Vanity Fair's Fashion in Film

While many of us are putting our proverbial whites away after Labor Day and closing the lid on summer, New York prepares for Mercedes Benz Fashion Week and the preview of the spring/summer 2012 line. Ending the week of the latest must-haves on the runway, celebrity spotting, see and be seen parties and continental-style air kisses will be Vanity Fair's Fashion in Film event. 


VF partnered with the Lincoln Center Film Society and co-creator Simon Doonan, creative ambassador at large of Barneys New York (now there's a title) for a series of weekend long screenings, panel discussions and receptions at NYC's Museum of Art and Design (MAD). The events take place September 9th through the 11th with a rather varied list of fashion related films. The Eyes of Laura Mars (1978), a psycho thriller about a fashion photographer and her visions of things to come, stars Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones (along with a Streisand soundtrack -- did I mention boyfriend Jon Peters was the producer?). The film has lots of fashion shoots, Dunaway in her seventies best, the bygone era of Studio 54 and a twist ending.  

Dunaway and camera in The Eyes of Laura Mars

Fashion shoot 

Qui êtes vous, Polly Maggoo? (that would be Who Are You Polly Magoo? for the French challenged) was quite the cult sensation in the sixties. The docu/fiction satire tells the tale of an American girl in Paris pursued by a television producer and Prince Charming. The film marks the first for William Klein, a controversial Vogue fashion photographer who was known for his subversive and experimental shots. Filmed in black and white, Magoo is a wonderful send up of the fashion industry, pretensions and all. Even Diana Vreeland can't escape unscathed. 

60s model Dorothy McGowan as Miss Maggoo

Other films include The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964), 1972's X, Y and Zee (with an all star cast of Michael Caine, Elizabeth Taylor and Susannah York) and Russ Meyer's exploitation flick Faster, Pussycat. Kill!...Kill! (1965). And yes, you read the last one correctly. 


Perhaps the most interesting will be Hearts and Crafts, a documentary  that chronicles the behind the scenes action at Hermes. If you can't get to the show, the doc will run on The Sundance Channel on Sunday, September 10th at 7pm EST. It doesn't get any better in life than an Hermes scarf (what can I say, some people collect art, I collect scarves) and I can't wait to learn about the artists who make it happen. 

Artisans at work

Grand Manege Design

Catherine Deneuve in The Umbrellas of Cherbourg

Elizabeth Taylor and Susannah York in X, Y and Zee

Taylor and Michael Caine

The Vanity Fair Fashion in Film Schedule:


Friday, September 9th
8:30 p.m. Qui Êtes-Vous, Polly Magoo?, with introduction by Simon Doonan

Saturday, September 10th
Vanity Fair “Fashion in Film” Lounge, open to the public 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
3 p.m. X, Y, and Zee
5 p.m. Hearts and Crafts
7 p.m. Umbrellas of Cherbourg, presented by L’Oréal Paris, followed by reception in “Fashion in Film” lounge
9 p.m. Eyes of Laura Mars

Sunday, September 11th
Vanity Fair “Fashion in Film” Lounge, open to the public 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
3 p.m. “Spotlight on Innovation: Creative Inspiration from Cinema” panel discussion presented by BMW, moderated by Simon Doonan, and followed by reception in “Fashion in Film” lounge
5 p.m. Diva
7 p.m. Rick, Michele and Scarlett (Rick Owens Documentary)
9 p.m. Faster Pussycat, Kill! … Kill!


Photo Credits: Vanity Fair, Hermes, Sundance Channel, Criterion, Columbia Pictures, Parc Film