Balenciaga, Dior, Gucci… The greatest fashion houses are constantly telling their stories in series and documentaries. From behind-the-scenes stories to iconic styles, rivalries and moods, couturiers and luxury brands are scripted and explored from a variety of angles. It’s a chance to discover fascinating stories in depth, while appreciating the silhouettes that have shaped fashion today.
Cristóbal Balenciaga
On 19 January, the Disney+ streaming platform unveiled a six-episode mini-series dedicated to the last 30 years of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s career. It is based on one of the few interviews the designer gave, in 1968, and looks back at key themes in his life. From the presentation of his first haute couture collection in 1937 to the conquest of new customers, via the torments of the Second World War and the perfecting of his architectural style, the episodes retrace the designer’s state of mind, his difficulties and a particularly complex era for keeping the business going. And it’s not Coco Chanel, featured in the series, who would have said otherwise. Alberto San Juan plays Cristóbal Balenciaga, while Gemma Whelan plays Times fashion journalist Prudence Glynn.
Becoming Karl Lagerfeld
Book your evening on 7 June. Produced by Gaumont and Jour Premier and broadcast by Disney+, the six-episode mini-series Becoming Karl Lagerfeld, formerly Kaiser Karl, takes us back to the 1970s, from Paris to Monaco and Rome. The synopsis? In 1972, Karl Lagerfeld dreamed of becoming the greatest couturier of his time. At a time when the fashion world was dominated by Yves Saint Laurent, who had created his own fashion house with his partner Pierre Bergé, Karl Lagerfeld perfected his style and did everything in his power to satisfy his desire for success. “Between glamour and clashes of egos, grandiose parties and destructive passions”, as Disney+ puts it, the series is an adaptation of the book Kaiser Karl by Raphaëlle Bacqué. Other leading figures in the world of art include Gabrielle Aghion, founder of the fashion house Chloé, Loulou de La Falaise and Paloma Picasso.
Daniel Brühl will play the couturier. Jacques de Bascher, Karl Lagerfeld’s companion and Yves Saint Laurent’s lover, will be played by Théodore Pellerin. Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé will be played by Arnaud Valois and Alex Lutz.
The New Look
Available on Apple TV since 14 February, the ten-episode series The New Look tells the story of Christian Dior’s rise to fame during the Nazi occupation. As described by the streaming platform, the series tells “how fashion icon Christian Dior and his contemporaries, Coco Chanel, Pierre Balmain and Cristóbal Balenciaga, lived through the horrors of the Second World War and launched modern fashion”.
It’s a chance to rediscover the crème de la couture of the era, with a five-star cast. Ben Mendelsohn is Christian Dior, Maisie Williams plays Catherine Dior, the designer’s sister and muse, Juliette Binoche plays Coco Chanel, Thomas Poitevin plays Pierre Balmain and John Malkovich is Lucien Lelong.
A series on the history of Gucci
We will have to wait a little longer to discover the new series on the history of Gucci, produced by Gaumont and Alcor Film, the production company founded and chaired by Giorgio Gucci. The series will look back at the vision of founder Guccio Gucci, the brand’s first steps in fashion in the 1930s, the role of the designer’s son, businessman Aldo Gucci, in transforming the Italian label into an international empire, and finally, the establishment of the House’s codes.
This new film about the House of Gucci follows on from the film House of Gucci, released in 2021, whose cast included Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto and Salma Hayek. The Gucci family did not like the film, and intends to reveal its own version.
High & Low: John Galliano
The unscripted documentary High & Low: John Galliano, directed by Kevin Macdonald, explores the meteoric rise of designer John Galliano. Galliano quickly moved on to Givenchy, before joining Dior in the late 90s for over a decade, taking the fashion house to the pinnacle with his spectacular catwalk shows and daring, provocative collections.
But it’s hard to talk about the colourful career of the subversive John Galliano without mentioning the setbacks and addictions that led to his downfall. The designer, who has now risen from the ashes at Maison Margiela, is told from a number of different angles, using archive footage to highlight his art, his personality and the people who witnessed his life, including Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Penelope Cruz, Anna Wintour and Alexander McQueen.
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Featured photo : © Disney +
