The film industry has been a buzz about the fashion industry ever since The Devil Wears Prada wowed audiences in 2006. Since then, a few more fashion oriented films have attracted fashionistas and world premieres within fashion weeks to give them yet another level of exclusivity.

Among the films shown in the past decade (and that I’m aware of that has made significant impact on myself) are of the following:

Signé Chanel (2004) – Documentary about Chanel’s 2004 Haute Couture show, focusing more on Chanel’s legendary seamstresses under Karl Lagerfeld’s direction

The Devil Wears Prada (2006) – Meryl Streep’s performance as tough as nails Miranda Priestly is allegedly based on Anna Wintour’s character at Vogue.

Sex and the City – The Movie (2008) – Dedicated fashion followers have been waiting for years for a cast reunion of this infamous HBO series.

Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008) – Documentary chronicling the life of Valentino Garavani up until his last show that celebrates his 45th anniversary in the business.

Confessions of a Shopaholic (2009) – Comedy film that couldn’t come at a worse timing during the recession. Not particularly insightful, but definitely followed in fashion footsteps.

Coco Avant Chanel (2009) – Biopic of Gabrielle Chanel prior to her ascent in becoming one of the most iconic fashion figures in history.

The September Issue (2009) – Documentary chronicling behind the scenes of Vogue’s 2007 September Issue, their biggest ever, tagging along with Anna Wintour and Grace Coddington.

Upcoming Films

Sex and the City 2 (2010) – The sequel to the first movie, the casting of extras for this movie along had generated huge buzz among fans already. We’re not sure if the 40-50+ cast can whip up the magic a second time on the big screen.

Schmatta: From Rags to Riches to Rags (2010) – HBO documentary about the fall of the New York garment district in 40 years. Garments made in America went from 95% to a mere 5%.

Now there is yet other news that Ridley Scott, famed director of Academy Award winning film Gladiator, is set to film about the Gucci Dynasty. Though there is no official script yet, Variety.com reports that the direction plans on following the tumultuous lives of the Gucci family up until Maurizio Gucci’s death.

Of course these are simply the big budget movie films that I’m announcing. For a more artistic approach towards fashion film, you should definitely check out The Business of Fashion’s Top 10 Fashion Film list of some of the most innovative short films that has happened this past year.

Image credit: Valentino film

Last night I got a sneak preview of The September Issue, the popular documentary that chronicles the making of Vogue’s 2007 September Issue (their biggest ever). I’d say no more than maybe 20-30 people were in attendance for the 7pm show, there was also the 9pm show which others had attended.

Anyhow, without reading much of the reviews about this movie other than it’s praising fanfare, I went in it hoping to get a real glimpse on how things worked at Vogue. What worked in the movie was getting to know other aspects about Anna Wintour, Chief Editor of US Vogue, who was said to be icy and unapproachable. There were many scenes of her being smiley, but not specifically cheery, and plenty of moments of her being very focused on the job. As a boss, I admire her for being able to know what she wants, to see what works and what doesn’t and to be able to edit it down. The downside of that is that very few people will contest her decisions, and Grace Coddington (the magazine’s Creative Director) is seen as Anna’s opposite, yet complimentary colleague who have shared their spots at Vogue for over 20 years. Her moments of true tenderness was towards her daughter, where she finally seemed like a normal person, and that was refreshing.

Also Vogue is not a workplace to waste time nor to look your chicest, you need to be on your toes at all times. And I couldn’t help but feel some familiarity to “The Devil’s Wears Prada“, I mean Miranda Priestly’s office, such a replica of Anna Wintour’s office. Of course there are precious moments of seeing the room stuffed with designer bags, makeup, shoes, and accessories. Oh but to have a zen-like moment to be in that room.

But…

What was unsettling about the movie is how much Anna had so much control over what the designers should do or put out for their collections. Especially at Yves Saint Laurent where Anna didn’t like the monochromatic palette that Stefano Pilati had chosen for the fall season, and it was painful to watch him gesture and smile so falsely to please her. Or how she single-handedly threw a huge soiree for newcomer Thakoon and oversaw which sketches he should submit to his collaboration with The Gap.

Throughout the movie, it made me ask so many questions, why are designers so willing to please her? Why are they so willing to change certain aspects of their designs for her? Is it to court favor from her in order for her to showcase their stuff in her magazine or is it something else?

To Anna’s credit, she was the first to put celebrities as models on the cover of the magazines, and soon many other fashion magazines followed suit. And it is with this courting of the celebrities that Anna continues in order to drive sales to the magazine. Thus explaining the saturated industry of celebrity obsessed culture we’re in today. However, I think this celebrity obsession is about to find its end soon, as the interest of fashion no longer rest on what celebrities wear, but rather what people are wearing in the streets.

The movie is fine for what it was, but the angle of it could’ve been developed a little better. R.J. Cutler, the movie’s director, could’ve focused on how in the world did the 2007 September Issue came to be so big? What made it so big? Why were there so many ads? How were they able to court the advertisers to spend so much for this particular issue? What about the rest of the staff, what was their role in the company? All of it was pretty vague.

In the end though, this movie felt like it was just trying to give some dimensions to Anna Wintour’s persona, but was that really necessary? She’s a business woman and she’s just doing her job. I have much respect for her, and have nothing against her except for her ongoing run with the celebrity stuff, but otherwise the documentary lacked interviews with people who weren’t part of the Vogue workplace. So of course nearly everyone in the movie would praise Anna (except Grace) and it didn’t delve exactly what made the September Issue so important. It was too much of a flattering film, than fulfilling one.

Image credit: The September Issue