Hollywood and fashion have been long bedfellows as both are generally synonymous with glamour. It’s also been lucrative for both parties involved. A brand gets instant star power, while talent and managers benefit from profitable partnership deals when the two worlds converge. Mainly, the stage for these intersections has been the red carpet and vis-à-vis brand ad campaigns or merchandise-related deals such as witnessed with the “Barbie” and “Wicked” movies.

Lately, however, fashion has pressed deeper into the film industry with prominent creative roles and high-profile product placement deals. Brands such as Saint Laurent, Loewe, Omega, Valentino, and Carhartt are among the labels that had stellar roles and deals in 2024. With luxury reporting a downturn and traditional spaces such as physical retail struggling to remain relevant as an avenue of discovery, film presents an enticing platform to promote fashion, especially as streaming services bring these productions to one’s living room.

As awards season in the U.S. kicked off with Sunday’s Golden Globes event, the biggest winner of the evening was “Emilia Pérez,” the unconventional musical from award-winning French filmmaker Jacques Audiard that stars trans actress Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, and Selena Gomez. The film—which is about a Mexican drug lord engaging a lawyer to help fake her death to finally live authentically as a woman—took home Best Motion Picture, Best Non-English Language Motion Picture, Best Supporting Female Actor-Motion Picture, and Best Original Song-Motion Picture.

It was a first for Anthony Vaccarello, whose Saint Laurent Productions co-produced the film with Audiard, Pascal Caucheteux, and Valérie Schermann. Costume Designer Virginie Montel dove into Vaccarello’s archives and current designs to outfit many characters. Thus, things such as a floral print jumpsuit and a raglan sleeve T-shirt, worm by Gomez, and a tan clutch and white open-toed mule sandals sported on Saldaña are attributed to the Saint Laurent brand and available for purchase on various websites.

Naturally, the partnership also allows for the more traditional tie-up of the red carpet. For the Golden Globes, Saint Laurent dressed Gascón, Saldana and Audiard. Saint Laurent Productions debuted the film at this year’s Cannes Film Festival along with two other films, “The Shrouds” by David Cronenberg and “Parthenope” by Paolo Sorrentino.

Earlier in the year, Jonathan Anderson made his movie costume designer debut, not once but twice for director Luca Guadagnino, who directed “Challengers,” the tennis-theme flick starring Zendaya, and “Queer” starring Daniel Craig. While Anderson didn’t stick to just Loewe or his eponymous brand for the wardrobe, brands as varied as Chanel, Cartier, Uniqlo, and Juicy Couture also appeared; it gave the luxury goods house an opportunity to sell products related to it.

The character Patrick, played by Josh O’Connor, wears a T-shirt emblazoned with “I Told Ya,” inspired by a famous image of JFK, jr. playing frisbee in Central Park wearing a T-shirt with the exact words. Loewe produced their version of the tee and a sweatshirt, which sold for $330 and $690. Currently, a collaboration with Loewe x On sneakers is available on the brand’s site, as the Swiss athletic brand was also featured in the movie.

In “Queer,” which relates to the gay expat community in Mexico in the 1950s, Anderson mainly relied on period dressing. Still, the movie partnership allowed for a capsule collection with the JW Anderson brand consisting of sweatshirts, T-shirts, caps, and tote bags that depict stills from the film and a quote from the movie: “I want to talk to you…without speaking.”

A few recent holiday Netflix films have also pointed to fashion playing a more prominent role in filmmaking. In the space-race-themed rom-com “Fly Me to the Moon” starring Scarlett Johansson and Tatum Channing, an Omega watch was practically a cast member. Johansson plays a marketing executive tasked with making the flailing NASA program appealing to the public through savvy ad campaigns. The Omega Speedmaster Professional, worn by Buzz Aldrin in July 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission, was the first watch to go to the moon. Thus, the film depicts Johansson’s character developing an ad campaign around the watch to capitalize on its infamy.

Another recent Netflix release, “It Ends with Us,” starring Blake Lively, has a heavy fashion presence. In it, Lively’s character wears so many Carhartt products that it seems like another character. Valentino also makes a co-starring role as Lively’s character carries a logo prominent VLogo tote throughout while a supporting character sports a rainbow-colored sequined dress that spells Valentino. Both examples beg the question if the stakes of the traditional product placement model are higher than in the past. (Another interesting aspect is that Lively also wore several items from her personal wardrobe in the film.)

Since 2023 Netflix has been rethinking its strategy after spending as much as $200 million on films such as “The Gray Man” and “Red Notice” in 2022 and titles such as “The Irishman” and “6 Underground” which cost $160 and $150 million, respectively in 2019. Under new chief content officer Bela Bajaria and new film chief Dan Lin, the company is engaging in a quality-over-quantity approach, vowing to spend less money on better content and produce more.

(Five years ago, 37.8 percent was original content; in 2025, it will be 46.5 percent.) As one aspect of the strategy includes diversifying revenue streams and multiple sources cite the importance of paid product placement, fashion will find more opportunities to flex their wares in film in 2025.