To celebrate the launch of his new Paris Capsule Collection (which was created in honour of the Tory Burch Paris flagship store, which was launched on June 27, 2015), designer Tory Burch wanted to create a short film where he would feature the collection. And he signed on Dianna as a director for the project, after she initially only joked about it! “It started off as a complete joke. You know, the kind of thing where you say to a friend, I could do a video for you… and then the joke becomes a reality. It was such a happy coincidence.” For the film, Dianna and Burch took inspiration from the 1950s musical “An American in Paris”. The film is based on a café scene from the musical, where performer Henri Baurel tells a friend about his new amour, the exquisite Lise Bouvier. In a series of sequences, Baurel describes Bouvier’s character – from her love of reading, to her sense of fun and for her ‘modernness’, and Dianna and Burch mirrored this in their short which was titled “L’Américaine”.

“I think fashion films are quite popular these days, and I think the trick is more than anything to keep it simple. If you want people to be looking at the clothes, you can’t have an overly complicated story. My first and only concern was making sure the story was coming through and the clothes were being beautifully depicted.”

Margaret Qualley (who later would co-star with Dianna in “Novitiate”) was cast as the actress. Both Dianna and Margaret had past experiences with Paris, with Dianna having lived and studied there, and Margaret having spent time modelling for Chanel and Valentino – and their passion for the city is well showcased in the short. “Every night after filming we were able to have a little moment of Paris. My Paris. My favorite restaurants, spots and whatnot. I am such a Francophile. It never gets old. That was the extra bit of joy. And I say this because every bit of filming (during the day) was a treat and a joy to me. I can never pick a favorite moment of filming because it all is a part of the fabric that is the final project.” Dianna said in an interview at Tory’s official website. When asked about working with Dianna, Margaret replied: “Dianna is smart, talented and incredibly creative. She also shares my passion for Paris and I knew that as an actress and a director she would bring a unique point of view to the project and have a fresh take on our collection.”

The Short Film