The Gown Student Newspaper at Queen's University Belfast

REVIEW: The September Issue

“They had style, they had grace. Rita Hayworth gave good face…”

Being a self-confessed fashion-sceptic and a firm non-believer in the “label-orientated” couture culture that seems to engage so many of the female species in the past few decades, I must admit I was pleasantly surprised with documentarist RJ Cutler’s ”The September Issue”. An attempt to slice underneath the glossy layer of the fashion industry’s most iconic and influential “bible”; the spectacularly luxurious “Vogue”.

BY ORLA MACKLE

This highly anticipated documentary offers the viewer a rare insight into the exhaustive and at times ruthless process of putting together the titular September issue of Vogue (which we learn from the film is “the fashion worlds January”). The Autumn issue of prominent importance, is purchased by one in ten American women each year and is regarded for setting the stage for what is irrevocably “hot” and “not” for the rest of the fashion year.

The story mostly centres on “industry bitch” and inscrutable queen of the runway, British editor in chief Anna Wintour, who remarks on the opening of the documentary that there is “something about fashion that makes people nervous” and indeed as the viewer learns, there is indeed something about Anna that makes people nervous as well. Within the first ten minutes she is referred to by many of the team as their “Madonna”, their “Pope”, the steely-eyed shark at the top of the food chain who has the power to reduce even Jean Paul Gaultier to a quivering wreck .

The documentary plot is based on the chaos that develops in the office over the September Vogue Issue and we watch Wintour order her many “minions” around, deciphering what she believes to be “big” this year. It seems that Cutler is trying to humanize Wintour in this piece, but I couldn’t help but feel that he falls flat on his face. Wintour’s “Thatcher of Fashion” image is by no means convincingly overthrown, and you can’t help but get the feeling that perhaps she is holding back her usual tongue lashings in front of the whirring cameras.

Perhaps the most interesting character and show –stealer to emerge in the plot is Vogue’s creative director, the flame-haired, pale palloured, Grace Coddington. This sixty something former model, forced to retire after an accident, gives a warmth and admiration to an industry that is typically viewed as sterile and aloof. She is the obvious foil to frosty, sphinx-like Wintour and indeed the most fascinating moments in this piece occur while watching the two work together in their “love-hate” professional relationship to try and meet the September deadline. It is clear that Coddington is the creative heart of the magazine and Wintour the dictator that controls her imagination.

Although, Cutler’s documentary sparkles like a newly published front cover for the most part, illustrating the sheer hard work, sweat and lip-gloss that goes into each publication of this iconic magazine, I still felt at the end that he didn’t dig deep enough to address so many controversial issues within the industry at this time, such as size zero models and the endorsement of fur. Disappointingly as a result, the woman behind the burnished black Chanel sunglasses remains almost infuriatingly elusive.

All in all, this is as spangly and bitchy as Perez Hilton on speed and may even find previous  ex-fashionistas, to have a new-found respect for  the virtually biblical cultural phenomenon that is Vogue. Strike a pose!

Tags: clothes, clothing, rusty zip

This entry was posted on Friday, October 9th, 2009 at 9:57 am and is filed under Arts + Ents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.