Anna Wintour presents fashion as theatre in Vogue documentary
New Vogue film takes behind-the-scenes look at the preparation of The Met Ball, fashion’s most exclusive event
Anna Wintour said, “Fashion … it’s a kind of theatre.” You betcha. Which is why the trailer for the new behind-the-scenes Vogue film The First Monday in May is tantalisingly good. The documentary follows the team at Vogue and the Metropolitan Museum of Art as they prepare for the launch party of last year’s exhibition, China: Through the Looking Glass, in New York.
The Met Ball – as it is affectionately known – is fashion’s most glamorous party, although insiders have sometimes whispered that, once inside, it’s well, um, boring. But it is, as Vogue alumnus André Leon Talley says, the “Super Bowl of social fashion events”, and the cash, the gossip and the general over-the-topness makes for compelling viewing.
Naturally, the trailer raises more questions than it answers.
Who is always on his mobile phone?
While Wintour looks at the seating plan for the dinner with a glossy-haired courtier (sorry assistant), she dryly says: “Oh, he’s coming now, is he? Well, he’d better not be on his cellphone all night.” But who is being chided rather publicly? Is it Kanye West? Is it Derek Blasberg? Or someone else?
Have we been pronouncing ‘Rihanna’ in a really unfashionable way for ages?