Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011)

A look at the life and work of the influential fashion editor of Harpers Bazaar, Diana Vreeland.

Directors:

Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt (co-director)

Writers:

Lisa Immordino Vreeland, Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt

Stars:

Diana Vreeland, Richard Avedon, David Bailey

1 win & 3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Diana Vreeland	...	Herself (archive footage)
Richard Avedon	...	Himself (archive footage)
David Bailey	...	Himself
Lauren Bacall	...	Herself (archive footage)
Lillian Bassman	...	Herself
Marisa Berenson	...	Herself
Pierre Bergé	...	Himself
Cecil Beaton	...	Himself (archive footage)
Manolo Blahnik	...	Himself
June Burns Bove	...	Herself
Dick Cavett	...	Himself (archive footage)
Felicity Clark	...	Herself
Truman Capote	...	Himself (archive footage)
Bob Colacello	...	Himself
Rae Crespin	...	Herself

Storyline

For decades, Diana Vreeland was one of the leading authorities in fashion through eccentric self-taught skill and a bold stylistic audacity. This film guides you through this fashion pioneer's long career from her youth in Paris until she became a leading magazine fashion columnist and editor. In this medium, Vreeland challenged its preconceptions to present a new definition of beauty and vivaciousness where nice clothes were just the beginning for something deeper. Even when that vocation ended, Vreeland managed to gain a new museum profession to present clothing's history in her own inimitable way.

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Plot Keywords:

red | archival footage | some scenes in black and white | interview | fashion model | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some nude images

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Italian

Release Date:

21 September 2012 (UK)

Also Known As:

Diana Vreeland: La mirada educada

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$63,700, 23 September 2012

Gross USA:

$1,004,821

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gloss Studio

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Connections

References Beaton by Bailey (1971)

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Soundtracks

Miles Moods 3
written & performed by Guy Barker

User Reviews

A feast for the eye

This is an art history of the twentieth century as seen through fashion, its most glittering art form. Weaving together video footage, magazine layouts, and first-hand accounts, the filmmakers trace the life of DV, one of fashion's all-time most imaginative thinkers.

Born rich ('but ugly', as her mother would have said) in Paris at the turn of the century, she partied her way to New York. When Carmel Snow noticed her chic outfit in a nightclub, she offered her a job at Harper's Bazaar. Thus began a fabulous self-created career, first at HB through the thirties forties and fifties, and then at Vogue in the sixties. There, she launched photographers like Richard Avedon and David Bailey, and put designers like Yves St Laurent on the map. She discovered an endless succession of models like Verushka and Iman, who turned notions of beauty inside out. And she originated idea of celebrities as models, studding Vogue with wonderful shots of Cher, Mick Jagger, and Jacqueline Kennedy. She also spent staggering amounts of Vogue's money pursuing fashionable subjects around the globe; they she fired her in 1972.

She was not idle for long- soon the Metropolitan Museum persuaded her to help launch the Costume Institute. There, she was able to bring her extravagant sense of fashion to a wide audience, and, not incidentally, throw some great parties.

The best thing a documentary can do is pick a fascinating subject, and clearly, DV was a LOT of fun. A Who's Who of actors, artists, writers, and fashion luminaries signed on to supply their recollections, both then and now. Her interviews with George Plimpton, Jack Paar, and Dick Cavett are lavishly excerpted, as well as material from her sons and grandchildren. (Her granddaughter's reading aloud from a vintage issue of Vogue is definitely a high point!)

The wealth of material here is stunning- and the filmmakers' skill in handling it is a triumph.