Having stamped the name Nina Garcia on the brains of every teenage girl and gay male Project Runway fan in the country, Elle magazine is taking its rampant branding to the next level.

Raving, though it sounds like a documentary about the glow stick-and-pacifier revival, is actually a short film based on a feature story entitled, "The Dress (Shirt, Boots, Jacket, Jewels...) That Changed My Life," from the October '06 issue of, what else, Elle. (Trailer here.) Glamour tried this awhile back with its Elizabeth Arden-, Nokia-, and Bebe-sponsored "Reel Moments," but the Elle film is fully backed by none other than Emporio Armani and debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival in late April and on the Sundance Channel on May 8.

Zooey Deschanel and Bill Irwin star in the tale of a young woman who discovers an Armani dress that helps her achieve her dreams. Irwin, decked in Armani suits, also aids her in her quest for happiness. Did we mention they are wearing Armani? It gets better.

[Full Armani-and-Elle ad/film poster after the jump!]

Not only have Elle and Armani managed to dupe indie film enthusiasts into believing that their super-advertisement somehow passes for fine cinema, the short was directed and written by Julia Stiles, the husky-voiced white girl from Save the Last Dance. To be fair, she did attend Columbia.

Stiles Photo: Getty Images