Film review: Diana Vreeland biopic shows an uncommon passion for fashion

Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel
Starring: Diana Vreeland
Director: Lisa Immordino Vreeland
Category: IIA
Rating: 3.5/5

Diana Vreeland (1903-1989) was a fascinating woman who led a remarkable life. And this documentary produced and directed by her granddaughter-in-law Lisa Immordino Vreeland (with help from co-directors Bent-Jorgen Perlmutt and Frédéric Tcheng) pays fitting tribute to the fashion doyen.

Diana Vreeland was a Harper's Bazaar columnist turned fashion journalist who went on to be editor of Vogue and a consultant for the Costume Institute at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Immordino Vreeland never met Diana, but Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel clearly benefits from the filmmaker's unprecedented access to archival material associated with the revered tastemaker. Well-known names such as designers Manolo Blahnik and Oscar de la Renta, photographer David Bailey, and actresses Anjelica Huston and Ali MacGraw, who worked as her assistant before achieving stardom in Love Story, share their memories and insights.

The film's impressive array of Diana Vreeland quotes - among them, "Every girl in the world should have geisha training" - is further supplemented by actress Annette Miller giving voice to passages of a transcript based on Vreeland's 1984 autobiography D.V.

Vreeland's 10-year-old great-granddaughter Olivia (Immordino Vreeland's daughter) adds some more voiceover, reading snippets from the flamboyant fashion maven's whimsical "Why Don't You?" column.