The films and books that explain fashion best, for a weekend of watching and reading.
By Shreya S · Last reviewed 15 November 2026
Which documentaries are about designers?
Unzipped (1995) follows Isaac Mizrahi making a collection. Valentino: The Last Emperor (2008) captures the end of Valentino Garavani’s career. Dior and I (2014) follows Raf Simons’s first couture collection in eight weeks, with the atelier’s seamstresses as the stars. McQueen (2018) is a moving portrait of Alexander McQueen, and Halston (2019) tells the rise and fall of America’s first superstar designer.
And about the people around fashion?
The September Issue (2009) goes inside American Vogue. Bill Cunningham New York (2010) follows the street-style photographer on his bicycle. Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel (2011) and Iris (2014) are portraits of two great originals, and The True Cost (2015) looks at the human cost of fast fashion.
Which books explain the business?
Dana Thomas has written three essentials: Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster (2007), on the corporate takeover of luxury; Gods and Kings (2015), on John Galliano and Alexander McQueen; and Fashionopolis (2019), on fashion’s environmental cost. Alicia Drake’s The Beautiful Fall (2006) tells the rivalry of Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent.
And memoirs and history?
Diana Vreeland’s D.V. (1984) and Grace Coddington’s Grace: A Memoir (2012) are the great editors’ memoirs. Robin Givhan’s The Battle of Versailles (2015) tells the story of the 1973 show that put American fashion on the map. For more on fashion and the screen, see fashion on film.
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