habillees

Usually I don’t use such assertive language in article titles, however that is exactly what needed to be said regarding the newest FULL FRONT FASHION Series on the Sundance Channel, Habillees (“dressed”, which you can watch online). Hosted by French fashion journalist and TV personality Mademoiselle Agnès and directed by by Loïc Prigent (the director of “The Day Before”series and Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton documentary), the series follows Mlle. Agnès on her search for the new American and French design talent, as she attends fashion shows, presentations, award ceremonies, and behind-the-scenes fashion shows. The six-part mini series titled HABILLÉES POUR L’ÉTÉ 2010 (DRESSED UP FOR SUMMER 2010) launched for the U.S. on December 15th, the series show’s the irony, the frenzy, and how small and relatively elitist the fashion industry can be – making it hard for fresh, young talent to break its way in.

Included in the series are interviews with Karl Lagerfeld, Marc Jacobs, Pierre Berge, Phoebe Philo, Alber Elbaz and many more, however even more stunning is the subtlety and beauty found in the shots. The imagery is breathtaking, the closeups and runway footage done exceptionally well, and of course all of the humor, the drama, the story that is fashion, is told well with a heavy French accent, of course. The camera focuses on Riccardo Tisci’s face as the Givenchy collection goes out and down the runway  – priceless! And there is a great scene not to be missed, of Anna Wintour exiting a show and tromping downstairs, onto the next one.

And last, I absolutely cannot pass up sharing some of my favorite quotes from the series:

from Mademoiselle Agnès (on success in the fashion industry): “You must be positive, ambitious, assertive…“

from Nicolas Ghesquiere, Balenciaga  “When you start thinking about it, you have all these ideas, then you organize them, so the ideas are there, but its how you combine them, how they merge and mix that gives you an interesting accomplished idea. You must work out as best as you can that combination of ideas.  A show has three or four themes. They’re always the same , but your approach changes. You use the same ideas,  but you see things differently each time.Nowadays, luxe relies on research but also on women trusting you enough to wear your clothes. Wearing Balenciaga is a choice These clothes aren’t easy to wear. They’re not meant to be easy to wear.“

–Julia DiNardo

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