Designers love movies. It’s a fact that we at Vogue Runway know well, as every season we hear them namecheck the films that have inspired, or in some way informed, their collections. Be it a deep cut or a blockbuster, or a tried and tested favorite like, In the Mood for Love, fashion’s love affair with cinema is a tale as old as time. And it’s no one-sided romance. Designers adore movies, but the movies love them back. Who can forget the Michael Kors-designed Celine wardrobe of The Thomas Crown Affair or Giorgio Armani and Bottega Veneta on Richard Gere and Lauren Hutton in American Gigolo?
The relationship will be immortalized this Sunday, October 26 at Vogue World: Hollywood, the fourth edition of Vogue’s editorial activation. Ahead of the festivities, we asked some of our favorite designers to share the films that have ignited their creativity. Find their answers below.
Film is a huge creative touch point for me and is something about McQueen that has always resonated, as it’s always played such a role in the storytelling—not just in the shows but in the development of silhouette, color, prints. Identifying one film is tricky, but I enjoy folk horror for how rich the symbolism is. That’s what I love about The Wicker Man (1973), which was a huge reference point for the spring 2026 collection.
Italian neorealism was a special moment in the history of cinema; it represented an aesthetic and narrative revolution on a global scale, capable of capturing the soul of a country undergoing transformation. Luchino Visconti, Vittorio De Sica, and Roberto Rossellini, as well as Federico Fellini and Michelangelo Antonioni, gave voice to an Italy suspended between past and future through masterpieces that made our country famous throughout the world and have proved to be a source of great inspiration for us.
Among our favorite movies is undoubtedly Il Gattopardo, the pinnacle of realism, an evolution of neorealism in cinema. It has always held a special place in our hearts, thanks to that harmonious contrast between ancient and modern, popular and aristocratic, and the impeccable direction of Luchino Visconti. It is no coincidence that in 1988 we named our collection Il Gattopardo and that, later, this film has provided us with countless ideas in various aspects of our work. In the exhibition “From the Heart to the Hands: Dolce&Gabbana,” which is now touring the world and will soon arrive in the United States, we have dedicated a room to this masterpiece.
We have been inspired by many films; in fact, cinematic inspiration is a through line starting with our very first collection. Our latest collection, spring 2026, was inspired by the color palette and dream landscape of Robert Altman’s 3 Women. We incorporated artwork by our mother, Victoria Mulleavy, of cacti, which links to the desert landscape of the film, as well as one of the film’s central themes of exploring psychology through mural art.
So much of my work at Coach has been inspired by this film. The clothes are beautifully loveworn and lived-in, imbued with all the wear and patina you might find from something that’s been fished out from the bottom of a thrift store bin (in fact, I’ve read many of the clothes in the film were found that way.) River [Phoenix] and Keanu [Reeves] are also dressed in archetypal American pieces: moto jackets, shearling jackets, worn-in boots, and faded denim—all of which have a continued presence in our collections at Coach season over season.
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s 1968 film Teorema has always been a visual inspiration, and we referenced its odd palette for the colors in our spring 2026 collection: the contrast of faded and ultra-saturated tones, acidic pastels next to primary brights, and cool grays against the vibrancy of nature.
Big Wednesday is the seminal California surf classic—a throwback to the last days of innocence in Southern California before modern times truly caught up with the hazy surf days. What draws me to it is how the costume design exists in this perfect tension—both escapism and realism at once. It’s nostalgic, but never dated. Modern, but timeless.
Fashion isn’t just about clothes, it s about the costume of life. The story of the moment we’re in. The characteristic version of ourselves that we play in the movie of our own lives. The tales that I tell through ERL come via rich narrative moments, and help people transport themselves into a story they can carry with them in their everyday lives.
My favorite-ever film is Cloud Atlas. I love the diversity of cultures and people in the film; it has this global, universal ambition and it is visually beautiful—all things I strive for in my universe.
In the film a woman repays the friends who sheltered her with a blowout decadent feast. It asks questions about the relevance of joy and pleasure. And it really shaped my concentration on making visceral, human work. I still cry when I watch it!
One film that has long fascinated me is All About Eve. We wove fragments of its dialogue into the soundtrack of my fall 2016 show. In that collection, I was drawn to the atmosphere of old Hollywood, and we sought to evoke it by transforming the old Selfridges Hotel into a kind of film set. What intrigued me most was the tension between glamour and decay, the idea of faded grandeur.
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