THE fashion flock has just returned from another season of designer shows – but the big news coming out of Europe wasn’t just the clothes.
The buzz was about the music – in particular about the pair of relatively unknown New Yorkers who landed in Milan and Paris to grab the most talked-about spot of the season: the music booth at Tom Ford’s Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent collections.
Rene Arsenault, a former Columbia Records product manager, and Michaelangelo L’Acqua, a songwriter, guitarist and producer, recently decided it was time to leave their day jobs and take a chance that the notoriously fickle fashion crowd would turn its attention from the current crop of DJ darlings to some budding talent.
It worked.
“We started out with the intention of targeting the fashion industry,” said Arsenault, who, along with L’Acqua, co-founded Onda Productions earlier this year. “We figured it was uncharted ground.
“We’ve been producing music for a long time – but fashion shows – that’s full-blown theater. It’s not about hit songs or star-power, but about good music that pulls you in. About creating a certain vibe,” Arsenault said.
Cynthia Rowley and Tom Ford have already fallen for Onda’s vibe – and so has Michael Kors, who hired the duo to produce a CD to be played exclusively at his new Madison Avenue store.
Spinning and arranging music for fashion shows is nothing new. But at a time when DJs themselves are nearly as popular as the music coming out of their speakers, it seems everyone wants a piece of the action.
Alex Betak of Bureau Betak, a company that produces fashion shows for such marquee designers as Michael Kors, Donna Karan and Christian Dior, says the business of making music for the catwalk is a serious pursuit.
“Music is the first element that touches your senses,” Betak said. “You don’t know why. But a very bad collection can be better with a brilliant soundtrack.”
The world of producing fashion-show music is a fairly tight-knit realm. There are only a handful of DJs and “sound illustrators” who designers call on to enhance their message.
At the moment, the reigning kings of the fashion world are the Freds: Fred Sanchez and Fred Bladou, the Paris-based “sound illustrators” for fashion shows from Jil Sander to Calvin Klein.
The two are in such high demand, they have opened a music boutique in Paris to sell an exclusive collection of tunes.
Arsenault believes the niche market of selling to the fashion crowd has its benefit. “The most important journalists and trendsetters are in the audience. If they like your music, then you know you’re onto something,” he said.
While the New York-based musical duo intend to continue targeting the fashion crowd – they’re now fielding calls for the next round of shows – the music men also hope to branch out into more of a full-service record label. They’re working on the soundtrack to the upcoming movie “Office Party,” starring Ralph Macchio and Tate Donovan.
And they hope to begin scouting for and producing new acts.