Mademoiselle C (Documentary by Fabien Constant)

Carine Roitfeld has been one of my favourite fashion icons and editors for a while now. Her style and identity has been a muse for many fashion designers and photographers, such as Karl Lagerfeld and Bruce Weber, from as soon as she started out in the industry. Not only is she an inspiration for their work, but she also shares such a strong friendship with the two which has been documented in the 2013 fashion film 'Mademoiselle C' by Fabien Constant. During the documentary, viewers follow the journey of Carine Roitfeld from her departure as editor in chief at Vogue Paris in 2011, through to the creation of her own independent fashion book 'CR' (named after the editor herself) which first went on sale in 2012.

However, unlike the pages of Vogue, as she expresses in the documentary, Roitfeld did not just want her fashion book to be primarily about fashion. Comprehensively, the former model also wanted to explores the notions of life, dance and performance to cultivate a product of fine art and longevity, rather than a magazine that studies current high fashion and one that will possibly never be read again, once another months issue hits the news-stands.

Throughout the editorials of her publication, Roitfeld has intentionally captured a narrative that communicates themes of neo-punk, explicit elegance and refers to daring concepts. This allowed the editor to let her captivated rebellious attitude (due to her bourgeoisie education) loose and to create an alternative point of view in comparison to her strictly high fashion work at Vogue which she had been well known for.

What makes the documentary so special is that as a viewer, you get to know Roitfeld through the screen and realise that for such an in demand, experienced women of fashion, she does not let her career get in the way of her personal life and treats every person like they were one of her closest. Furthermore, her confidence in her work is so inspirational as she shows that a person should never give up on what they believe in and what they have worked hard to achieve. Even if your model does cancel on you seven hours before the make or break fashion photo shoot of your whole career, which we see happen to Roitfeld in the documentary. However, in her calm and collected way, she pulls through and happens to create a fashion book that sells out within the first two weeks of sale, showing that it is possible to make it on your own if you have the determination and enthusiasm for fashion, culture and of course, success.



Daft Punk for CR Fashion Book "DIGITAL LOVE" Editorial



A Model Strolls Through a Cemetery in the First Issue of Carine Roitfeld's CR Fashion Book



The two covers for the launch of Carine Roitfeld's fashion book 'CR' in 2012



Carine Roitfeld CR Fashion Book - Liza Golden

[images: credits to CR publication]

After several successful editions of her fashion book, CR 8 will go on sale on the 25th February 2016