Surreal, glamorous, possibly the epitome of hedonism, the fashion industry has never been looked at in such depth as in director Douglas Keeve's documentary "Unzipped," a portrait of fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi.
"Unzipped" follows Mizrahi on a journey from his disastrous spring 1994 collection until the day after his well received fall collection at New York City's Bryant Park. The film offers a unique perspective on the industry that, for all of Robert Altman's creative ability, he could not possibly have achieved in a fictional piece such as "Ready to Wear." Keeve, known to be romantically involved with Mizrahi during filming, does a fantastic job of using the industry as a mechanism to delve into Mizrahi's personal and professional fronts: the masks he wears.
Missing from the film is a look at Mizrahi as a person but in its 76 minute duration, the film draws a nice portrayal of Mizrahi as an artist, creator, and businessman. In one precious scene, Mizrahi merely suggests erecting a see-through scrim behind which the models will change during the show. Some models reject the show flat-out while others accept, but all refuse to strip in front of the audience. Mizrahi then turns to his assistant and bitingly states: "I don't give a s--, they're going to do it." When the day of the show arrives, Mizrahi has erected the scrim of his dreams.
"Unzipped" features a star-studded cast of super models, including Christy Turlington, Sandra Bernhard, Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista, and Kate Moss. Each woman gets to display herself as she is normally seen: on the catwalk, and as she can only be seen in a documentary such as this: behind the scenes. The glamorous world of fashion is brought back to reality as three assistants are needed to remove the hip-length boots of one model.
Several elements go into the look and feel of this film. In order to stay true to the topic, renowned fashion photographer Douglas Keeve took the reigns as director.
Ellen Kuras worked closely with Keeve as the Director of Photography capturing some very nice shots of Mizrahi alone as well as caught up in the commotion of the fashion industry's fast-paced world.
Finally, Paula Heredia worked as film editor, blending together nicely the different film types used. The movie is in black and white as well as color, and injected into it are choice scenes from several films as well as television shows which gave Mizrahi his off-the-wall inspiration.
For fashion lovers, this film is an absolute must-see. While Altman's "Ready to Wear" created a fashion world and parodied it, "Unzipped" takes the fashion world for what it is. It is a documentary of an artist at work and it explores the often times hidden world of the industry.
For those people who are not very interested in fashion, congratulations are in order for getting this far. You have made a wise choice. "Unzipped" can be viewed as a window of opportunity to learn more about the fashion industry or as an intriguing character portrait.
Regardless of your background in the fashion industry, "Unzipped" is an entertaining film that won't take much of your time. It is worth seeing on many different levels and ultimately, it's a winner.
