The Secret World of Haute Couture
25th March 2010
Director: Margaret Kinmonth
Film Synopsis:
This documentary uncovers the anachronistic and surprising fairytale world of haute couture through its players past and present, featuring rarely seen archive from the BBC vaults.
Margy Kinmonth takes a journey from Paris to New York and California to meet some of the characters in this much talked about but little explained pocket of the fashion industry. Haute couture is like a private club, but many of its ageing American customers are dying off now and too few wealthy young women are taking their place to ensure its survival. She discovers how much has changed and surprisingly how much has stayed the same in this story of decadent decline.
Since its heyday after the war the number of fashion houses showing haute couture in Paris has fallen from over a hundred to barely a dozen. Margy Kinmonth’s journey takes in a cross section of fashion houses today, visiting behind the scenes of the two remaining giants Dior and Chanel as they battle it out in the days leading up to the big shows. We are given a rare glimpse of the famous Karl Lagerfeld at work drawing in his studio as well as Dior’s John Galliano, veteran Italian designer Valentino and old French favourite Christian Lacroix. We are treated to vintage archive of the early haute couture shows.
The film follows key haute couture customers as they visit Paris to shop for dresses that can cost up to 100,000 dollars each. Kinmonth asks who are these women and why are they prepared to spend so much money on one dress? There are strict rules for belonging to this exclusive shopping club and we set out to find out what the rules of membership are? And why is it all so hush hush?
Runtime: 60 minutes
Language: English
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