So finally last night I watched “The September Issue”. I made it to the AMC theatre by Boylston Station in Boston with a friend from Emerson College, and I have to say we both enjoyed the movie mainly because we appreciated the documentary and some of the subtle themes and messages it delivered. ”The September Issue” was much more than a simple documentary about the intense process and work that takes place right before the release of monthly issues of Vogue magazine. As the camera men followed “the most important person” in the Fashion industry, ie. Anna Wintour + the Editor-In Chief of US Vogue, we got to look into what happens backstage at Vogue. Not only is this woman driven, she is so difficult and so intense that you kind of get to understand why Vogue’s quality and trendsetting power is revered, adored, and feared at the same time in the fashion industry. Anna Wintour’s influential position is at times hard to understand; she has the final say on everything and it was hard to watch people’s creative work that seem excellent to us, seem simply mediocre and unacceptable to her. You feel astonished by her confidence in her artistic and visual intuition and at the same time you wish you had that much power and confidence in your work. Designers like Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier, Desingers for YSL, and Oscar de La Renta which many people look up to and iconize in the fashion industry, actually look to Anna Wintour for advice, for a chance to appear in Vogue (because to be in Vogue means to sell and remain important), and for some kind of acceptance and approval. Really, it was like everything revolved around her, she was the center and focus of it all throughout the documentary.
BUT, there was something about Anna Wintour’s responses, especially about her family, her upbringing, and at home life that gave the documentary more substance and gave it a tangible touch of reality that the ‘glitz and glamour fashion world’ can appear to lack many times because of its materialistic image. She spoke about her father’s upbringing in England and his influence on her to end up in fashion (He actually told her to respond to a college question about her future aspiration by stating “Future Vogue Editor”, what a prediction hun??). She spoke about her intellectual siblings who find what she does simply amusing and you could see some kind of pain and disappointment in her eyes as she spoke about this, especially that her own daughter does not take the fashion industry seriously and instead aspires to be a lawyer (OK I should stop because I am giving away a lot to those who have not seen it yet). This brought me to think… Why is it that many people see Art as less important to other areas of work? It seems that to many intellectuals, art especially in the form of performance and fashion is seen as almost inferior and un-intelligent, when in actual fact to think artistically and visually in a manner that many people do not, is quite remarkable (in my opinion… I love ART. And quite frankly this documentary is also a strong Marketing/business scheme for Vogue, their sales will soar this fall thats for sure!). It was in this light of this, that I actually felt some sympathy for her, despite her many cutting comments throughout the documentary.
With Karl Lagerfeld
Some of the most interesting characters in the documentary (although they were a few interesting ones) were Anna Wintour’s daughter, Andre Leon Talley/Editor-At-Large for Vogue , and especially Grace Coddington/Creative Director for US Vogue. Grace Coddington, so many times stole the show from Anna Wintour, she is witty and damn good at what she does. Her passion and talent for what she does is somehow inspiring and quite frankly she made the audience laugh the most throughout. Other things I loved: the choice of images of different locations and fashion cities, the photography, and the meticulous evaluations and funny arguments over the work. Would I recommend this documentary, absolutely!!! But only if you appreciate documentary, filming, fashion, art, looking into new things… You will not see a “hollywood” like movie with this, but you will appreciate the raw images and filming about the Vogue team, its struggles/successes, controversies, its work and its ‘queen’.
See Trailer and Anna Wintour’s interview on David Letterman
Andre Leon Talley
Grace Coddington in Black/center
"Ephita"
