Fashion in France (Mode en France) (NR)

synopsis

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 neighbourhood are dressed by Gaultier.