5 fashion documentaries everyone should watch
Philosophy of life with Yohji Yamamoto through the eyes of Wim Wenders, a dramatic spectacle with Yves Saint-Laurent, wisdom from Ralph Lauren, and more!
Like many, I tuned in for the Super Bowl over the weekend and now I don’t feel so good.
Honestly, at this point it’s not even about the actual sport for me anymore, I’m watching it for the cultural point of view. Commercials, the halftime show, and the other mini-cultural moments in between tell a much more exciting story. Tapping into this helps me understand where we are at culturally and where we might be heading next. After reviewing what I saw last night though, I’m not entirely sure I’m liking where we're heading next.
Bad Bunny’s halftime show was important and needed, but what’s up with him wearing full Zara on stage? Don’t even get me started on the AI commercials themed around surveillance, drug loss, and gambling. Where are the classic beer and dodge truck commercials? What’s up with all of these low quality commercials that feel 10 years behind?
Now the thing is, I live in Canada, and although many would consider our media to be absolutely mid, maybe it’s better this way. The content over in the states is on some different sh*t right now, and I’m glad I am not exposed to these topics every single day.
Anyway, an uneasy feeling came over me when I was watching the Super Bowl, so I decided that I needed to watch something else to get my mind off the dark reality of the future.
I needed to do a complete 180 to bring me back up so I ended up watching a familiar documentary, Dior and I (2015). Although many of these fashion docs have their own essense of stress, there is something captivating about an in depth look at how brands and designers work within the fashion industry. The doc follows Raf’s first season at Dior, where he only had 8 weeks to create an entire haute couture collection. We get to see the emotions, the tense moments, and the ultimate reward of what it takes to execute something of this caliber.
Even though it was a documentary I’ve seen lots of times, it still remains exciting and inspiring. A great documentary you should watch it if you haven’t already, and if you have you should rewatch it anyway.
One of the inspirations I got from rewatching it was to write today’s letter about fashion documentaries that leave you creatively curious and excited. Although today’s list has been made a thousand times, mine is about how these documentaries had left me feeling creatively curious and excited in my own way, and maybe they will do that for you too.
NOTEBOOK ON CITIES AND CLOTHES (1998)
I naturally stumbled across Wim Wenders after Paris, Texas and Perfect Days. During a deep dive on Wenders’ work I found out that he was good friends with Yohji Yamamoto, and he had made his own documentary exploring Yohji’s design and life philosophy, Notebook on Cities and Clothes.
Exceptional doc filled with little moments that make you better understand Yohji as a designer and individual—even though you can argue that Yohji isn’t someone you can truly understand. This doc helps though.
One moment specifically that really inspired me was Yohji’s process for creating the signage for his store in Aoyama, Tokyo. I watched this before stumbling upon that same Yohji store on my last trip to Japan, so it was a very special getting to see the sign in person afterwards—if you’re in the area definitely recommend stopping by!
Available to watch on Vimeo for free here.
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MARC JACOBS & LOUIS VUITTON (2007)
I feel like people are forgetting that Marc Jacobs is literally him. This documentary is a good reminder of that. Filmed by the iconic Loïc Prigent, who follows Marc at Louis Vuitton, which at the time was pretty difficult to get a camera behind closed doors of Louis. A great captured moment in time that leaves me inspired in my own way each time I watch this one.
You can watch Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton on youtube here.
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ (2017)
A very important documentary that should be at the top of your list if you’re an aspiring fashion journalist or just enjoy fashion in general. André Leon Talley was the fashion editor, journalist, and the former creative director and editor of Vogue. He broke barriers, opened doors, and influenced an entire generation of fashion journalists that followed him.
His influence should be spoken about more, and watching this documentary is a good way we can continue to do so. The Gospel According To André goes through his childhood, and ultimately tells the story of how he became one of the most influential figures in the fashion world.
Available to watch on a streaming platform near you.
CELEBRATION (2007)
Can’t recommend this one enough. It’s crazy good. While this is a documentary, I would go even further and call it a drama. I don’t want to give away too much aside from expect extremely high tensions as you dive into Yves Saint-Laurent’s final show. It’s short but it has absolutely incredible story telling.
My friend put me on this one a while back, and the night of we tried to see if we could watch it we ended up finding a youtube link that someone had uploaded an hour before we searched. It felt weird for a second but if as though it was written for us to enjoy it in full HD before it was swiftly taken down. Watched it again recently through mubi though and it’s just as good if not better the second time around.
VERY RALPH (2019)
Do I even need to say anything about this one? Ralph Lauren is the GOAT. This is a documentary that deserves multiple watches as you will walk away with new aspirations, guaranteed. Plus, I think that there’s a definitive reignited interest around Ralph Lauren right now, so why not brush up and remind ourselves what one of the best is all about?
You can watch Very Ralph at the one of the one thousand streaming services that are out there.
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