Fashion on Film 2016

The Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI) presents Fashion on Film, a carefully chosen collection of fashion documentaries hot off the runways in London, Milan, New York and Paris, as part of Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival (VAMFF). Between 25 February and 14 March 2016, marvel over the last collections of Alexander McQueen, meet Hubert de Givenchy, and learn about the hat that sat atop some of Hollywood's greatest stars. As always, each documentary is accompanied by a short film that has been handpicked from the 2016 VAMFF Film Competition.

BORSALINO CITY Unclassified 15+

Australia has the Akubra but in Hollywood and the rest of the film world, there is the Borsalino. Borsalino is not only a brand (established in Italy in 1837), it is also considered to be the ultimate Hollywood hat, aka the fedora – a mainstay of -40s gangster flicks and -50s film noir.

Screens 25 February, 5, 6 & 11 March

THE LEGACY OF ALEXANDER MCQUEEN Unclassified 15+

In celebration of one of fashion's greatest designers, director Loïc Prigent delves into the extraordinary career of Alexander McQueen. Using his last four dramatic collections – Horn of Plenty, Plato's Atlantis, The Bone Collector (menswear) and Angels and Demons – as a framework, Prigent crafts a stunning tribute to a designer who left us far too early.

Screens 27 February, 3, 9 & 14 March

JEREMY SCOTT: THE PEOPLE'S DESIGNER PG 

A celebrity-filled documentary about the polarising fashionista whose life went from country boy to couturier. Director Vlad Yudin follows Scott as he prepares for his debut runway show with Italian luxury brand Moschino in 2014. Amidst an array of personal accounts from celebrity supporters, some not-so sympathetic fashion journalists, and reflections from family members back on the farm in Missouri, the film introduces us to aristocratic stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele, always dutifully by Scott's side. 

Screens 3, 5, 7 & 12 March            

HUBERT DE GIVENCHY: A LIFE IN HAUTE COUTURE Unclassified 15+

One of the last great couturiers of France, Hubert de Givenchy began pursuing his fashion destiny as a teenager, showing up unannounced on the doorstep of Cristobal Balenciaga. While he may not have secured a position at the time, he went on to learn under Jacques Fath, then Robert Piguet and Elsa Schiaparelli in Paris, before opening his own house at just 24 years of age and going on to be the exclusive stylist of Audrey Hepburn.

Screens 4, 6, 10 & 12 March

DRESSED UP FOR WINTER 2016 (HABILLÉES POUR L'HIVER 2016) Unclassified 15+

This season, not only do the clothes come in a multitude of cuts and shapes, the runway itself takes on many forms, eschewing the traditional -t' shape for complex and challenging permutations. 

Screens 4, 6, 10 & 12 March

BORSALINO AND BUBBLES  

Last year, Fashion on Film reveled in the beautiful craftsmanship of fashion and accessories emerging from Naples in a special walking tour of Melbourne. This year, we celebrate the exceptional work of the craftspeople at Borsalino in Alessandria, Italy. 

3 March 2016