Peppered with a slew of fashion heavy hitters, who in recent years have become as famous as the well-heeled clients whom they dress, Mademoiselle C is a chic, fast-paced glimpse into the same aspirational world explored in docs like The September Issue and Valentino: The Last Emperor. Unlike those other films however, this one has the imitable Carine Roitfeld, Tom Ford collaborator and muse, one-time editor of French Vogue, and undisputed queen of all things enviably Parisian, at its center. Though not as well known in this country as in her native France, a fact that might prevent Mademoiselle C from being as widely seen as Anna Wintour’s documentary, director Fabien Constant’s movie is a fascinating and stylish tribute to a woman who like her idol, Coco Chanel, inspires admiration and envy in nearly everyone she meets.
When Carine Roitfeld began working with designer, Tom Ford, at Gucci in the mid 90’s, the once luxurious Italian fashion house was nothing more than a static shadow of its former self. Together, the visionary pair revolutionized the brand’s clothes and image, introducing a brazen, carnal sexuality that instantly modernized the label, allowing Gucci to become the sleek, slightly dangerous, undoubtedly A-list company that it is today. Soon after, Roitfeld was asked to bring her inextinguishable passion and unique eye to French Vogue, where she spent the aughts turning that magazine into the eponymous bible of modern Parisian style.
As Mademoiselle C begins, Ms. Roitfeld is in the process of starting a new venture: a biannual glossy, appropriately titled, CR, which is proving to be one of the most challenging endeavors of her life (even more so than raising her two stunning children). Luckily however, she thrives on navigating difficult, chaotic waters, and filmmaker Fabien Constant has no problem keeping up with her. That’s because the gifted director and producer of several docs about the fashion industry, including 2007’s Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton is no stranger to Roitfeld’s world. Equipped with a visual esthetic that is as undeniably chic as his subject’s, he travels the globe with her, reveling in her insightful pearls of wisdom, the visionary photo shoots that she routinely oversees, and of course, the A-list parties and fashion shows that are her daily bread.
It’s impressive to behold this woman in her element, because it’s when creating her influential aesthetic that Carine truly shines brightest. Sure she moves only in the most gilded of circles, but at her heart, the stylish Parisian is a passionate artist concerned much more with finding her next inspiration than with counting party invitations or collecting A-list friends. Thus, in an industry often chided for its fickleness and superficiality, she stands apart as a consistently indispensable creative force.
Carine Roitfeld might not be as well known Stateside as Diana Vreeland, or Liz Tilberis, or Anna Wintour, yet she is every bit as gifted and dynamic as any who have risen to fashion’s forefront; a fact that the gorgeous Mademoiselle C never lets us forget.
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