Prêt-à-Porter (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Prêt-à-Porter (English: Ready to Wear) is a 1994 satirical black comedy written, directed and produced by Robert Altman and shot during the Paris, France, Fashion Week with a host of international stars, models and designers.
The film features an extensive ensemble cast, including Anouk Aimée, Marcello Mastroianni, Sophia Loren, Kim Basinger, Stephen Rea, Lauren Bacall, Julia Roberts, Tim Robbins, Lili Taylor, and Sally Kellerman.
Plot
Models, designers, industry hot shots and journalists gather for Paris Fashion Week, to work, bicker, and try to seduce each other. Early on, Fashion Council head Olivier de la Fontaine chokes to death on a sandwich, leaving behind a wife, a mistress, and a mysterious Russian companion who has fled the scene.
As the death is being investigated, Fashion Week continues. Injecting herself between the designers, American television personality Kitty gets sound bites from the high-fashion types throughout the length of the show.
Meanwhile, Anne and Joe are two American journalists, thrown together into the same over-booked room. They are meant to cover the show for their respective papers, but skip out on the majority of the festivities to have a hotel-room tryst during the week.
Three rival magazine editors from Harper's Bazaar, British Vogue and Elle vie for the exclusive services of Milo O'Brannigan, a trendy photographer who sexually humiliates the three; leading them to vow vengeance against him.
Sergei, a fading icon (and the mysterious Russian with Olivier when he died) and Isabella (Olivier's widow) hope to rekindle a romance from decades ago, but as they attempt to be intimate, Sergei falls asleep.
In the end, Fontaine's former mistress Simone sends her models down the catwalk nude in protest of her son Jack's (who incidentally had been cheating on his model girlfriend with another model) sale of her brand. Kitty quits on the spot, as the nudity confuses her. The final scene is of Olivier de la Fontaine's funeral procession, after the police declared him dead from choking on a sandwich.
Cast
- Marcello Mastroianni as Sergei/Sergio
- Sophia Loren as Isabella de la Fontaine
- Anouk Aimée as Simone Lowenthal
- Rupert Everett as Jack Lowenthal
- Julia Roberts as Anne Eisenhower
- Tim Robbins as Joe Flynn
- Kim Basinger as Kitty Potter
- Stephen Rea as Milo O'Brannigan
- Forest Whitaker as Cy Bianco
- Richard E. Grant as Cort Romney
- Lauren Bacall as Slim Chrysler
- Lyle Lovett as Clint Lammeraux
- Lili Taylor as Fiona Ulrich
- Sally Kellerman as Sissy Wanamaker
- Tracey Ullman as Nina Scant
- Linda Hunt as Regina Krumm
- Teri Garr as Louise Hamilton
- Danny Aiello as Major Hamilton
- Ute Lemper as Albertine
- Rossy de Palma as Pilar
- Chiara Mastroianni as Sophie Choiset
- Jean-Pierre Cassel as Olivier de la Fontaine
- Georgianna Robertson as Dane Simpson
- Jean Rochefort as Inspector Tantpis
- Michel Blanc as Inspector Forget
- François Cluzet as Nina's assistant
- Kasia Figura as Sissy's assistant
- Sam Robards as Regina's assistant
- Alexandra Vandernoot as Sandra de la Notte
The film includes various cameo appearances from fashion industry figures, including designers Jean-Paul Gaultier and Björk modeling for him, Thierry Mugler, Sonia Rykiel, Christian LaCroix, Gianfranco Ferré, and Issey Miyake, and models such as Christy Turlington, Helena Christensen, Linda Evangelista, Claudia Schiffer, Carla Bruni, and Naomi Campbell. Cher, Björk, Rossy de Palma and Harry Belafonte also make cameos.
