Five fashion documentaries to watch

We have a few names on our current industry left that carry historically relevant and important weight and influence on the fashion industry and that are still active. John Galliano is one of them. Being regarded as one of the best of his generation, his path to success has not been a regular or constant one; from the highest to the lowest, to climbing back to the top again, the documentary thought by the Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald has John in person, telling a story where the hero and the villain are both himself.

With testimonies of none other than Anna Wintour, Kate Moss, Penélope Cruz, or Naomi Campbell, the film results in an unbiased piece that portrays the light and darkness of a genius without sugarcoating the truth—a redemption story where the spectacular fall gave space to an equally spectacular return. Available at Mubi and Prime Video.

The excuse to not watch as many films and documentaries as we wish is usually “I don't have enough time!” Yeah right, if that’s your way of saying “TikTok has fried my brain and my attention span is no longer than a baby's,” you do you, but with this audiovisual piece there’s no excuse. Twenty minutes hearing white-boy-of-the-year Paul Mescal’s voice narrating the film—need I say more? Sabato de Sarno’s debut at Gucci has been one of the most intriguing in the recent fashion industry. With such an extravagant and pompous empty chair to fill, the world was dying to see what the new man in front of the Italian giant had prepared for us.

Ancora was a great show, and we as strong Sabato stans are no strangers to that; what we do feel strangers to is Sabato himself, being a highly private creator who has given less than a few interviews. In this short documentary, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, the man behind the mask will be unveiled while he and the team prepare for a debut that marked the start of a new era. You can watch it on Mubi.

They don't need an introduction, but maybe for the ones quick to criticise or give unbased opinions, they do need some context. Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Christy Turlington are part of the selected group of models that completely changed the industry and became the face of an era where the girls we saw on the runway began adquiring a voice on their own and gained power to express and fight for what they deserved.

From the first pictures and walks on the highest names of the industry shows, going through the cultural phenomenon that George Michael’s Freedom music video was, to their lives as now mothers, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and forever icons, the group of friends paved the way for the new generations to come, and this story told in four parts directed by Larissa Bills and Roger Ross Williams takes us on their journey, with the four narrating their own lives. Now on Apple TV.

To no one's surprise, everything in fashion is not glamour and sparks; when something shines so bright, the opposite side is darker than what one could imagine. Depending on which side of the internet you are, some years ago you were either sharing aesthetic pictures wearing Brandy Melville's clothes or laughing at the memes of that infamously narrow door, whose alleged purpose was not so funny in reality. Well, the hyper-famous brand shaped an era and a generation of teenagers who, in the rising moments of social media, used the brand as a sign of belonging, coolness, and style.

But what our teenage selves were oblivious about—if we decided to ignore the very evident issues with the sizing of the garments and the clear target they were directed to—is that, of course, evil white men were behind it. Racism, rejection of diversity, child exploitation, environmental damage—this documentary is an eye-opening piece of the fast fashion reality we all know is there but that we willingly decide to ignore. A production available at HBO.

We love learning about successful women, and there are far far far more stories about them than what the mainstream media decides to show us. Diane von Furstenberg is one of those names that you’ve heard for the longest time, that you are aware of the importance they had on the industry but that you are most likely oblivious of the story behind the iconic DvF initials. “I created the wrapped dress, and I wrapped America around,” she says, and in reality, she wrapped the entire world.

In the documentary, Diane shares her story, from how her mother is a Holocaust survivor, how she became a princess after marrying Prince Egon von Fürstenberg, and how she founded her own fashion brand—and how keeping it afloat has been a challenge as big as creating it. With testimonies from family and friends like Oprah Winfrey or Marc Jacobs, we will learn about a woman who was always herself. Watch it now at Disney+.