10 documentaries to watch during the quarantine

These quarantine days can be excruciatingly long, going out and about from your room to the kitchen can be, let’s say, quite boring, especially if it’s the only routine (and physical exercise) that’s being going on for almost a month now, especially in Italy. But hey, team Latest’s got your back! Here we are now giving you some ideas to spend the time and, why not, learn something in the meantime. 

Here’s a comprehensive list of 10 fashion documentaries and series (even if there are so many that you can easily lose the track of time by watching them) you absolutely need to see if you are studying in fashion schools or simply if fashion is your point fixe just as much it is for us. Leaving aside “The September Issue” (2009) that we assume you all have watched at least once, here they are. 

1. McQueen (2018)

The essence of fashion’s infant terrible is captured in this wonderful documentary as an in-depth voyage to McQueen’s creative mind and artistic process. Going through the designer’s incredible career and milestones, this documentary displays McQueen’s remarkable runway shows and so his significant contribution to London’s fashion scene as a space for experimentation and brilliant creativity to emerge. Definitely a must-seen for all McQueen fans and fashion students. 

1. The Boy Who Made Shoes for Lizards (2017)

This documentary screams MANOLO with a gentle and magnetic voice as only his would be. Manolo Blahnik is truly a bless for the fashion world and maybe this amazing work is not enough to capture all that he is, but nevertheless, it’s a remarkable piece for fashion education at large. Sounding too enthusiastic? It’s only the consequence of having watched this documentary several times. Blahnik himself takes you with him to the journey of his success, starting from his early days to finally land on his beautiful mansion surrounded by flowers, pastel colors and shoes, shoes, shoes!

1. Alexa Chung: The Future of Fashion (2015)

This documentary series has Vogue as its main creator. Contributor editor for the magazine, Alexa Chung uncovers the secrets of fashion business and communication, by interviewing eminent figures and emergent entrepreneurs that are shaping the fashion industry of the future. The series is available on Vogue’s YouTube channel. Definitely a must-see for those who are looking to get to know the behind the scenes of a fashion career!

1. Iris (2014)

By now at the age of 98, Iris Apfel is a living legend, an icon of New York’s fashion and beyond, really. This precious documentary steps into Iris’ shoes and offers us some incredible insights about her flamboyant style, life and career. This energetic and free-spirited woman teaches us the way to break the rules when it comes to fashion, to always follow our intuitions and to have fun, something that is in fact, ageless. 

1. Dries (2017)

Peace and tranquility are two sensations that this documentary evokes. As it unfolds, we get to see the intimate, creative process of Belgian designer Dries Van Noten, both in studio and in his wonderful house surrounded by flowers and romantic landscapes. This documentary traces the important moments of Van Noten’s career and education in fashion design, arriving at his fashion shows in Paris Fashion Week, in which schedule he has been for 25 years. 

1. The True Cost (2015)

We cannot stress the importance of this documentary enough. The True Cost offers a perspective that sometimes workers in fashion seem to forget. The documentary spans across several situations and events that have marked the manufacturing of fashion products throughout this last few years, including some testimonials from people who are actually living, or better, surviving, in these harsh realities. The purpose of this work was to stimulate deeper conversations around this subject, to increase awareness and bring new solutions to the table. If you want to discover more about these unseen realities, of great importance is also the 26-minute-long documentary “Period. End of Sentence” (2018) directed by Rayka Zehtabchi. The documentary narrates the story of some women living in a village near Delhi. They started a silent revolution to fight against the stigma of menstruations. These amazing women learned to produce tampons and to sell them, showing how emancipation can be possible even in places where tradition and culture are obstacles.

7) Franca: Chaos and Creation (2017)

Available now on Netflix, this documentary spans across the career and life of remarkable Italian Vogue editor Franca Sozzani, passed away in 2016. Directed by her son Francesco Carrozzini, this documentary narrates the life and work of one of the most notable fashion editors of the world together with Anna Wintour. Focusing on her work during the 80s and 90s, Carrozzini presents an intimate portrait of her mother, sometimes interviewing her himself and posing her interesting questions about her private life and choices she made along the way. An interesting work that makes you dive deep in the remarkable editorials of Vogue Italia and in a piece of history of Italian fashion.

8) 7 days out (2018)

Available on Netflix, this series spans across different disciplines and career, showing the behind the scenes. An episode in particular dwells on the making of Chanel’s Haute Couture SS18 show in Paris, with Karl Lagerfeld as creative director of the French Maison. The episode explores the crucial moments before the show, starting from castings, fittings and the works at the Grand Palais. A must see for all Chanel and Karl’s lovers.

9) Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel (2011)

This documentary is important in so many ways, starting from the fact that shows an era in which the work of fashion editor was still at its beginnings. In this scenario, Diana Vreeland starts shaping the future of this career and of modern fashion, first as Editor in Chief of Harper’s Bazaar USA and Vogue America then as a consultant for The Metroplitan Museum of Art. The documentary takes us through her fantastic journey of how she became the empress of fashion. 

1. Next in Fashion (2020)

Coming at our days, this reality show and designers’ competition is hosted by designers and entrepreneurs Alexa Chung and Tan France. From a certain point of view, Next in Fashion recalls the show “Project Runway”, but the format takes its contents on different levels, producing a competition that is firmly grounded in our times and therefore it tackles several aspects of our contemporaneity. A cheerful way to spend the time and bet on who’s going to win the competition!

words Ludovica Mucci