When I was growing up in Toronto, the weekend 6:30pm time slot was reserved for family TV time. Specifically CityTV’s Fashion Television (FT).  I think it began with my mom wanting to followup on the latest trends and fashion designers.  For my Dad and I, it was a chance to check out the models and get the rare glimpse of booby on the runway.  I can’t remember when this ritual started, but I’ve been watching FT since primary school  (although the network and time slot have changed).

I’m not too fussy about what I wear myself, but since watching FT, I’ve always been conscious of the world of fashion and maintained an interest from a distance.  Most of it probably has to due with hanging around my wife (who loves the stuff); watching all the programs, following all the blogs and reading the magazines on the toilet.  After watching a few recent fashion films, I discovered it wasn’t the fashion industry itself, but rather the creative process of building a collection that I liked.  Designer influences from art and music, material choices, presentation, construction and the quirky characters involved, were all elements that were similarly apparent in the toy industry.  Regardless of what it is, each person’s process of building something from scratch is interesting to me.

For any creative, I highly recommend the following film (if you can find it).  The film is Marc Jacobs & Louis Vuitton.  It’s a great behind the scenes view of how he puts his collections together.  You get to see the strong influence of art in his work, the construction machine behind a brand like LVMH and how ghetto it really can be.

Probably more for the fashion lover, I’d also recommend The September Issue.  It’s a behind the scenes view of what goes into Vogue Magazine’s largest annual issue (The September Issue) and a rare glimpse of Vogue Editor and Chief, Anna Wintour (the basis of Meryl Streep’s character in the Devil Wears Prada).

A not so good fashion documentary for me was Lagerfeld Confidentiel.  This is an up-close and personal portrait of fashion icon, Karl Lagerfeld, head designer and creative director of the fashion house, Chanel. This one was bit slow for me and more about the man himself rather than the design process.

I’d also recommend any season of Bravo TV’s Project Runway reality show (including the Canadian version). This blood, sweat and tears reality TV fashion design competition really shows you both the fashion design process and the constructions skills you need to succeed (something you don’t see too much of in the films above).

Speaking of fashion, I recently purchased a six card postcard set from artist, Darcel.  The set was created to celebrate fashion week in New York.  Included in the set are inspired illustrations of:
Anna  Wintour
Suzy Menkes
Karl Lagerfeld
Tom Ford
John Galliano
Marc Jacobs
Tavi
Carine Roitfeld
Grace Coddington
Alber Elbaz

Darcel is best known for his Eye character.  Check out his blog for his “everyday life in New York” experience illustrated using his character.