13 Must Watch Fashion Films

Novelty and popularity, recognition of society and excellent taste, special “chips” and cult are integral companions of both fashion and cinema. Noticed how  the work of the designer and filmmaker is similar?

Among the many movies, one way or another connected with the fashion industry, we will talk about the most interesting feature films.

There are some films you simply have to see.

1. The Devil Wears Prada

Life throws a few not-so-fashionable curveballs at our main protagonist Andrea (Anne Hathaway) who takes an assistant role “a million girls would kill for” with the iconic magazine editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep), a role allegedly inspired by Vogue editrix Anna Wintour. Since its debut, The Devil Wears Prada has become the quintessential fashion flick for our generation, and no list of fashion films would be complete without this Meryl Streep beauty.

2. Funny Face

We’re throwing it back to 1957 with this Audrey Hepburn musical, a must-see for any fashion fan. Audrey plays a bookshop clerk named Jo who is discovered by photographer Dick Avery (played by Fred Astaire and based on famous fashion photog Richard Avedon) and becomes a modeling sensation for Quality magazine. Despite her misgivings about the fashion world, Jo flies to Paris with Dick and finds both herself and a true love. It’s absolutely breathtaking to watch Audrey flit about Paris in stunning costumes by Givenchy, but we also love her iconic bookshop uniform of black cigarette pants and a turtleneck.

3. Coco Avant Chanel

*Amelie * star Audrey Tautou plays the young designer Gabrielle Chanel in this biopic about Chanel’s early years as a young seamstress. Did you know her boyish silhouettes that went on to revolutionize women’s fashion in the 1920s were inspired by her boyfriend’s clothes?

4.BLOW UP (1966)

Antinioni’s cult masterpiece follows a fashion photographer who accidentally captures a bloody murder on film while shooting in a London park. The ’60s costumes are brilliant, Vanessa Redgrave makes for the ultimate mod-era supermodel, and Jane Birkin cameos as ‘The Brunette’. Perfection.

5. The September Issue

Want to know what goes on at our big sister *Vogue * when they’re creating the gigantic fashion bible we call the September Issue? This documentary takes you through the doors of the offices and gives you full access to Anna Wintour, Grace Coddington, and those glorious, glorious clothes.

6. Dior et Moi

This documentary brings you in the world of Christian Dior, with its behind-the-scenes approach of Raf Simons’ first haute couture collection as its new artistic director.

Simons took over Dior in 2012, after the previous artistic director, John Galliano was publicly fired from his post after a series of anti-semitic remarks were released. Simons manages to create an astonishing collection which would normally take about 6 months of craftmanship in just 8 weeks. Although he exposed innovative prints, Simons stayed true to Dior’s legacy and history.

7. Yves Saint Laurent and Saint Laurent

Famous fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent was the subject of two biopics in 2014, Yves Saint Laurent and Saint Laurent. Both films chronicled the career of the icon, who died in 2008, as he rose from the house of Dior to start his own massively successful line and began a passionate, long-lasting relationship with his partner Pierre Bergé.

Laurent was just 21 when he took over as head designer of the House of Dior in 1957. The Yves Saint Laurent movie was the only one of the two to be supported by Bergé, but both have their moments of beauty and inspiration.

8. Ocean’s 8

The forthcoming Ocean’s 8, starring Sandra Bullock, Rihanna, Sarah Paulson, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, and many other badass women, is about a jewel heist — not exactly a fashion movie, per se, but the heist itself takes place at Fashion Prom, aka the Met Gala, so we’re counting it. Where else but the Met Gala would a celebrity wear a $150 million necklace anyway? Fashion luminaries such as Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Alexander Wang, Kim Kardashian West, Kendall Jenner, Kylie Jenner, and Serena Williams all have cameos in the movie, which hits theaters on June 8. We’re pretty sure there will be more than a few gorgeous dresses to drool over — not to mention the jewels.

9. SEX AND THE CITY (2008)

The Vivienne Westwood wedding dress, the bridal couture photo shoot, the fashion week appearance, the Manolo Blahnik’s… Sex and the City’s Hollywood spin-off may not be as good as the HBO series, but it certainly holds it’s own in the fashion stakes; thank Patricia Field.

10. A SIMPLE FAVOUR (2018)

Although it didn’t exactly attract rave reviews, A Simple Favour was a fashion tour de force thanks to Blake Lively’s character, a troubled fashion industry employee who dresses exclusively in three-piece power suits inspired by the film’s director, Paul Feig, who wears suits even on his days off. Lively embraced the film’s aesthetic for the press tour, donning a series of candy-coloured menswear looks.

11. THE GREAT GATSBY (2013)

Catherine Martin rallied her many fashion industry contacts to pull off the husband Baz Luhrmann’s behemoth adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic novel. Brooks Brother supplied 1,200 suits, Miuccia Prada designed 40 dresses and Tiffany & Co. designed the diamond ’20s-era headpieces worn by Carey Mulligan’s Daisy. It all makes for one of the most stylish films to ever come out of Australia.

12. Bill Cunningham New York (2011)

This documentary is about the extraordinary street-fashion photographer, Bill Cunningham. He looks for what Harold Koda, chief curator at the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, describes in the film as “ordinary people going about their lives, dressed in fascinating ways.”

This is a portrait of a man who has spent over 30 years of his life riding his bicycle around New York City, in order to capture fashion trends for his columns in the Sunday Times.

13. BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S (1961)

We will end our list of films about the fashion world with the next  movie.  In all of cinematic history, is there a single outfit more iconic than Audrey Hepburn, the black gown, the diamond necklace and the velvet gloves? If so, we’re yet to find it. Holly Golightly is a style icon for the ages.