Zac Posen, New York fashion’s comeback kid, in documentary about his tumultuous career
Hailed as a star at the age of 21, ‘Vogue baby’ Posen was soon dressing the likes of Naomi Campbell, Claire Danes and Natalie Portman. But he fell out with the fashion crowd and his family; film House of Z is ‘part of the healing process’
Boy wonder, tyrant, genius: Zac Posen has been called that and more.
The fashion designer, at 36, has experienced more ups and downs than his years might indicate, and all are laid bare in a new documentary, House of Z, available on demand at Vogue.com.
Without a cinematic release, after debuting at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival in April, the film traces Posen’s creative-fuelled childhood in the heart of the city’s Soho neighbourhood, his young and beautiful muses, some of whom he met in high school, his best and worst moments on the catwalk and a painful falling out with loved ones who helped make his dreams come true during lean times.
In some ways, the intensely personal film, the directorial debut of Toronto’s Sandy Chronopoulos, feels more like a retrospective than the comeback tale it tells. So why now?
“I was at a place in my career, in my company and in myself, to be open to tell a story,” Posen says.
Soon after his first independent catwalk show in 2002, when he was 21, key fashion critics hailed Posen as a star. The “Vogue baby” got a boost when he put his luscious creations on the backs of Naomi Campbell, Claire Danes and Natalie Portman.