Vanity Fair and Vera Wang celebrated the opening of Wang’s new flagship boutique on Rodeo Drive on Wednesday, June 18, with cocktails and the unveiling of a film the designer had commissioned specifically for the event. Wang recruited the talents of New York-based film artist Marco Brambilla (known for his multi-layered video collages and installations that have been featured in museums nationwide) to create “The Kiss.” Guests including Kelly Osbourne, Liberty Ross and Victoria Justice—all clad in looks from Vera Wang’s Fall 2014 and Resort 2015 collections—were among the audience.

The 46-second video takes inspiration from the iconic smooch shared by Cary Grant and Joan Fontaine in the 1941 Alfred Hitchcock classic Suspicion, and stars two unidentified characters in the midst of a passionate encounter. Set in black-and-white, Brambilla utilized flickering frames and visual distortions to create a sense of abstract allure that mimics stop-motion techniques and set it to a romantic, original score composed by New York artist Nicolas Jarr. “The project is at once cinematic, ironic and nostalgic, filmed in a totally contemporary way,” Wang says. “An iconic Hollywood ‘close-up’ in an era of selfies, reality TV, over-exposure and the worship of celebrity culture.”

Produced by Liz Swig of LizWorks, the film made its debut at the boutique on an 8-frame high video wall, meant to represent a strip of 35-millimeter film, and played on a 9-minute long continuous loop with help from video editor Josh Lewis. While Brambilla’s video was on view at the store exclusively on opening night, shoppers are still invited to browse the racks at the new Sawyer Berson-designed boutique housing Wang’s bridal and ready-to-wear collections.

By Megan Meyer

Video by Marco Brambilla for Vera Wang.
Pictured: The new Vera Wang store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills.
Photo by Stefanie Keenan for Getty Images