Mode in France
Screening on Film
Directed by William Klein.
France, 1985, 35mm, color, 90 min.
France, 1985, 35mm, color, 90 min.
A free-form, semi-documentary snapshot of the mid-1980s French fashion scene, Mode in France features clothes by such leading designers as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Alaïa, and Agnes B. By turns a fashion history, a fashion show, and an extended experiment in dramatization, Klein’s film captures the reigning looks and textures of the scene through stylized studio sequences (one featuring Grace Jones as a leather-clad fashion diva) and documentary-like episodes such as the elaborate street scene in which the inhabitants of an entire Paris neighborhood are dressed by Gaultier.