“The Good Italian”: Fashion Films as Lifestyle Manifestos. A Study Based on Thematic Analysis and Digital Analytics

Abstract

The continuous intertwining of cinema and digital technologies has allowed fashion films to spread as a new genre, through which fashion companies present their products, entertain, inspire their audience, share their heritage and tradition, and communicate their brand identity. This study presents the case of The Good Italian, a 3-episode story of the Prince of Soragna and his journey through Italian (life)style, published by the Italian Caruso menswear company. Through a thematic analysis of each video, information in the company’s archive, the digital analytics provided by the Caruso YouTube channel, and an interview with the former CEO, who was deeply involved in the conceptualization and realization of the films, this paper aims to answer two research questions: (i) How was the topic of being a “Good Italian” translated into the three fashion films? (ii) How were the films distributed, and which audiences did they reach? Thanks to the unique opportunity to access the company’s digital analytics and archived documents, together with the interviews, this paper provides a view on the case that goes beyond what can be assessed by an outsider, a perspective that is relevant for both researchers on digital fashion communication and fashion films, as well as for practitioners.