Reviewed by Rama Gaind.
Directors: P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes, Umbrella Entertainment.
Cast: Pierre Cardin, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Philippe Starck.
This absorbing documentary about the life and work of legendary fashion designer and entrepreneur Pierre Cardin, aptly “encapsulates how a man became an empire”.
House of Cardin is a rare peek into the mind of a genius, chronicling his being and designs. Millions know the iconic logo and ubiquitous signature, but few know the man behind the larger-than-life label.
An Italian-born naturalised-French fashion designer, Cardin, 98, founded his fashion house in 1950 and introduced the ‘bubble dress’ four years later. Pierre’s world is made from multiple things; it is protean as well as avant-garde. He’s known for his space age designs, though he prefers geometric shapes and motifs. He advanced into unisex fashions, sometimes experimental, and not always practical.
His influence spreads far and wide: fashion, accessories, jewellery, fragrances, furniture, theatre costumes, tableware and even Maxim’s restaurants. Such is the innovating world of Pierre Cardin’s brand.
Recognised all around the world are the arithmetical forms – circles, triangles – related to the blend of traditional and new synthetic fabrics to create unique and inimitable lines. His collections are an evidence of a fierce appetite for experimentation.
A true original, Cardin granted directors Ebersole and Hughes exclusive access to his archives and his empire, and unprecedented interviews at the sunset of a glorious career.
Featuring rare footage, House of Cardin recounts his first steps as an employee at Paquin in Paris in 1945, where he worked on the exquisite costumes of Jean Cocteau’s classic Beauty and the Beast, to becoming the head of Christian Dior’s atelier and then founding his own label in 1950.
Combining acute business acumen with an almost unrivalled creation vision, Cardin was a fashion revolutionary whose designs from the 1960s and ‘70s still appear modern decades later. In what was perceived as a shocking move at the time, he was also the very first designer to branch out from haute couture into ready-to-wear, and expand his range to incorporate fashion accessories – all of which are accepted as standard practice today.
Highlights include interviews with a host of famed names including Jean-Paul Gautier, Sharon Stone, Alice Cooper, Naomi Campbell, Philippe Starck, Dionne Warwick, Kenzo Takada, Jean Michel-Jarre and Yumi Katsura.
A glittering look back at the fashion legend, House of Cardin is in cinemas on 23 July.
