We could blame “The Devil Wears Prada” or the unprecedented financial constraint of Vogue’s publisher Conde Nast. We could blame High Street retailers, or fashion blogs, or while we’re at it the internet in general. Whatever the reason, and I’m sure there’s many more, the once insular fashion industry finally feels democratic.
The iron tulle has been lifted and surprise, surprise, the preening gatekeepers are just like us. Granted they’re more fabulous, talented and slightly ridiculous version of ourselves – but they’re flesh and blood nonetheless. Nowhere is this normalization of high fashion more apparent than the recent spate of couture-related documentaries and profiles. The most obvious example is Ron Cutler’s The September Issue but we can also count Anna Wintour’s Letterman appearance, Wintour’s 60 Minutes feature, CNN’s Carine Roitfeld profile and Lagerfeld Confidential as contributing factors.
Staying on-trend (in vague fashion parlance) The Sundance Channel’s “The Day Before” shows viewers the delirious 24 hours before a fashion show by following Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi, Sonia and Nathalie Rykiel, Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez for Proenza Schouler and Jean Paul Gaultier. As expected, the 24 hours before a fashion show is stressful, manic and probably bad for your health. It does however, also look ridiculously fun.
Via Sundance Channel
