The most iconic fashion movies offer not only aesthetic inspiration, but a cultural mirror. In fact, it could be said that few creative mediums go together quite like fashion and film. Whether it’s a director’s knack for capturing the dramatic movement of a gown on screen, or the contributions to the movie world made by fashion designers over the decades, this symbiotic relationship has created some of the most memorable onscreen moments of all time.
So whether to satisfy your curiosity about an industry so often wrapped up in mystery, to provide the backstory to some of the most important moments in fashion history, or simply to indulge in a little sartorial escapism, here, find all the most iconic fashion movies you can watch now.
Funny Face (1957)
Who will love it: Those who live for the glamour of Hollywood’s Golden Age, find musicals irresistible, and believe Paris is always a good idea.
As far as fashion films go, they don’t get much more joyous than Funny Face. Audrey Hepburn stars as Jo Stockton, a shy New York City bookshop assistant who dreams of studying philosophy in Paris. Her aspirations are realized through the unlikeliest of means after she becomes a muse to the celebrated fashion photographer Dick Avery, played by Fred Astaire. Packed with gorgeous Parisian set pieces, delightful tunes by George and Ira Gershwin, and exquisite dresses crafted both by legendary costumier Edith Head and regular Hepburn collaborator Hubert de Givenchy, it’s a perfect ode to the joys of haute couture. —Liam Hess
Iconic fashion moments: From the pink cropped capelet Hepburn wears on the runway to the drop-waist, bateau-necked wedding dress she wears in the ending sequence, there’s no shortage of breathtaking, Head and Givenchy-designed looks. The black ballet flats, black capri pants, and black turtleneck look Hepburn wears in the jazz club scene are era-defining for their 1950’s Beat Generation and French Existentialist references.
Fashion trivia: The character of editor-in-chief Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompsom) was modeled after Diana Vreeland, while Astaire’s character was inspired by legendary fashion photographer Richard Avedon.
Blow-Up (1966)
Who will love it: Fans of Art House and Experimental films, as well as those who can’t help but be fascinated by the style and music that defined the cultural revolution of 1960’s London.
One of the more sinister entries on the list, this darkly glamorous thriller directed by Italian auteur Michelangelo Antonioni is set within the heady heights of Swinging Sixties London. It weaves an unlikely tale of intrigue centered around David Hemmings’s lusty fashion photographer Thomas, who believes he has accidentally photographed a murder taking place. With hindsight, the complicated protagonist’s attitude to his female subjects is very much a product of its time—but the film’s menacing thrills are leavened by a number of fabulous cameos, from Veruschka to Jane Birkin. Blow-Up today serves as a fascinating document of a pivotal moment in fashion history. —L.H.
Iconic fashion moments: Veruschka is the quintessential “mod Goddess” as she writhes on the floor in a skimpy metallic dress duing the film’s infamous photo shoot scene; Birkin’s striped shift dresses and bangs are the epitome of wide-eyed naivety as she tries to make it on the fashion scene.
Fashion trivia: The character of Thomas was based on several real-life British fashion photographers, including David Bailey, Don McCullin, and John Cowan.
Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966)
Who will love it: Those who love French New Wave, satire, and mockumentaries will thrill to the idea that every frame looks like a vintage magazine editorial.
Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? may have been released in the same year as Blow-Up, but its vision of the Swinging Sixties is altogether more surrealist and willfully satirical. Directed by the American photographer and filmmaker William Klein, the film pokes fun at the excesses and frivolities of the fashion industry in a way that manages to be both glamorous and grotesque. Come for the costumes—which offer a brilliantly realized time capsule of 1960s style and have since inspired Jean-Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs—and stay for the brilliant performance by Grayson Hall as Miss Maxwell, an imperious, Diana Vreeland-esque fashion editor whose pithy remarks can make or break a career. —L.H.
Iconic fashion moments: Polly’s Spage Age aluminum look in the film’s opening scene is a reference to some of the era’s more outrageous styles, as defined by Paco Rabanne and André Courrèges.
Fashion trivia: Director Klein was a real-life fashion photographer for Vogue, while Dorothy McGowan, who played Polly was also a real-life model.
Mahogany (1975)
Who will love it: Fans of campy, cult-classics like Valley of the Dolls or Showgirls.
As far as portrayals of fashion designers on-screen go, they don’t get more decadent than Diana Ross’s turn as the American design student Tracy Chambers, whose clothes become an unlikely hit in the salons of high society 1970s Rome. Directed by Motown Records’ Berry Gordy, the film’s celebration of fashion at its most flamboyant and excessive also features a political message that remains relevant to this day, as Tracy is torn between her love for a Black activist fighting gentrification in her hometown of Chicago, and the glamorous but ultimately empty promises of her modeling career in Europe. Also featuring a soundtrack for the ages, Mahogany is a campy—and surprisingly conscientious—fashion fantasy. —L.H.
Iconic fashion moments: In what’s probably the film’s most referenced scene, Ross wears a sparkling floor-length cape covered in mirrored shards that are practically blinding under the spotlights; many of the films other glittering looks echo the disco glamour of Halston and Bob Mackie.
Fashion trivia: Ross designed 50 of the film’s 60+ costumes herself yet was uncredited as the costume designer. Still, her influence persists: Beyoncé, Rihanna, and Zendaya have all referenced Mahogany in photoshoots and on the red carpet.
Prêt-à-Porter (1994)
Who will love it: Anyone nostalgic for the supermodel era of the 1990s.
In Robert Altman’s sprawling, starry, and very much satirical ode to the fashion industry, nothing is quite as it seems. Employing the filmmaker’s signature mockumentary style, there are celebrity cameos from the likes of Julia Roberts, Sophia Loren, and Lauren Bacall, all playing various fashionistas descending on Paris Fashion Week in the wake of the death of Olivier de la Fontaine, the head of the city’s fashion council. While the film was both a critical and commercial bomb, the initially bemused response of the fashion industry has softened over the years into affection. As a document of the thrilling heights of the 1990s runway show, there’s no better film to watch. —L.H.
Iconic fashion moments: Keep your eyes peeled for the real-life Paris Fashoin Week looks of Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, Sonia Rykiel, Christian Lacroix, and Vivienne Westwood.
Fashion trivia: The cameo list that reads like a who’s-who of the era. In addition to Loren, Roberts, Tim Robbins, and Bacall, there’s also Anouk Aimée, Forest Whitaker, Rupert Everett, Lili Taylor, Naomi Campbell, Claudia Schiffer, and Linda Evangelista.
The Devil Wears Prada (2006)
Who will love it: Anyone who loves a power dynamic and a biting one-liner.
As far as bringing the rarefied, secretive world of fashion media into the spotlight goes, few films have been as successful as The Devil Wears Prada. Starring Meryl Streep in a thrillingly vicious, Oscar-nominated turn as Miranda Priestly, editor-in-chief of Runway magazine, we follow the journey of Anne Hathaway’s initially style-illiterate Andy Sachs as she enters this cutthroat world as Miranda’s assistant. An endlessly quotable and uproariously funny insight into the obsessive nature of those who work in fashion, the film also benefits from brilliant supporting performances by Emily Blunt and Stanley Tucci. But could the real villain of the film in fact be Andy’s boyfriend? It only takes a quick scroll through Twitter to see that debate roaring to this day. —L.H.
Iconic fashion moments: It’s impossible to pick just one, but Andy’s frumpy-to-fabulous makeover montage with its Chanel boots, sleek coats, and Hermes scarves is pretty invigorating.
Fashion trivia: Costume designer Patricia Field created over 100 outfits for the film, using a blend of real couture and ready-to-wear, including $1 million worth of Chanel to use for Hathaway’s wardrobe; Karl Lagerfeld himself personally approved the loan. Keep your eyes peeled for a cameo from Valentino in the Paris Fashion Week scenes.
Coco Before Chanel (2009)
Who will love it: Fans of biopics centered around iconic, unconventional women like Frida, Jackie, and Becoming Jane.
If you’re looking for a dose of fashion history, you can’t go wrong with Audrey Tautou’s sublime performance as Coco Chanel in her early years as a seamstress, before she would go on to found her eponymous fashion house that would redefine the modern woman’s wardrobe. With the help of elegant cinematography and art direction—and perhaps most memorably, stunning style moments courtesy of the French costume designer Catherine Leterrier, whose work on the film earned her a César Award—it’s the rare fashion biopic that goes deep below the surface, offering a moving insight into the inner world of the designer it profiles. —L.H.
Iconic fashion moments: The film traces how Chanel introduced some of the 20th century’s most influential fashion staples, from the striped Breton shirt to the little black dress.
Fashion trivia: The modern-day fashion fashion house of Chanel granted access to its archive for reference and loaned items from to ensure historical authenticity. At the time of the film’s premiere, Tautou was also the face of Chanel No. 5.
Phantom Thread (2017)
Who will love it: Those who are drawn to stories about obsession, control, and toxic love; fans of Fans of Vertigo or Black Swan.
Few films capture the obsessive, exacting nature of haute couture as deftly as Paul Thomas Anderson’s claustrophobic and brilliantly eerie Phantom Thread, which charts the relationship between the high society designer Reginald Woodcock—loosely based on Charles James—and a young woman he meets at a seaside café who becomes his muse. Daniel Day-Lewis s Oscar-nominated performance is more than matched by his co-stars Vicky Krieps and Lesley Manville, bringing this dark fairy tale to vivid, believable life. Phantom Thread’s window into the world of post-war fashion is an intoxicating, beautifully woven fairy tale—but one that ultimately feels closer to a nightmare. —L.H.
Iconic fashion moments: The elaborate gown Day-Lewis’s character designs for a royal wedding is pure, old world extravagance.
Fashion trivia: Day-Lewis learned how to sew for the film, shadowing real-world dressmakers and studying Cristobal Balenciaga’s couture techniques.
Cruella (2021)
Who will love it: Those who love a prequel and anyone who craves a darker, weirder version of The Devil Wears Prada.
While Disney’s fantastical take on the world of fashion may be a little far-fetched, it gets more right than it does wrong. It tells the origin story of 101 Dalmatians infamously stylish villain Cruella DeVil, here played in her youth by Emma Stone. Her beginnings as a renegade fashion designer—when she pushes back against the florals and frivolity of 1960s London style and introduces something darker and more dangerous to the mix—has plenty of parallels with real-world figures such as Vivienne Westwood and John Galliano. The costumes may be ahistorical (albeit intentionally so), but the tale of egos and excess in fashion is undoubtedly timeless. —L.H.
Iconic fashion moments: Cruella’s final black-and-white ensembles cheekily nod to her future obsession with Dalmatian spots.
Fashion trivia: Costume designer Jenny Beavan created 277 original looks—many of which were handmade—and later won an Academy Award for her work.
Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
Who will love it: Romantics who refuse to settle.
Audrey Hepburn plays the eccentric and naive Holly Golightly, with ever-growing ideas on how to marry rich while living in New York City. In the midst of Holly’s bustling daily activities, Paul Varjak (George Peppard) moves into her apartment building as he attempts to get his writing published after years of struggle. There are broken hearts, grief-stricken messes, and even a night in jail as Holly and Paul attempt to navigate what love looks like in their zany yet romantic world. While some will recognize the famous tune of “Moon River” featured in the film, nearly everyone will immediately recognize Holly’s black ensemble donned with jewels and a cigarette. —Gia Yetikyel
Iconic fashion moments: Let’s face it, nearly every one of Hepburn’s looks is pretty iconic by now, but the opening scene’s floor-length black Givenchy gown accessorized with opera gloves, pearls, and oversized sunglasses is probably the most legendary.
Fashion trivia: The film continued the partnership between Hubert de Givenchy and Hepburn after Sabrina. It also boosted Tiffany’s reputation as a jeweler, with visits to the 5th Avenue store increasing significantly after the film was released.
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The Dressmaker (2015)
Who will love it: Fans of Death Becomes Her or Fargo and those who appreciate absurd humor.
Myrtle Dunnage (Kate Winslet) returns to her rural hometown in Australia after having been blamed for her classmate s death decades prior. Myrtle now goes by Tilly, and has rebranded herself as a couture designer and seamstress who catches many eyes upon her arrival. The comedy-drama shows Tilly teaching the locals that a dress can be far more than a simple garment. But as she styles the women of her town with glamorous threads, Tilly also seeks revenge on those who wronged her all those years ago. Tilly’s fiery home and final kick of red fabric engulfed in flames rolling down a hill into the town make for a memorable finale. —G.Y.
Iconic fashion moments: Winslet’s curve-hugging, red dress with corresponding hat and gloves in the homecoming scene is the ultimate revenge look.
Fashion trivia: Many of the cinched waist silhouettes reference 1950s Balenciaga as well as Dior’s New Look.
House of Gucci (2021)
Who will love it: Fashion history aficionados who get a kick out of true crime.
Based on a true story, House of Gucci follows Patrizia Reggiani as she marries into the Gucci family; her ambition starts a chain reaction of betrayal, vengeance, and murder. The film is full of dazzling outfits and family drama, not to mention the iconic line, “Father, Son, House of Gucci.” Plus, the dramatic retelling of the Italian fashion empire s tale features stars like Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, and even Al Pacino. —G.Y.
Iconic fashion moments: The entire film is a feast for the eyes, but Jared Leto’s pastel suits as Paolo Gucci might take the cake, er, the cannoli.
Fashion trivia: Gaga’s more than 70 costumes include vintage Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, and custom couture recreations by costume designer Janty Yates who combed the archives to ensure authenticity.
