Institute History
Description
Unzipped is part performance, part cinema vérité, and all delight as we follow world-famous fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi as he creates his 1994 New York fall fashion show. The world of high fashion has rarely been depicted in such intimate detail, complete with all the excitement and anxiety, exhilaration and terror that accompany any major artistic event. As directed by renowned fashion photographer Douglas Keeve and photographed by the superb Ellen Kuras, Unzipped is a wonderful chronicle of the inspiration and eccentricity of an artist at work.
Fueled by visions as diverse as Nanook of the North and Mary Richards, Mizrahi displays effusive character and dynamic energy as he constructs a show which culminates in an audacious and inventive display before a packed house of celebrities and critics. Getting to go behind the scenes of the very insular, often unreal world of high fashion is interesting not only to those who care about its egomaniacal universe of distinctive personalities and ostentation, but also to anyone who would find this kind of unrestrained portrait of a creative artist at work fascinating and revealing.
Featuring many of the world’s top models, including Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell, and Christy Turlington caught in snippets of conversation and various stages of undress and preparation,Unzipped is a treat that fulfills the promise of its title to entertain, provoke, and unveil. Although, to my own discredit, I have rarely looked upon the fashion world with any real interest, Unzipped has turned me around. Perhaps it’s enough to make me a fan!