Independent.ie > Lifestyle > Independent Woman > Fashion

This season's must-wear movies...

Chrissie Russell on why fashion and film have always made the perfect couple

Javascript is needed to use most of these tools:

Print
Text size

By Chrissie Russell
Tuesday Jun 23 2009

Precious few divas are happy to share their limelight. A rock star might concede to having a supermodel on his arm and Brad and Angelina know their red carpet appeal is doubled as a couple. But the true A-list pairing has always been fashion and film.

Ever since Audrey Hepburn stepped out as Holly Golightly in a black Givenchy dress and pearls in Breakfast At Tiffany's and Richard Gere pulled on an Armani suit in American Gigolo, it's been clear that glamour plus cinema equals an unbeatable formula -- and a profitable box-office success.

In recent years, we've seen the fashion-led films of The Devil Wears Prada and Sex And The City lapped up by image-conscious audiences. Many women actually turned up to screenings of SATC wearing creations similar to Carrie Bradshaw and co, such was their love of Patricia Field's wardrobe work.

Sensing that a woman's thirst for dresses, shirts and handbags is never done, cinema has thrown up a divine new collection of films unveiled this year which are sure to get label lovers in a frenzy.

The documentary, The September Issue, out this September, follows fashion's snow queen Anna Wintour and team as they compile the 2007 fall edition of Vogue, the world's largest issue of a magazine.

The behind-the-scenes look offers unprecedented access to Vogue's iconic editor-in-chief and how her larger-than-life characteristics created the five-pounds-heavy publication.

Due for release on DVD is another sneak peek at the rulers of fashion in Valentino: The Last Emperor. The film, produced and directed by Vanity Fair's Matt Tyrnaurer, follows Valentino Garavani and his lifelong business partner Giancarlo Giametti in their 2008 exit from the world of fashion, more than 45 years after setting up the stylish Italian label that's clothed everyone from Jackie O to J-Lo.

Bruno, out next month, is a less reverent look at the fashion world with Sacha Baron Cohen's character picking up where Borat left off.

The tongue-in-cheek flick is cut from the same cloth as Zoolander and Pret-A-Porter with Cohen's gay designer romping through catwalks, swingers' parties and anti-gay marriage rallies.

But where film makers have truly rowed the boat out is with Chanel.

Cinema has gone cuckoo for Coco, with not one but two movies on the legendary designer due for release.

The first, Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky, wowed Cannes telling the tale of the designer and the composer's affair in 1920s Paris.

Coco Avant Chanel stars French actress Audrey Tautou as Gabrielle Chanel in the early years as she makes her transition from the occasional cabaret performer to an icon of female fashion.

In both films, wardrobe choices were supported and overseen by Karl Lagerfeld, Chanel's current chief designer. And if the trailers, posters and latest Chanel No 5 ad, starring Tautou, are anything to go by, the sumptuous costumes and lavish attention to detail will blow previous fashion orientated flicks out of the water.

"I think there's always been a real love affair between fashion and film," says Xpose style expert Aisling O'Loughlin.

"People might get sniffy about it but essentially fashion is art and the big screen is one of the best places to appreciate it. Seeing someone's vision displayed on the right body can be stunning."

She adds: "I think that especially now, there's something about that world of glamour that really appeals. People now really appreciate that what someone wears, be it in real life or in a film, really says something about who they are.

"That's why so many women take inspiration from clothes in films, it's not just about capturing a look; it's about buying into an attitude or lifestyle associated with that character."

It may feel like clothes and accessories are increasingly taking centre stage but actually they've long been the best supporting acts if not the main players in film.

For more than 100 years, the world of cinema has launched more looks and trends than Carrie Bradshaw has pairs of Manolos.

Conjure up an image of the little black dress and chances are you're thinking of Hubert de Givenchy's version worn by Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast At Tiffany's.

Sales of undershirts plummeted in 1936 after Clark Gable stripped off his shirt to reveal a bare chest in It Happened One Night.

Hardly anyone had heard of Armani before American Gigolo, and king of classic American cool, Ralph Lauren, only became a household name following the sleek presentation of the rich and the beautiful in 1974's The Great Gatsby.

Instead of looking to the runways of Paris and Milan the public takes its cue from the local multiplex and the designers know their best advertising spring board is on the big screen.

But why the sudden glut of fashion movies? According to film expert Susan Picken, head of Queen's Film Theatre in Belfast, we need look no further than the current economic gloom.

"Part of the appeal is down to escapism," she explains. "With the recession in full swing, there's precious little glamour around at the moment and conspicuous spending looks in bad taste.

"A film like Coco Avant Chanel with lavish production values and gorgeous couture is a real guilty pleasure -- is a chance to indulge in a bygone era. It's a way to still get our glamour fix but without going to the shops for it."

She adds: "It's like the cinematic equivalent of window shopping. People who can't afford all these glamorous clothes can go and bask in their glory for the price of a cinema ticket."

But our fascination with this breed of film is also an opportunity for us to indulge our love of celebrity lifestyle and insider gossip.

"Films about designers and the fashion world offer us access to a particular area of life that we'd otherwise never access," says Susan.

"For a few hours we can be part of the 'in crowd' and see what makes them tick. It's an insight we'd never normally get."

She adds: "Ultimately films are about telling stories and with the fashion industry full of such strong, difficult people -- they are ideal characters for great movies."

- Chrissie Russell