Fashion: From runways to the screen and now onstage

It’s no surprise that one of the first designer biopics, Coco Before Chanel, premiered in Paris, the birthplace of the runway. The film, starring Audrey Tautou, was released in 2009 and was received with warm reviews. The movies’s pleasant pace and aesthetically pleasing visuals provide viewers with a charming yet realistic adaptation. In 2014, two more French-produced biopics reached the screen, highlighting the life and designs of Yves Saint Laurent. Yves Saint Laurent starring Pierre Niney, and Saint Laurent, starring Gaspard Ulliel, earned a combined 16 César nominations for their captivating interpretations.

In Hollywood, the fashion flicks trend has recently come back in style. In 2021, Netflix produced the series Halston, the story of the iconic American designer played by Ewan McGregor or House of Gucci, produced by MGM and directed by Ridley Scott with Lady Gaga and Adam Driver. In 2022, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris brought Dior's creations to the screen, and Jared Leto announced his upcoming biopic role as Karl Lagerfeld. Projecting such stories on the silver screen has offered audiences a window into the fascinating lives of fashion designers and their equally interesting creative processes. In 2023, we will see how this insight translates to the performing arts as designers’ stories advance from the screen to the stage.

Fashion designers have long had ties to the performing arts through costume creation and patronage. French designer Christian Lacroix’s costumes appeared recently onstage at the Los Angeles Opera in “The Marriage of Figaro”, while the étoiles of the Paris Opera Ballet wear Chanel tutus during the opera house’s annual galas. But recently, it’s not just the creations of such illustrious figures that are in the spotlight, but their narratives as well.