Hearts and crafts

Hermes has produced a documentary on its artisans called Hearts and Crafts.  It's beautifully done.  You can watch it here.

The Fashion Fund

One series I've been enjoying is The Fashion Fund, which is a documentary on the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund.  You can watch it for free on Hulu here.  The Fund is a joint venture between the CFDA and Vogue Magazine (US).  They nominate a handful of finalists who then compete for a substantial cash prize and a mentorship, judged by a panel of industry insiders, including of course, Anna Wintour.  

The first recipients were Proenza Schouler, and I was working there when they received it.  Their progression through the rounds of the competition was documented in the film, Seamless, which I have previously mentioned.

You can view a clip of The Fashion Fund below.

Seamless

A while ago I rewatched Seamless, a fashion documentary by Douglas Keeve.  Unfortunately, I can't find a trailer on the internets, but it's viewable on NetFlix.  Keeve also made the fashion documentary Unzipped, on Isaac Mizrahi in his heyday. (It's a bit frightening how quickly designers can go from hot to lukewarm).

The documentary covers the first CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund competition, focusing mainly on nominated designers Proenza Schouler, Doori Chung, and Alexander Plokhov of the now defunct label Cloak. (Plokhov recently launched his eponymous label after designing for several seasons for the Versace Homme label).

The film was made while I was working at Proenza; I make a brief cameo in the film where the production manager Weronika and I were quality checking in the background while Keeve was filming the designers.  Proenza Schouler ended up ultimately winning the award, and I felt a little nostalgic watching the film, remembering working in the Chinatown loft and the process of filming, getting the text from Weronika when she found out we had won.

Despite the lackluster rating on IMDb, I think the film is worth watching as a designer.  It highlights how difficult it is to make it in this business.  It was also interesting to see what had happened to the labels that were included in the documentary.  Proenza Schouler, although still a darling in the fashion industry, seems to still have difficulty actually turning a profit, despite its steady expansion.  I was told recently that Doori is funded by an Indian backer (and is likely to see a bump in her sales since MObama recently wore this gown):

Cloak shuttered in 2007 and as I mentioned, Plokhov ended up at Versace before making his recent comeback.

Also included was the denim label, Habitual. Several months ago, I interviewed with Michael and Nicole Colovos, who founded Habitual, but have since moved on to be the creative directors at the new Helmut Lang, now owned by Theory, and minus the designer himself.

At one point in the documentary, New York Times fashion critic Cathy Horyn says that it takes twenty years to establish a successful fashion label, and that quote really struck me.  She goes on to say that when a designer makes it though, they make it big, and then they show footage of Valentino's ridiculous palatial digs.  I'm not sure how easy it is to establish that sort of fashion empire any more given the current state of the economy, although Alexander Wang seems to be on his way there.  But it takes time to establish a brand and get to a point where your sales are big enough to offset the expenses incurred in building an iconic brand.

Documentaries!

Thanks to Netflix, I've been watching some documentaries over the past few weeks.  I thought I'd give a little review of each of them (because I know you care).  Three were fashion-related, the other two were not.


Lagerfeld Confidential


This movie is about getting to know Karl Lagerfeld -- his iPod collection, his crazy soundbites, his casual attitude about work and his prolificness.  It's less about fashion, and for me, it was less interesting than watching the Chanel documentary I mentioned in a previous post, which had more of an insight into the creative process.  However, he is definitely an interesting personality.  His blase attitude about fashion and life in general has always intrigued me.

Valentino: The Last Emperor

This movie follows Valentino around in the last few years before his eventual retirement.  The movie revolved around the big retrospective they did.  What I liked about the movie was that it prominently featured his longtime partner Giancarlo Giammetti, who has quietly worked behind the scenes to build Valentino's empire.  There wasn't much about the creative process, and Valentino comes across as a brat, but the moments that highlighted their relationship, like when Valentino thanked Giammetti in his acceptance speech for the Legion d'Honneur, were poignant.

Justin Bieber: Never Say Never

I'm no Belieber, although I can't help liking the song "Baby," (which was written by the guy who produced Beyonce's Single Ladies, and Rihanna's Umbrella) but I wanted to watch this movie.  Firstly, Justin Bieber's fans are notoriously loyal and rabid, and I was intrigued by how this kid became a success through YouTube.  It was interesting to watch his development, starting as a toddler who sang on home videos, to recording covers on YouTube, to singing at local venues and festivals, to finally becoming one of the biggest pop stars today.  They showed him playing drums as an 8-year-old, and I have to admit, the kid is really talented.  I was also impressed by how much he loves his fans and doesn't want to let them down (like when he was sick and had to reschedule a couple of concerts), and how hard the kid works.  He is probably going to be around for a while.

Viktor & Rolf: Because We're Worth It!

I actually found this movie pretty boring, maybe because I'm not that big a fan of Viktor & Rolf to begin with, but probably also because they're not that interesting on camera.  The movie centers on the launch of their fragrance Flowerbomb, and follows them around as they work on getting things ready and doing other projects, like designing eyewear for a Japanese company.  Their work is avant garde so it was interesting to see them get some of their outfits ready for their show, but otherwise blah.

Good Hair

This movie was entertaining and informative.  Chris Rock is a good host, and it was interesting to see the lengths black women will go to to get "good" hair.  Rock also touches on issues of race and how black women view themselves through interviews of black celebrities.  The movie revolves around an annual hair competition and follows a few different stylists and their preparations for this crazy competition.