Giorgio Armani isn’t the sort to cancel a show last minute. And yet, at the onset of coronavirus, that’s exactly what the famed Italian designer did last season in Milan, choosing instead to live stream the new (and really quite lovely) collection “in front of an empty teatro”.
Much of the industry followed suit. Luxury conglomerate LVMH changed tack for the war effort, admirably producing hand sanitiser instead of ambrosial scents. With menswear month set to kick off in June, it seems likely that the fashion calendar has taken an extended leave of absence.
But fear not. While your eyes may be starved of new collections for the foreseeable (or, at least, new collections presented to a celeb-packed front row) there’s plenty of fashion to be enjoyed on the four corners of your screen: in documentaries, and films, in cult classics and, really, any sort of production that takes a modicum of pride in its appearance. These are some of the favourites.
You can watch Raf Simons’ tricky year at Dior. There’s an ode to the genius of Lee McQueen. There’s an exploration of the origins of vogue ballrooms. Withering glares from steely fashion editors; Ben Stiller being really, really, ridiculously good-looking; even a look into the organisation of the Met Gala, which has now been placed on ice, too.
So buckle up (sunglasses on, naturally), and slip into your finest loafers to watch the best fashion films ever made. Mr Armani is likely doing the same.
THE GREAT GATSBY (2013)
“They’re such beautiful shirts,” the spineless Daisy Buchanan sobs in The Great Gatsby, F Scott Fitzgerald’s seminal depiction of the Roaring Twenties. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such – such beautiful shirts before.”
And frankly, Daisy, nor have we, as Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 adaptation wardrobed deceit and despair in fine silks, ostentatious suits and borderline fancy dress. Costume designer Catherine Martin even enlisted the help of Miuccia Prada to dress Jay Gatsby’s world, making a truly rotten crowd look anything but.McQUEEN (2018)
Filmed in tandem (and with the blessing of) the designer’s nearest and dearest, McQueen brings an objective lens to the designer’s life and career, from his guerrilla, DIY operation in London, to the creative directorship of Givenchy, to his well-publicised battle against drugs, demons and grief.
The result is almost two hours of never-before-seen footage in which we’re given the clearest, starkest illustration not of Alexander McQueen the designer, but Lee: the man who razed the fashion establishment to the ground, and left a footprint fossil of genius and personality forever in its place.
PARIS IS BURNING (1990)
Without ballroom, there’d be no house music, no RuPaul’s Drag Race, no infamous clips of Rihanna posing at the Mugler Ball.
B-list celebrity dance competition this is not, though. Paris Is Burning, a fringe 1990 documentary that now paddles in the mainstream, gives light to the world of Harlem ballroom: a rare safe space for LGBTQ+ people of colour to strut, perform and dance in competitions that see coteries of gangs with names like the House of Balenciaga and the House of Saint Laurent go head-to-head against a thumping soundtrack of part-rap, part-techno. And, though many of the stars depicted in Paris Is Burning are no longer with us, this landmark documentary ensures their memory flares on.
FRESH DRESSED (2015)
Though once alienated from high fashion at large, hip-hop and street culture is now one of its supporting pillars. And in Fresh Dressed, the likes of Kanye West and Pharrell discuss the ways in which their canon has influenced the world beyond Brooklyn, Chicago and the West Coast.
“Being fresh is more important than having money,” West tell us. “The entire time I grew up, I only wanted money so I can be fresh. He then recounts how he sees himself following in a long-standing tradition, emulating forefathers like Junior M.A.F.I.A, Grandmaster Flash and the Sugarhill Gang – the sort of trailblazers that Fresh Dressed sweetly and succinctly pays tribute to.
LESS THAN ZERO (1987)
Bret Easton Ellis’s debut novel was made for the big screen. And though 1987’s Less Than Zero has its detractors, the film all-but defines the Eighties aesthetic: generously-shouldered suits, ultra-masculine silhouettes and mops of flawlessly styled sweepbacks, on a young and lost Robert Downey Jr and a menacing James Spader.
Not a pleasant watch, sure, which is unsurprising given Easton Ellis’ appetite for darkness. But for a faithful look at the razor-sharp style of Reagan’s America, Less Than Zero is an excellent research platform.
