Culture

Mything in action: Fashion designers in documentary film

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Abstract

Fashion documentaries have become a juggernaut in the constitution of fashion designer identity over the past several years. Presuming to offer a 'peek behind the curtain' via access to the inner workings of fashion brands ant he creative minds at their helm, they are also carefully constructed narratives setting the parameters of how fashion designers are perceived. I seek to deconstruct the film narratives to examine the 'how' and 'to what end' of their myth building. What does being a fashion designer mean in these carefully constituted worlds? What discursive practices are used to build these icons? How does one come to know the designer and their cultural worth through this medium? Approaching the documentaries through the lens of critical discourse analysis, I 'read' the documentaries as multimodal texts, seeking to delineate the discursive practices engaged in five documentaries produced since 2014 to build mythic narratives around the designers profiled.

Keywords: fashion designers, discourse studies, fashion studies, documentary film

How to Cite:

Jones, K. B., (2020) “Mything in action: Fashion designers in documentary film”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 77(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.11857