Another fashion film hits: Reiner Holzemer's MARTIN MARGIELA IN HIS OWN WORDS

Who? might well be the response of many -- particularly those who do not follow the fashion world religiously -- to the name Martin Margiela. After viewing the new documentary, MARTIN MARGIELA IN HIS OWN WORDS, however, you'll probably more easily remember this unusual guy. His aversion to publicity for himself, especially of his face (no photographs, please!), is something rare in this field. These days, in just about any field. 

Early on in this oddball documentary, written and directed by German filmmaker Reiner Holzemer (shown below), Margiela notes how important for him is a certain kind of anonymity: "I wanted to have my name linked to the product I created, not to the face I have." And so we never see that face during then entire documentary, and one begins to wonder how many other people have actually seen it, ever.

We do see his arms and hands, and a very attractive pair of each he has -- if these are even his own (for all we know he may have insisted on using a body double). We also see a good deal of his fashion concepts. Initially, to TrustMovies at least, these looked like the designer was having us on, maybe in the manner of Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan, thumbing his nose at everything and everyone, including the fashion industry and himself.

Yet as the film proceeds, you realize that fashion, as this fellow sees it, is very important. Whatever you think of his work (I found much of it downright ugly, though I also thought that his designs for Hermès were as beautiful, classy and elegant as any I've seen), you will probably come away from this doc with respect for the man and at least some of his ideas. 

The film's title tells us that we're getting Margiela's own words, and to a large extent we do. We also get the usual fashion doc format of talking heads -- journalists, critics and other fashion folk -- who go on and on about the brilliance of the subject at hand. In this case, because what we're told makes a certain amount of sense and is kept within the bounds of appreciation rather than idolization, it tends to register as real. And while comparison is made between Margiela's oeuvre and that of Andy Warhol, I'd call what Margiela gives us one hell of a lot more intelligent, thoughtful and creative than that of the overblown Warhol.

Just as we get no photos of Margiela, we don't get a whole lot of personal info about him, either. A little childhood history is tossed in (the Barbie dolls he played with and dressed), as are the importance of his mother, his admiration for Brigitte Bardot, and his time spent with mentor Jean Paul Gaultier. (How he and his pals got into Gaultier's fashion show makes an especially charming anecdote.)

Buyouts, money, branding and so much else that passes for necessity in our current times seem to have led to what you might think of as Margiela's "fall." Really, though, this is more like simply "moving on." I should think we'll be hearing from the guy again. If he wants us to, that is. (That's one of his specially designed women's shoes, above.)

From Oscilloscope Films and running 95 minutes, Martin Margiela in His Own Words opened in virtual theaters this past week  and is "now playing" all across the country. Click here then scroll down to see the venues from which you can choose.

Can't get enough of YSL? Try Olivier Meyrou's Saint Laurent/Pierre Bergé doc, CELEBRATION

In a very real sense, it is unfair to call CELEBRATION -- the documentary from filmmaker Olivier Meyrou (shown below) -- the most recent of all the several film about Yves Saint Laurent (or YSL), the famous fashion designer who died in 2008. Though it only hit USA theaters last fall, it was actually made back in 2007 and has spent the remaining dozen years in movie limbo because, from what I can ascertain, although it was commissioned by Saint Laurent's lover and business partner, Pierre Bergé, M. Bergé then decided it was too revealing and refused to allow it to be shown.

Bergé is now dead, and so the film, so to speak, has finally come alive.

The ironic joke here is that Celebration is revealing, all right, but almost exclusively about the character -- pompous, controlling, power-hungry and sleazy -- of Bergé himself. We learn next to nothing about Yves Saint Laurent (show below), except that he is clearly very ill and barely able to function any longer.

Because M. Meyrou, with his fly-on-the-wall camerawork and never-intrusive presence, covers only the behind-the-scenes (along with some upfront) preparations for YSL's final show, and a bit of the show itself, as well as some sort of awards ceremony for this famous designer, we get little historical perspective and no narration whatsoever.

Instead we rely quite a bit on the musings of some of the older workers for YSL, who babble on amusingly about everything from the layout of their former quarters, which dresses were sewn by whom, and -- when a parade of models shows off YSL's eclectic-but-not-terribly-creative gowns in a stadium-like setting -- exclaim in awe: "The whole world will see this! This is France!" Oh, please: Let's hope not.

Some of the film is devoted to an interview between a fashion reporter and YSL (above). Her questions, however, are not particularly probing, nor are his answers revealing of much we either don't know or could not quickly figure out for ourselves. Her praise for the designer, along with that of just about everyone else we see and hear in the movie, is effusive in its use of superlatives. If we had a nickle for every time someone opens his/her mouth with another hype -- "Magnificent!" "Brilliant!" "Wonderful!" "Incredible!" -- we might becomes millionaires. (I exaggerate, but you get the point.)

Plus, we have already seen several movies -- both narrative and documentary -- about YLS and Bergé to perhaps not need very much more added to our overflowing plate: a doc made for French TV titled Yves Saint Laurent: 5 avenue Marceau 75116 Paris, the not uninteresting 2011 doc called L' Amour Fou, the paint-by-numbers and cliche-ridden tripe of Yves Saint Laurent from 2014, and Bertrand Bonello's fantasia on fashion, fame, celebrity and culture Saint Laurent (also from 2014 and certainly the best of the bunch).

What does Celebration add to all this? Not much, I'm afraid. Although the little dog of YSL and Bergé provides some fun here, this tiresome movie itself is mostly a dog -- unless of course you're a huge fashion aficionado and/or can't get enough of YSL.

From 1091 and running just 74 minutes, Celebration becomes available this coming Tuesday, March 31, via digital and VOD -- for purchase and rental.

The best fashion documentary in a long, long while: James Crump's giddily entertaining, hugely informative ANTONIO LOPEZ 1970 -- SEX, FASHION & DISCO

How in hell could it be that a documentary this good -- enormously entertaining, full of new information and all about the world's favorite meaningless preoccupation (fashion) -- didn't get a decent theatrical release in the USA? TrustMovies suspects that this was due to the fact that the subject of ANTONIO LOPEZ 1970: SEX, FASHION & DISCO, Mr. Lopez himself, a great fashion illustrator in his day, is simply not that well known outside the fashion field.

Unlike figures such as Karl Lagerfeld and Andy Warhol, who are also seen in this film, Lopez was much better known to fashion insiders rather than to the general public. I myself had never heard of him when I sat down to view this grab-you-by-your-lapels-and-dance-you-off-to-discoland doc -- which held me in thrall for all of its 95 minutes.

As written and directed by James Crump (shown at left), the documentary introduces its unusual subject and then immediately pulls you in via compelling interviews with quite an array of fashion folk and celebrities. Fortunately, these are not simply the usual suspects. (Mr. Lopez's life and career was far too free and full for that.)

By the end of the film, Mr. Crump has made a very good case for Lopez (shown above and below) being one of, if not the most talented and important figure in all of the fashion/celebrity world, easily eclipsing the likes of marketing maven Warhol -- about whom we hear yet again how "not there" the man was, so far as his so-called art was concerned.

We see and hear about Lopez's personal life and rampant sexuality, his groundbreaking illustration (below and further below) and about the manner in which he worked, why the result was so different from anything seen before (or since, really), and of the many icons he discovered -- from Jessica Lange to Jerry Hall to Grace Jones, along with more famous models than I have time to list here.

We also hear plenty from Grace Coddington, whose thoughtful, intelligent commentary greatly enriches the film. Best of all, however, and the moral center of the movie, is the delightfully rambunctious and greatly missed Bill Cunningham, whose remembrances of Lopez and his lover/partner Juan Ramos, provide much of the humor and emotion, together with a sense of great caring for a time, place and people, the likes of which and whom we will not see again.

What a difference is the Bill Cunningham (at left, below) shown here from the older, much more staid fellow we saw in that very lovely (but very "correct") documentary, Bill Cunningham New York! (If you enjoy this film as much as did I, you'll also want to watch the extended interview with Cunningham that is part of the Bonus Features on the DVD.)

Mr. Crump is also to be congratulated for giving us such lovely footage of Jessica Lange (below), seemingly speaking off the cuff and from the heart. She is, as usual, a pleasure to see and hear -- even more so telling us about a time and place we had no idea she'd been such a part of.

The documentary flips back and forth in time between the 60s and 70s yet is so lively and fun, you won't mind at all. And what to make of the young Karl Lagerfeld (below) we view here? Quite a difference from the éminence grise we've seen over the past couple of decades! His treatment of Antonio at the end of the latter's career, as told us by Cunningham, makes for the emotional high point of the film.

Most important, of course, is Lopez himself, and Crump makes it clear what a wonder he was. A better artist than Warhol, he had not a whit of interest in marketing. And that seems to have made the major difference between their careers.

Antonio wanted to live and create (and have as much sex as possible) -- all of which he did. We have not, nor probably will we, encounter this combo of talent, personality and achievement in the fashion field again.

From Film Movement and arriving on DVD and digital this coming Tuesday, February 12, Antonio Lopez: Sex, Fashion & Disco will be available for purchase and/or rental. Click here to view the various ways in which you can see this documentary.

A commendable, eye-and-mind-opening documentary bio-pic, Tiffany Bartok's LARGER THAN LIFE: THE KEVYN AUCOIN STORY

Considering how woeful are so many of the our current "fashion" documentaries from Manolo Blahnik's to Vivienne Westwood's -- who'd have thought that TrustMovies would suddenly be singing the praises of a bio-pic documentary about, of all things, a make-up artist? That's part of why he loves taking a chance on a new movie experience: You just never know.

As directed with finesse and welcome intuition by Tiffany Bartok (shown below), her documentary, LARGER THAN LIFE: THE KEVYN AUCOIN STORY, makes excellent

use of archival footage and interviews with the late Mr. Aucoin's family, friends, lovers, and an array of fashion and celebrity icons about as starry as you are likely to have seen together in any single film.

Even better, these icons actually say some intelligent, thoughtful, sometimes quite moving things about their Kevyn -- a fellow from Louisiana who was adopted very young to a kind and loving family, and who went looking, in his adult years, and was able to actually find his birth parents, only to lose them again because of their Christian fundamentalist attitude against gays and other outsiders. ("Don't judge us and then make Jesus the reason," he tells his birth mother in a letter.)

That Kevyn (above, left) was charismatic is clear, even in the archival photos and the info we get about his youth. "Different" and pretty clearly gay from the outset, he was bullied in school but survived and somehow prospered enough until he finally left Louisiana for points north and the career in fashion and specifically make-up that he had long desired.

Bartok's movie barrels along at a fast clip, full of information and smart interviews that fill in many of the gaps in Kevyn's life, loves and burgeoning career. What is particularly compelling about this bio-doc is how it manages to bring us a full-bodied, warts-and-all view of Aucoin -- without ever resorting to the gossipy, inherently shallow techniques of so many fashion docs. There is also none of that "Let's lavish on the praise" idiocy that ruins so many bio-pics. What we hear about Aucoin seems indeed praiseworthy, but what we see and hear also seems commensurate with his achievements.

It is clear that the interviewees here -- which include Isaac Mizrahi (shown above) and Kate Moss (two photos up) -- clearly loved Kevyn, for all his faults (having to control everything was but one of them) and this love comes through so strongly that the viewer is apt to feel it very nearly as much as those being interviewed.

Aucoin's great talent at and love for what he did best -- making others look their best (that's Naomi Campbell, above)-- also comes through. He set fashion trends in make-up for good, rather than for their junky worst, which would arrive with the "grunge" era and stick around far too long after that.

Other icons we see and hear from here include the likes of Cher (above, who appears to have been responsible for diagnosing a vital health problem of Kevyn's that had remained undetected for far too long), Isabella Rossellini (below), Tori Amos (who reminds us that, although Kevyn never let any of them down, they in the fashion industry definitely let him down in the end), and especially Paulina Porizkova (shown at bottom), who offers a number of most interesting observations about Aucoin's life and work.

Even when he cast off one lover for another, Kevyn did not leave the old one flat. (Often, it seems, his paramour served a second purpose -- business manager, say -- as well as love/sex interest.)

Never for a single one of its 102-minute running time is the documentary flat or uninteresting. Kevyn's personality, along with those of all the interviewees, carry it along with bounce and flair. The movie allows even those of us who don't follow or care about fashion to engage with it via the life and career, troubles, trauma and successes of this unusual and unusually gifted man.

Distributed via The Orchard, Larger than Life: The Kevyn Aucoin Story opens this Friday, June 29, in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Film Center and then hits the Los Angeles area at various Laemmle theaters on Friday, July 20 and Monday, July 23. It will be available everywhere via digital and VOD beginning Tuesday, July 31.

Lorna Tucker's bio-doc WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST. But not much of a designer

Hot on the heels of last month's fashion documentary, The Gospel According to André, comes yet another who-in-hell-needs-it? movie (in which the aforementioned André even plays a minor part).

WESTWOOD: PUNK, ICON, ACTIVIST, directed by Lorna Tucker (shown below: this is her first full-length endeavor) gives us a near-hour-and-a-half of Vivienne Westwood, a woman who has certainly qualified during her lengthy career as punk and activist, even as icon in the eyes of some, but perhaps not so much as an actual fashion designer -- not, at least, based on much of the oddball stuff that is shown us here.

Ms Westwood is, however, a pretty interesting figure. Now 77 years old, she has, as they say, been around the block. At the beginning of this documentary, she questions why anyone would even care to see and hear all this, and then tells us, "If I could do anything I want, what I would do is learn Chinese."

This pretty much sets the tone of a let-it-all-hang-out documentary that bounces back and forth in time (rarely telling us the year) and giving us snippets and shards of Westwood's (born Vivienne Isabel Swire) family history, marriages and relationships, and careers as housewife and mother, punk icon, and finally -- almost by default, it seems, as fashion designer.

Along the way, we're given some fun archival footage and lot more current-day images, meet quite a few of her employees (what a treat it must be to work for this woman! No, no: I'm being ironic), and view more than we might like of various catwalk collections -- which more than once brings to mind the idea that fashion exists mainly to appear "new" and to push the by-now utterly dessicated envelope.

At one point along the way, I jotted in my notes, What a bunch of poseurs! and indeed that does seem to be the case. Poseur-in-chief would be the fellow named Andreas who appears to be Vivenne's significant other, and also seems to have taken over Westwood's business empire. According to her son, whom we meet and hear from periodically during the documentary, this is a good thing. And since Ms Westwood, as shown here, does seems at times to be perhaps a little bit demented, yes, there needs be someone in charge.

Over the past few years, the woman has embraced the idea of climate change and approaching catastrophe and so has become something of an activist (we see a little of this as Westwood attends various rallies and speaks out). But of course her fashion empire remains important, even if, as she explains to a room full of international buyers a propos her business, "Our plan is not about world domination." Well, that's a relief.

Toward the end of the doc, we get the usual round-up of fulsome praise for Westwood, and yet many of the so-called fashions we view here seem downright ugly, if not actually nutty. Notes one woman post-catwalk debut, "The show was just mind-blowing!" Given what we've just witnessed, there must not have been much of a mind to blow.

Early on in her career, during the punk stage, it occurs to Westwood that, "Although we wanted to undermine the establishment, we weren't attacking the system at all. It was all being marketed, all the time. We were just part of the distraction." Exactly. And she still is.

Finally, the question that remains in my mind is this: In the narrative version of her life, will Dame Vivienne Westwood be played by Dame Judi Dench? (There is indeed a resemblance.) Or maybe Dame Vivienne will instead play Dame Judi in the narrative film about the latter's life! God knows, Westwood is quite the performer. In fact, you may end this 91-minute documentary with the sneaking suspicion that perhaps this whole thing was merely a put-on. Maybe even a put-down.

See for yourself and decide when Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist -- from Greenwich Entertainment and running just 83 minutes -- opens this Friday, June 8, in New York City at the IFC Center, and the following Friday, June 15, in Los Angeles at the Landmark NuArt -- with a limited nationwide rollout to follow.

Fashion time again in Kate Novack's new doc, THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ

A big step up from last year's embarrassment about shoe designer Manolo Blahnik, this year's gift to fashionistas -- THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ directed by Kate Novack -- is a good deal more palatable and intelligent a film. Whether you will be interested in the life and work of one, André Leon Talley (shown at left: fashion writer/ historian and layout/photo-shoot artiste), will depend, I should think, mostly on your interest in the world of fashion. But if, say, your spouse or significant other is of that mind, should you tag along, you may find yourself at least somewhat interested in what you'll see, hear and learn. Mr Talley has a lot to say, clearly loves saying it, and more often than not makes pretty good sense. There are reasons that this great big bear of a man is so very famous.

Filmmaker Novack, pictured at right, has done a capable job of interviewing this semi-icon who was born and raised in our South, knew he had to get the hell out of there as a Black man who was also gay, and so left his beloved grandmother (who raised him) and lit out for places like New York and Paris, where he quickly made his mark as a disciple, first of Diana Vreeland and later of Anna Wintour, and then by garnering a name of his own, with which the fashion world would soon have to contend.

All this is shown (by Novack) and told us (mostly by Talley himself) via some good archival photos (such as the two final shots, below) and present-day interviews with Talley and a ton of celebrities who seem to swear by this man.

The celebs include everyone from Marc Jacobs and Tom Ford (above) to Isabella Rossellini and Whoopi Goldberg (below), Fran Lebowitz (who offers the film's funniest line -- about sex in the 1970s), Diana Ross, and of course Ms Wintour (who admits that André possesses a much greater sense of fashion history than she does).

If you follow the fashion world closely, much of what you see and hear may not seem so new to you. Since I don't follow this, the content here proved pretty interesting, even if the documentarian does not probe all that deeply. To her credit, Novack does ask (and Talley answers) questions about his enormous girth. "I bloated up after the age of 40," he explains. Later we see him trying to lose a little at the Duke Diet and Fitness Center in North Carolina. He never appears to have had any ongoing, heavy-duty intimate relationship with anyone, and clearly does not care to go much into the reasons why -- other than the usual excuse of career and too much work.

In fact, Talley spends more time bemoaning the nasty comments he overheard regarding the reasons for his relationship with Vreeland (was he her "big black buck"?) and the appellation affixed to him as "Queen Kong." But this is more than countered by some of his conceptions and famous photos shoots  -- Cindy Crawford as a sexy widow, veiled but in her skivvies, and that Vanity Fair fashion piece aping Gone with the Wind but with the races reversed.

After Trump's election, he blogs for The New York Times about Melania's elegance at the inauguration, and near the end of the documentary we're back in a Black church in the south-- the place from which Talley says he gained his earliest and most enduring sense of fashion. At the close of the movie, one of his acolytes claims, regarding Mr Talley, that "Under it all is a very fine cashmere heart." Huh? A heart made of cashmere? Now that's a new one!

From Magnolia Pictures and running 94 minutes, The Gospel According to André, after opening in our cultural centers last week, hits South Florida and elsewhere this Friday, June 1. In Miami, it will play the O Cinema Wynwood. Wherever you live around the country, click here to find the theater(s) nearest you.