MoMA Debuts Fashion Film Series

The Museum of Modern Art is kicking off 2018 with a fashion film series. The documentary films, which will run from Monday through Jan. 18, are being shown in conjunction with “Items: Is Fashion Modern?” a MoMA exhibition that showcases 111 garments and accessories that have had an impact on the world over the last century.

When I was asked to curate a film exhibition in conjunction with ‘Items: Is Fashion Modern?,’ I kept thinking about a who, what, why and how approach to the selection of the films. Immediately it was apparent I would focus on documentaries about designers, manufacturers, influencers and consumers,” said Anne Morra, associate curator of MoMA’s film department. “I also wanted to ground the program in a historical perspective yet include as many contemporary films as possible.”

The series includes documentaries about the fashion media world such as 2009’s “The September Issue,” “Diana Vreeland: The Eye Must Travel” from 2011, and the 2010 portrait of Bill Cunningham; classics such as “Making Fashion,” a 1938 British short that focuses on designer Norman Hartnell, who went on to design Queen Elizabeth II’s 1953 coronation gown, and the 1990 cultural touchstone “Paris Is Burning”; features about designers including Martin Margiela and “L’Amour Fou,” a portrait of the relationship between Yves Saint Laurent and his partner, Pierre Bergé, and films that focus on the way that clothes are made such as “Wuyong,” a Chinese documentary about manufacturing, and “The True Cost,” about fast fashion.

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