V Magazine and Oliver Peoples Make Recycling Sexy

Fashion advertising is an area in need of innovation. The outfits change with the seasons but the advertising is well past its due date. Therefore, this new short film directed by Grant Greenberg and produced by Derby for V Magazine and eyewear maker Oliver Peoples is one to watch.

New York’s Sims Municipal Recycling Center in Sunset Park, Brooklyn serves as the improbable backdrop for Heatwave, wherein a dozen models arrive at the recycling center, don high-fashion clothing and eyewear, and dance between giant bales of recycled trash.

Set to Lizzo’s infectious pop anthem Juice, Heatwave previewed at New York Fashion Week in February and is currently screening on the V Magazine website.

Greenberg spent a year developing the project. He says, “The NYC recycling facility has interesting planes and the recycling itself is surprisingly colorful once it’s been through the sorting process. As I learned more about the work that they do there, it occurred to me that we could combine fashion with a message about recycling, and do it in a way that wasn’t didactic or hit you over the head.”

The Ad Council introduced the creative team to Keep America Beautiful who came on as their non-profit partner, making this project one of the only fashion films ever produced with a public service announcement message.

Derby’s production was a star-studded affair. In addition to convincing Lizzo to lend her hit song to the effort, the production company tapped MTV VMA award-winning choreographer Sherrie Silver (known for her work on Childish Gambino’s This Is America) to design the dance moves. French cinematographer Adrien Bertolle (Big House) was the DP and Kate Owen of WAX was the editor. The film was finished at The Mill with colorist Nick Metcalf.