Coronavirus, coronavirus, coronavirus. Oh my! The World Health Organization recently named the virus a pandemic, which means “a worldwide spread of a new disease.” The U.S. currently has the 8th most confirmed cases of the disease, many public events in the LA area and around the U.S. have been cancelled and Trump named COVID19 a national emergency. March madness has taken on a whole new meaning, chicsters.
Let’s just say that I’m planning to spend WAY more nights in the spirit of social distancing (a direct recommendation from Center for Disease and Control). With that being said, I wanted to find a way of making staying in and healthy more glamorous and fun! Coronavirus avoidance, but make it fashion, amiright? Ahead are my top favorite fashion documentaries to binge while stuck at home (all available via streaming). I highly recommend accessorizing these sumptuous screeners with some rose, candles and a fuzzy robe with a matching towel turban that just screams Sophia Loren!
This film is an intimate portrait of the man who has defined American fashion for men and women. Especially if you’re a film fiend, you’ll appreciate Ralph Lauren’s affinity for 1930s Hollywood suits and western wear, from Eastwood to Astaire.
As you’ll see, his sensibility for wearable fashion extends into many areas of lifestyle and clothing, including women’s wear. As Vanity Fair’s Tina Brown put it best, Lauren loves and respects women in a way that many people in fashion don’t. Such a reverence for us ladies all started with his original muse, his effortlessly stunning wife, Ricky Lauren.
The September Issue is always the most prominent Vogue of the year. Leave it up to the fashion bible to throw together a monthly edition of a biblical length!
If you’ve always wanted to know how the reigning queen of fashion, Anna Wintour puts together this fashion month issue, this is the documentary to watch. Go inside editorial meetings with Wintour at the helm, and soak up her wisdom as she holds a Starbucks coffee in hand.
The First Monday in May (Amazon)
Ah, the Met Gala–fashion’s biggest night out. If you yearn for more Anna Wintour after The September Issue, you’ll appreciate her collaboration with the Costume Institute’s curator, Andrew Rossi as they plan the A-list attended ball planned around their fashion exhibit of the year, China: Through the Looking Glass. The best part of The Met Gala is watching how fashion figures and celebs alike incorporate the theme into their looks for the glamorous evening!
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (Amazon)
Prior to Wintour, Diana Vreeland had her day in the sun as Vogue’s Editor-in-Chief. Go-go inside the ’60s and ’70s pages of Vreeland’s life as the magazine’s decision maker, but be prepared to travel back further than that. The film will transport you to the ’20s and ’30s when Vreeland danced in the streets of London and Paris, held private audience’s with Coco Chanel in her atelier, sold her own line of lingerie (that she sourced from convent-based atelier!) to Wallis Simpson and more of the standout moments that played into Vreeland’s eventual eccentricity and electricity as a tastemaker in the fashion industry.
Seven Days Out – Chanel Couture Episode (Netflix)
Hear straight from the lips of the late designer, Karl Lagerfeld about what it’s like to put together Chanel’s haute couture show within the week leading up it. You’ll even get to go inside the Chanel atelier and watch artisans hard at work, hand sewing the final touches of the Chanel SS18 Haute Couture gowns!
There’s something so human, raw and emotional when the camera is fixed solely on the late Paris Vogue Editor-in-Chief, Franca Sozzani in the back of a town car as her son interviews her. The shaky visual autobiography is peppered throughout with grainy video from the Sozzani’s early life and shocking images of some of Franca’s most controversial Vogue Italia spreads. From those stunning visuals you may come to realize that the fashion world is filled with trailblazers that have a voice not just in the world of style, but on the global stage.
Iris
Fashion doesn’t go out of style at any age, and interior designer and fashion icon, Iris Apfel is living proof. She is still haute, at almost one-hundred years old (98 to be exact), known for her wide-rimmed glasses and colorful clothing concoctions. You’ll be keeping your eyes locked on Iris, because this doc is both visually and topically fascinating!
I have a-Dior-ed Christian Dior ever since Maria Gracia Chiuri became creative director in 2016 but found a deeper love for it after feasting my eyes on stunning Dior editorials from the ‘50s via Pinterest.. This documentary was like watching those stunning designs in motion, looking back at the height of French fashion when Christian Dior the man redefined female fashion post World War II. This throwback is interlaced with the modern tale (well, for the time when the film was made) when then-creative director of Dior, Raf Simmons was putting together his very first Dior haute couture show.
The Gospel According to Andre (Hulu)
This man is larger-than-life, not only because he rocks emperor-style capes at almost seven feet tall, but also due to the fact that he was once the Editor-at-Large of Vogue. Growing up in the Jim Crow era of the deep South, Talley has quite the story to tell–and you may find yourself at the edge of your seat the whole time listening.
Fashion Week Internationale (VICE)
VICE journalist, Charlet Duboc’s “early nonconformist attitude would later prove to be a harbinger for the unconventional, non-Western style of TV that prompted her on-air career: Fashion Week Internationale. Through the series, Duboc travels the world covering the ‘other fashion weeks’ that aren’t the Big Four (New York, London, Milan and Paris).” This excerpt is as per my original piece on Duboc and her VICE doc for Beyond the Interview (shameless plug!).
There are indeed WAY more fashion documentaries I have yet to see, which means you can indeed expect a second installation of this post in the near future. Stay tuned, but most importantly stay healthy!
What are you watching while social distancing this week?
Keeping it Krischic,
Kristin Vartan
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A special thanks to my mother for taking these stunning photos and letting me borrow her gorgeous jewelry! It is always a pleasure to play dress up!
Keeping it Krischic 