
"fast paced and utterly fascinating"
The September Issue has had some high buzz surrounding its release and it doesn't disappoint. The documentary style is fast paced and utterly fascinating. The bizarre world of fashion that surrounds Anna Wintor is clearly not just expensive fluff.
The film begins and ends with Anna Wintour. R.J. Cutler's documentary appropriately opens with a close-up on the Vogue editor in chief, who dictates seemingly every aspect of the magazine's production as well as fashion itself.
Vogue is fashion's bible, Wintour its god, and The September Issue captures divine inspiration as she and her staff craft the magazine's biggest issue yet: the September 2007 edition, which weighed almost five pounds and boasted 840 pages. "Less is more," declares Wintour in the months of preparation for the massive issue, but it's hard to see where this mandate fits in with the magazine's fashion or editorial philosophy.
At the beginning you can't help but think that frosty Anna Wintor wants Creative Director, Grace Coddington gone but what later unfolds is passion, love and respect for both the magazine and each other. A lot of inspiring screen time was given to young American designer Thakoon Panichgul, who touchingly offers himself as an example of the many rising talents Wintour has championed over the years.
"There's something about fashion that can make people very nervous" - this is true and for the duration of the film, you won't feel any less uneasy. I left the cinema liking Anna Wintor more than I thought I would and I sincerely have the utmost respect for her no bullshit approach in delivering Vogue's objectives time and time again.
No Comment