One of the UAE’s favourite brands has gone into movie production. Swarovski already has a place in the heart of fashion fans in the region with its gems, jewellery and glittering abayas being a mainstay on catwalks. Now, with the recent DVD release of Carlo Carlei’s adaptation of Romeo and Juliet in stores across the Middle East (the film screened in the UAE in November last year), Swarovski is hoping to win the hearts of film fans, too.
It may seem a strange move into a notoriously tricky market, but Nadja Swarovski, the head of Swarovski Entertainment, explains that the company has always been closely involved with the silver screen: "We've worked in the film industry since the very early days," she says. "From the gems in Dorothy's slippers in The Wizard of Oz to Audrey Hepburn's tiara in Breakfast at Tiffany's to the fact that virtually every crystal ever featured in a Hollywood movie has actually been one of ours, Swarovski has always been there. In the last 15 years or so we've been working even more closely with costume and set designers such as Catherine Martin [who recently won the Oscar for her costume work in The Great Gatsby] and we thought since we're involved anyway, it would make sense to actually invest in the development of films and produce ourselves."
The first result of this decision is Romeo and Juliet, which enlists the screenwriting talents of Julian Fellowes and features a young cast including the Bafta-winner Hailee Steinfield and, of course, about 1,000 Swarovski crystals embedded in the costumes.
It sounds lovely, but surely there’s a limit to how many films can be made with one eye on creating a platform for displaying Swarovski crystals? Would Swarovski consider making a film featuring two people in rags in a cave, or is the movie work largely an extension of Swarovski’s marketing budget?
“We want to make films that are in sync with the Swarovski values,” Swarovski says. “That is to say, they should be empowering and enlightening, particularly for women. The films do form part of our marketing and communications programme and we do have to justify them commercially, but, at the same time, we really want to focus on documentaries and, particularly, child-friendly documentaries. That fits in with the work of our foundation, which focuses on the environment, culture and human rights. With features we’re looking at investing in independent films, not big blockbusters.”
With a global workforce of 33,000, not to mention their families and the millions of customers in Swarovski's shops, the films already have an impressive captive audience to market to, and promotions to tie in with films such as the successful Romeo and Juliet jewellery collection, giving the company an enviable in-house marketing and merchandising operation that is not available to most indie producers.
In this respect, the company is well-placed to seek films that fit in with its stated aims of "enlightening and empowering", and the choice of Romeo and Juliet was very much a part of this process.
“We thought Shakespeare was a good place to start,” says Swarovski. “It’s educational, it’s taught in schools. Although, of course, that means there’s a lot of competition with the other adaptations, but I think it’s a real work of art, high quality and hopefully inspirational to a lot of young people.”
Swarovski is confident the DVD will prove popular.
“It’s a big market for our crystals, which consumers in the Gulf love. We’re communicating it via our customer base and website and if we can provide some European literary heritage and history to customers there then great,” says Swarovski
She says she is working on a script that deals with an iconic figure in the fashion industry and also sheds light on the industry itself, as well as the aforementioned child-friendly documentaries. “We want to educate children without intimidating them,” she says. “Children are the ones who will ultimately change the world, so we need to be educating them.”
cnewbould@thenational.ae
Here are our fantasy remakes of four classic films, each featuring the Swarovski touch
Diamonds Are Forever
The James Bond films have gone a bit moody of late, so a remake featuring an evil genius using a selection of Swarovski cut-glass figurines to build a giant laser and hold the world to ransom could be just what’s needed to bring some humour back to the franchise.
Blood Diamond
The Leonardo DiCaprio-starrer about diamonds mined in African conflict zones and used to profit both warlords and diamond companies could easily be reworked as Blood Crystals. Although, to our knowledge, no blood is spilt in the manufacturer of Swarovski’s products, the film would be a lot less hard- hitting, and a lot shorter.
Romancing the Stone
The swashbuckling Michael Douglas comes to the rescue when Danny DeVito demands a map of The Dubai Mall for the release of Kathleen Turner’s hostage sister. The map, of course, leads to the Swarovski store, where the world’s biggest cut-glass crystal awaits the intrepid treasure hunters. Hilarity, action and adventure ensue as the competing teams chase the prize through the mall.
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Whoever lands Marilyn Monroe’s role in this remake has some pretty big shoes to fill, but with careful casting we’re confident that the soon-to-be-recorded Swarovski-Cut Lead Glass Crystals Are a Girl’s Best Friend is a chart-topper in the making.
* Chris Newbould