Football not your thing? So download some fabulous fashion films. Here are some of my favorites. Enjoy!
I was fortunate to see the film Yves Saint Laurent when it was released a couple of years ago. Wow. Put it on your list. Raw, edgy and an incredible film about an incredible genius and the toll such genius took on his life. The French actor Pierre Niney has an uncanny resemblance to Saint Laurent and was fantastic in the role.
The movie included many original dresses and items from the Yves Saint Laurent archives, and the actors were only allowed to wear such pieces for a maximum of two hours a day and could not sit or even go to the bathroom while wearing these original pieces. The film ultimately is the love story between Saint Laurent and his long time romantic and business partner Pierre Berge. Berge recognized Saint Laurent’s genius immediately shortly after Saint Laurent assumed the role of artistic director of Dior at the age of 21 following Dior’s sudden death from a heart attack at 52, and Saint Laurent was initially credited with saving the brand. Saint Laurent, as many people blessed with creative genius are, was tormented throughout his life by bouts of depression and suffered from addition to drugs and alcohol. The film does make one wonder if there would have been a House of Yves Saint Laurent without Pierre Berge. The two discuss this point during the film as well. The couple were together for almost 50 years, on and off romantically, but their business relationship never wavered. According to press reports, they married in a civil union shortly before Saint Laurent’s death on June 1, 2008 from brain cancer.
Here are a few other great fashion films:
- Belle de Jour – Ok, so not a traditional fashion film, rather dark and unnerving. Released in 1967, Catherine Deneuve plays the new wife of a physician living in Paris who is bored. So she becomes a call girl by day, and reverts to her upper class French life at night. But, eventually those two vastly different lives collide. Deneuve was Saint Laurent’s muse and she wore his designs throughout the film. The images of Catherine Deneuve walking around Paris in the tailored sheaths, day coats, croc bags and how fabulous they still look today is not to be missed.
- The September Issue – Released in 2009, this movie chronicles the fashion editors and stylists at Vogue as they put together the largest issue of the year, and provides insight into the working life of Anna Wintour, who is believed to be the inspiration for The Devil Wears Prada (see below). Beyond Anna Wintour, I enjoyed getting to know Grace Coddlington, who really seems to be the backbone of producing Vogue month after month.
- Valentino :The Last Emperor – A beautiful documentary that looks into the life and empire of Valentino Garavani, his business partner for 45 years (and in the beginning lover) Giancarlo Giammetti, and their 6 pugs who make occasional appearances. The film is a real backstage view of their rarefied world. And the fashion isn’t bad either.
- A Single Man – Directed by Tom Ford and released in 2009, this film is based on the novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. The film starts Colin Firth, who won an Oscar for his portrayal of George Falconer, a depressed gay British university professor living in Southern California in 1962. It is a beautiful film and was nominated for and won several awards. And it was directed by Tom Ford, so enough said on the fashion piece.
- The Devil Wears Prada – Supposedly based on someone who worked as an intern/assistant for Anna Wintour, Meryl Streep gives yet another fabulous performance playing the editor or Runway, with Anne Hathaway as her intern, who abhors fashion, but just wants the reference from the Wintour-esque editor and move on to a “real” writing position. Then Hathaway’s character falls into the spell of the fashion. I still love watching this movie from time to time. The fashion is fabulous and the New York and Paris scenery is not so bad either.
Xoxo. Me
