Why so many designer docs are in fashion
At Oscar de la Renta, fashion shows are out and documentary films are in. After decades of runway shows in New York, the brand is trying something new. In August, the brand released a documentary, “A Sense of Beauty," following co-creative directors Laura Kim and Fernando Garcia as they complete their pre-fall 2024 collection.
Episodes show the designers at work in their Midtown Manhattan office, visiting a painter’s Brooklyn studio and observing the work at an embroidery and hand-beading factory in India. The documentary, which is available on YouTube, offers an alternative to the industry-standard runway show. “As we think about how we engage with customers, it seemed to me this documentary was a great way to do it," said CEO Alex Bolen.
It’s also the latest addition to a ballooning genre of nonfiction fashion films. Director R.J. Cutler’s 2009 glimpse behind the scenes at Vogue magazine, “The September Issue," kicked off the trend of fashion documentaries, which has accelerated in recent years.
There was last year’s multipart docuseries “The Super Models," about Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista and Christy Turlington, and “Invisible Beauty," which explored the career of model and activist Bethann Hardison. Designers Diane von Furstenberg and John Galliano also recently got the documentary treatment. “Fashion is a multibillion-dollar industry, so it’s a no-brainer that there would be content based on it," said Fabiola Beracasa Beckman, a producer of “The First Monday in May," about the creation of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “China: Through the Looking Glass" exhibition in 2015 and more recently, “Diane Von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge," released in June.
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