Diana Vreeland Documentary Film

A film about the legendary fashion editor Diana Vreeland, The Eye Has to Travel  hits theaters today.  She was the legendary fashion editor and curator that fashion mavens have modeled themselves after ever since.  

Kay Thompson (author of the Eloise book series) used her as a muse in her portrayal of a fashion editor in Audrey Hepburn's "Funny Face ".  She shaped the look of magazines like American Vogue and Harper's Bazaar (where ex-assistant actress Ali McGraw worked and described the experience).  She made the costume department at the Metropolitan Museum of Art a landmark of fashion.

Diana Vreeland's grandaughter, director Lisa Immordino Vreeland painstakingly researched her grandmother-in-law's life from the Belle Epoque, roaring 20's to swinging 60's.  She was the pioneering mix of High/Low culture, blending street jargon with eloquent sophistication.  Anecdotes in the film are recalled by everyone from Diane Sawyer to Andy Warhol.    The director worked with the editing team behind Valentino: the Last Emperor, Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt and Frédéric Tcheng.

"Style-- all who have it share one thing: originality."

-Diana Vreeland

The editor in her apartment, which she wanted to look like “a garden in hell.” ((c) Estate of Horst P. Horst-Art + Commerce / Courtesy of Samuel Goldwyn Films)

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Phantom of the Runway – Andre Leon Talley The Next Fashionista on Broadway?

Vogue Editor, Andre Leon Talley made press last week after an FIT lecture, when he noted he was planning a stint on Broadway. While some of the media snickered, those in the know see him as following a stylish theater tradition. His own one-time mentor, Diana Vreeland was the subject of a long-running play, Full Gallop .

Isaac Mizrahi had a popular one man show off-Broadway where he detailed his experiences at Calvin Klein, his own design career and handed out his own homemade treats to the audience.

Currently onstage is The Temperamentals, the story of edgy designer of the 1960’s Rudy Gernreich.     The plot focuses on the gay activist and stars Michael Urie of TV’s Ugly Betty.

Of course, the iconic Coco Chanel was immortalized in the Broadway show “Coco” in 1969. The show starred Katherine Hepburn in her one and only theater musical.

photo from onsugar

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