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Fashion DVD Review
A look at the global women's-surfing boom
by Lindsay Tredent
Premiere-night poster
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At first glance, you might poke fun and think Fashion is another word for a Blue Crush movie wanna-be. But there are no actors -- this is the real thing. Created by surfers who live and breathe the sport, Fashion is the debut film from Stardust Productions, a new company started by former 'CT surfer Prue Jeffries, longboard pro Kassia Meador, and UCSD film grad Anna Petrick. Their first project is a lighthearted documentation of the women surfers who are out there killing it right now.
The film begins with an animation of two anime-style girls. The prissy duo is lured into the trendy and stylish world of women's surfing by none other than -- you guessed it --SG! As the magazine comes to life and the animation fades into footage of the girls surfing, the two mall chicks start to learn that surfing is a lot more work than looking cute and sparkly.
Shot on location in Australia, France, and the Mentawaiis, the cast includes Prue, Chelsea Georgeson, Claire Bevilacqua, Kate Skarratt, VK, Sam Cornish, Melanie Bartels, Lisa Andersen, and Aussie up-and-comers Steph Gilmore, Sheridan Shields, and Elle Black. The interweaving of the cartoon chicks with the surfers' antics adds a cheery, humorous touch.
While the majority of the footage is shortboarding, there is a "Longboard Interlude" filmed at an Australian pointbreak with Kassia, Schuyler McFerran, and Jen Smith. The best part about this segment is the camera angle used to shoot it: Prue's got the camera, following the girls or riding in front of them on her own longboard. The shots are right up close to show how the pros do their magic. (Check out Shoot Your Friends in the April and June 2005 issues of SG for a more in-depth discussion with Prue about shooting from the water. -- Ed.)
The only downer to this film is that it's a decade of women's surfing packed into only 24 minutes. But the theme of the movie is more cohesive than most surf videos. And the music is fun and spunky -- the verse "like a lady" will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.
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