Thursday, September 27, 2012

Valentino: the Last Emperor


If you're in the fashion industry you've either got a ridiculously overinflated ego, or you're kissing the ass of someone with a ridiculously overinflated ego. I don't like either idea, but that's the fashion industry in a nutshell. You're Ana Wintour, or you're groveling at her feet. Fuck her and fuck the grovelers.

Valentino is incredibly self-absorbed. Go figure. He's like a rich child who never grew up. It's gotta be weird being isolated in this über rich environment where everything hinges on appearances. At least he looks after his dogs well-enough. Stupid pugs. But I digress…

This documentary is about Valentino, his lover/business partner, and the rise of his fashion empire over the last 45 years. It really focuses on the last couple of shows he did before retiring. They're incredibly over the top productions that cost zillions to make. We see Valentino sketching couture dresses, and we follow those sketches as his seamstresses turn them into haute couture reality. Then models prance down runways for douchebags wearing sunglasses indoors. Fascinating stuff.

The doc is well done. It's fly-on-the-wall style and it lets the main characters tell their own tale. It's pretty decent for what it is, but I think someone else could have delved deeper into Valentino's life. 

There are better doc's to watch than this. But you could do a hell of a lot worse, too. Whatever.

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