding to make.
If there was one thing you could change about the advertising industry, what would it be?
A bit more of an organised approval process would be good. Having the ability to look at what you have made for a day or so would be very much more agreeable.
Who or what has most influenced your career?
There is influence I get from many genius directors, photographers and, certainly, cinematographers. Everyone you work with is a lesson in getting under their skin and seeing and feeling the way they do. As an editor, that is the most beautiful part. This is a continual inspiration for every assignment. It is never the same. Perhaps, however, working with Bruce Weber [above] was probably the most evident influence because his POV naturally connects with mine. He relies completely on instinct, and there are no definitions of what works and what doesn’t in pictures or movies. If image evokes a feeling via its light, sound or music, and the viewer gets a shiver or a chuckle, that's a great thing to be a part of.
Tell us one thing about yourself that most people won’t know.
Like, my fetishes? Well, I am an amateur mechanic of vintage cars. Though perhaps it’s not so surprising that I can’t stop figuring out how to put things together.
