Open to the World

Fashion and design affect everybody, every day of their life. Most people are clueless about how these things work - how trends emerge to make their creators a lot of money. Trend Beacons look into the hidden world of Trend forecasting, explaining how things really work.

Short film about the spanish national photography prize winner Pablo Perez-Mínguez.

In this witty monologue, Quentin Crisp advises and opines about personal style (with a few digressions).

Fate of a Salesman is an intimate portrait of a way of life on the verge of disappearing. In its 60th year of business, Men's Fashion Center in Washington, DC has come to represent identity, legacy and redemption for salesmen Willie and Steve and owner Jerry. But business has crawled to a halt in the face of a tough economy and changing neighborhood, pushing the store to the verge of closure. Set amidst racks of pin-striped suits and feathered hats- the clothing of a bygone era- the men struggle to redefine themselves as the place with which they have long identified begins to vanish.

The sketches and drawings of iconic designer Yves Saint Laurent come to life in this documentary. Past colleagues and friends discuss his life and work while poring over some of the thousands of sketches the designer created in his lifetime.

Inspired even as a boy by the Folies Bergere, the legendary Paris cabaret venue, couturier Jean-Paul Gaultier always wanted to stage a show there. "But what story can I tell?" he muses in this doc about the six months of preparation that went into the show. "Mine." Combining fashion with film, dance, theater, and unapologetic over-the-top-ness, the revue offers a 40-year career retrospective of the designer who is practically never spoken of without using the phrase enfant terrible. Notorious among cinephiles for his costumes for The Fifth Element and The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover and among pop fans for Madonna's pointy cone brassiere, he also incorporated teddy bears and S&M fetish gear as design motifs. In the show, the fanciful and outrageous meets the naughtily witty (a skit sending up Vogue dragon lady Anna Wintour) and the poignant (a tribute to his partner Francis Menuge, who died in 1990).

A legendary garment, mass-produced, which witnessed the Industrial Revolution and clad cowboys on the western frontier, is now a fashion statement worldwide for men and women, young and old: an icon of modernity which has lasted for 150 years. With flying colors, the jeans have sailed through early marketing, the Internet, the world of collectors, the end of the Cold War, and now globalization. Their eternal popularity begs a question: Why?

What is it about Speedos? Well here Australian director Tim Hunter is on a mission to find the answer to the question of why so many gay men can't seem to get enough of hunks in tight fitting trunks? Although somehow I think the answer can be found in the question! Anyway in a bid to discover the truth, Hunter has carried out a series of interviews with men who have more than a passing interest in this briefest of garment, including that of Speedo designer Peter Travis, who here relates his part in the history of 'the male equivalent of the Wonder Bra.'

This documentary presents the passion, the talents, the history, the struggles, and the local and international triumphs of the most renowned fashion designers in Puerto Rico. The history of garment making in Puerto Rico has marked our history, culture, and traditions forever. The exploitative history, as a labor manual industry, which served as the base for what we have today as a fashion industry is also portrayed.

Screened at Anthology Film Archives 02/24/20 Café Forgot in Collaboration with No Agency Directed by Cyrus Duff

Early 90s London gets a vibrant dose of African culture in this mini odyssey fusing dance, music and fashion.

A documentary chronicling Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour's preparations for the 2007 fall-fashion issue.

A history of this vital underclothing, from the Jogbra invented by friends Lisa Lindahl, Hinda Miller and Polly Smith to its biggest moment -- Brandi Chastain's triumphant reveal after the United States won the 1999 World Cup.

A documentary following an Estonian fashion designer Reet Aus on a global tour to explore the origin process and the environmental footprints of today's fast paced fashion industry. On the road the mission takes an unexpected turn towards trying to introduce her "upcycling" inspired product line to some of the major fashion retailers to increase awareness of the massive resource waste built into the current product lifecycle.

In fashion you’re only as good as your last collection, and the next collection always has to be your best. There is no margin for error. Nicholas Raefski is an emerging designer attempting to change the landscape of American fashion. Go inside New York City Fashion Week with Raefski to see how his young and inexperienced team pulls off a major fashion showcase with almost no budget.

In Brenda Dickson's self-produced video infomercial, the soap star strikes various poses in various baroque evening gowns whilst standing in various corners of her opulent mansion. Then, “through the magic of Hollywood,” Dickson invites the viewer to “teleport into my closets” for lessons on “style, which is as important in your life as your look.”

Builds up on the original's idea of a fetish-reality-documentary melting pot following international latex fetish icon Bianca Beauchamp and her kinky friends day and night during a 3-day fetish event, on stage, behind the scenes, at home even!, and this time with a lot more latex extravagance and glamor! Following Bianca & her friends escapades offers a unique perspective on the subject of fetish, often considered taboo by many, and sheds a fun light into a world where cameras are usually frown upon. The result is a fun and captivating ride demystifying international fetish events, its artists, top models and party people. The film was shot at the Montreal Fetish Weekend 2007. Written by Martin Perreault

In a society where "celebutantes" like Paris Hilton dominate newsstands and models who weigh less than 90 pounds die from malnutrition, female body image is one of the more dire problems facing today's society. "America the Beautiful" illuminates the issue by covering every base. Child models, plastic surgery, celebrity worship, airbrushed advertising, dangerous cosmetics - no rock is left unturned.

Throughout the continent, discovery of a new generation of independent self learners who share a common passion for African culture and aesthetics and a strong ethic in opposition to the huge fast fashion industry.

Bernadette Corporation describes this work as "A fashion film about the poetry of Stéphane Mallarmé and the color white." Produced for the 2000 Walker Art Center exhibition Let's Entertain, this short film employs a range of strategies to approach the idea of nothingness, emptiness, and vacuity, with an eye to how these notions relate to contemporary mass-cultural entertainment. Juxtaposing "documentary" takes on a fashion shoot with footage of semiologist Sylvère Lotringer giving an impromptu lecture on Mallarmé on a frozen lake, Hell Frozen Over maintains an ambiguous stance from which to both critique and celebrate the power of surface.