Runway Hits: How Fashion Has Inspired Modern Film & TV
From biopics of iconic designers to a thrilling series set in the golden age of haute couture, TV is increasingly looking to the history of fashion for inspiration.
While fashion is often a topic of conversation on red carpets, the threads between fashion and TV are growing ever more intertwined. A new crop of fashion-centred shows, both fictional and documentary, is blooming this spring on streaming platforms.
In 2019, Netflix released the documentary Wonder Boy, which featured the life of Olivier Rousteing, creative director of Balmain, followed by Ryan Murphy’s miniseries Halston—in which the designer is played by Ewan McGregor—in 2021. A more comprehensive look at fashion’s golden age can be found in the 2022 documentary series Kingdom of Dreams, a Sky TV original based on the book Deluxe: How Luxury Lost its Lustre by Dana Thomas. The four-part series centres on pivotal creative directors of the ‘90s and noughties—John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Marc Jacobs, and Tom Ford—whose work with luxury conglomerates like LVMH and Kering catapulted fashion into the multi-billion dollar industry it is today. With exclusive interviews and heretofore unseen archival footage, the series chronicles this era’s glorious, once-in-a-lifetime creativity—and its tremendous cost.
Though not explicitly a fashion doc, Blitzed: The ‘80s Blitz Kid Story, now streaming on Apple TV, tells the story of small London club, The Blitz, which became a hub for a defining post-punk movement in 1980s London: the New Romantics. With interviews from Boy George, Michele Clapton, Steven Jones, Andy Polaris, and more, the documentary paints a picture of London during this era, in a club where St. Martins fashion students—among them John Galliano—congregated to listen to music by Siouxsie and the Banshees, Kraftwerk, and David Bowie.
Apple TV is producing The New Look, a thriller-drama that takes place in Paris during the decade following World War II. The series chronicles Christian Dior’s reign as king of haute couture, and his subsequent rivalry with fellow designer Coco Chanel. The series will feature award-winning actors Ben Mendelsohn and Juliette Binoche as Dior and Chanel, as well as Game of Thrones actor and rising style star Maisie Williams. Viewers can also expect stories of Dior and Chanel’s designer contemporaries such as Pierre Balmain, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Yves Saint Laurent, and Cristóbal Balenciaga (about whom Disney+ is separately working on a six-part biopic, which will be the platform’s first original Spanish-language scripted series).
Also coming soon to Disney+ is Kaiser Karl, a biographical series on the life and legacy of designer and cultural juggernaut Karl Lagerfeld. Based on Lagerfeld’s biography of the same name by Raphaëlle Bacqué, the series—starring Jared Leto as the acclaimed designer—will be shot in France, and will trace Lagerfeld’s journey from his early years in the ‘70s Paris fashion scene to his ascendancy as a global icon. It will also explore his rivalry with Yves Saint Laurent’s business partner Pierre Bergé, and his romance with socialite Jacques de Bascher.
