Julia Restoin-Roitfeld At Tribeca Film Festival

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Julia Restoin-Roitfeld photograph © 2014 Getty Images. All Rights Reserved.

Pre-Order Mademoiselle C DVD

If, like me, you are still waiting to see the film Mademoiselle C about Carine Roitfeld and the making of her CR Fashion Book, relief is on the way… the Mademoiselle C DVD releases on 11 March 2014! If you pre-order your copy now on Amazon, you are guaranteed to receive Mademoiselle C the day it comes out. I know how I will be spending 93 minutes of my birthday…. While we wait, be sure to enjoy the impressions of Mademoiselle C shared by Dara Block and Jascmeen Bush or my interview with the director of the film, Fabien Constant. 

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Carine Roitfeld Mademoiselle C DVD Cover © 2013 Cohen Media. Carine Roitfeld photo courtesy of instagram.com/helenatejedor.

Carine Roitfeld In "The Client"

Carine Roitfeld In "The Client"
By Jessica Eritou

In spirit of Carine Roitfeld's documentary Mademoiselle C, IWTBAR explores the documentary short “The Client,” filmed two years ago by the same director and producer of the full length film, Fabien Constant. The filming took place during Paris Couture Week in 2011 covering over twenty fashion shows for W Magazine.

What makes this short significant is that fans of Roitfeld can watch as she selects, fits, and models the couture gowns she usually styles for herself, only this time for W, in the editorial "The One and Only" for their October issue in 2011.

Constant follows Roitfeld as she ventures all week to various fashion shows, in her car, meeting fans who want to put her signed photos up on eBay. In classic Roitfeld fashion, she dryly admits it's a good idea since you can see how much you are worth.

The short includes coverage from Giorgio Armani Privé, where, at an early 10 a.m. show there is already champagne flowing for the guests. “I'm here to be fitted in the clothes,” she explains to Giorgio himself after the show.

We see Roitfeld meeting Riccardo Tisci for Givenchy Couture as the location was set up in a quaint showroom as if it were for Louis XVI.

The best part of the short captures Roitfeld explaining how she is wearing all these different pieces but still wants the clothing to be about her with shirts and skirts since they are her staples. You can see her genius reaction to what she is wearing and in what she feels most comfortable. Constant filmed Roitfeld outside speaking to him where she says, “To be Carine, it's mostly a skirt.” And it's true.

At her stop at Alaïa, the designer himself said to her, “Listen, when you look after clients, that's how you learn. Because if you don't see how a design is worn or what women want, or how they want to wear it, you're just designing in a void. And that isn't good.” Frankly, this is some of the best advice for anyone in the design world.

The W issue featuring Roitfeld, shot by Paolo Roversi, captured her feminine yet strong aesthetic. We are able to see Roitfeld's personality through the clothes immensely. A favorite would be the black-and-white image of her in the military gusset pocketed day suit by Chanel which leads off this article.

Despite her privilege and connection in the fashion world, Carine Roitfeld comes across as humble throughout the short. For those who may not have been able to catch Constant's full documentary in theatres, this will give you a sneak peek while we wait for the home release of Mademoiselle C in 2014.

View "The Client"

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Carine Roitfeld photographs © 2011 Condé Nast. All Rights Reserved.

Mademoiselle C And Beyond

Mademoiselle C and Beyond
By Dara Block

One of the best parts about living in Los Angeles is that you have easy access to films that are not so mainstream. Last week, when I saw that Mademoiselle C was playing on the big screen, I immediately ran to the theatre. I love a good fashion documentary and when you have a storyline based around Carine Roitfeld starting her own magazine... well, you know that is going to be a total fashion extravaganza! I really enjoyed watching the film and rather than giving a detailed plot analysis I thought I would pay close attention to a couple of key moments in the film that I find memorable and inspiring!

First, I must applaud director Fabien Constant for incorporating such visual style in the film. I love the opening of Mademoiselle C with all those glamorous night time shots of New York City and those detailed sartorialist images of various women in high heels. It is very Carine Roitfeld and I am sure she loved those moments, as well. I also liked the music in the film. I read that the band, The Shoes provided the soundtrack for Mademoiselle C and I think there is a great electronic-pop-noir sound that corresponds so well with each scene of the movie.

For a while now, I wondered why Carine Roitfeld left Vogue Paris and I was very intrigued to hear her side of the story and to also see her start from scratch and to brainstorm with her new team at CR Fashion Book. The viewer gets to witness her and Stephen Gan putting together the first issue of her magazine, which was based on the idea of Rebirth. The inspiration came from her daughter Julia's pregnancy and also from Carine herself, as she was in the process of taking on this new project. I guess you could say the first issue was all about new beginnings. I think Carine summed it up best when she said, I gave up my crown to start something new.

I so appreciated how the film went behind the scenes with some of her editorials for the first issue of CR Fashion Book. Personally, I loved seeing the process of how she works when she is on set especially with the layout "A Woman's Life," which was photographed by Sebastian Faena. I have always been intrigued by that image of model Juliet Ingleby wearing that sheer violet veil scarf as she walks through the cemetery with those three girls all dressed in black leather right behind her... that probably has to be one of the best noir chic moments that Carine Roitfeld has ever styled... amazing to see this one being put together!

I also loved seeing the behind-the-scenes of "Lucho and Juliet," which was a fairy tale written and photographed by Tom Ford. As we all know Carine Roitfeld is Tom Ford's muse so we get to see that dynamic creative bond that they share on screen. I think it's great how they both understand each other on such a deep and artistic level. I also love seeing how meticulous Tom Ford is as a photographer... he has quite the eye. The best part of that scene was when Tom Ford included his housemaid in the editorial. It's quite funny to see his housekeeper trying to assimilate with his models. I so love finding out all those tiny details, it definitely adds a little character to the layout.

I also enjoyed going behind the scenes of "Hush Little Baby Don't You Cry." We get to see Carine Roitfeld catch a plane from New York City to Miami and work together on a farm with photographer Bruce Weber and model Kate Upton. It's really fascinating to see her conceive an idea with some goats, models, and newborn babies. I also liked how we got the backstory of the cover with that cute little girl and those rabbit ears holding that newborn child. From watching Mademoiselle C we discover that the baby is actually peeing on her and that is why she had that expression on her face. In addition, I liked the way Carine Roitfeld interacted with that little girl. We see her adjusting her rabbit ears and telling Bruce Weber that she thinks she looks like a young Romy Schneider. It was so delightful seeing Carine Roitfeld in total creative mode... it seemed like everyone that works with her totally responds to her energy and artistic vision.

I think my favorite moment in the film has to be when we see Carine Roitfeld practicing ballet with her instructor. This is a side that we never see of Carine and it was quite intriguing to see her work on her pliés and get down into a full split. Who knew she was that flexible? It's clear that dance and discipline play an important role in her life and I admire that she chose Dance as her next theme for the second issue of CR Fashion Book. Carine Roitfeld beautifully shows that life does indeed imitate art.

As you can see, there are so many key moments in the film and I loved seeing all the behind-the-scenes footage from her first issue of CR Fashion Book. What I appreciated most about the film is the way in which Carine Roitfeld took inspiration from her own life and manifested her vision into such thought provoking editorials that truly go above and beyond. I think Riccardo Tisci summed it up best when he was describing Carine Roitfeld in the film... he said, she loves fashion, she lives fashion, she breathes fashion, she's neoclassic, but still punk. I couldn't agree more. So on that note, if you have not seen the film do yourself a favor and see it. Carine Roitfeld is what true inspiration is all about.

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Carine Roitfeld Mademoiselle C film stills © 2013 Fabien Constant and Cohen Media; courtesy of modelinia.com and untitled-magazine.com. CR Fashion Book images courtesy of crfashionbook.com.

Mademoiselle C: Leather Clad Heroine

Mademoiselle C: Leather Clad Heroine
By Jascmeen Bush

I was granted a prescreening of the Mademoiselle C documentary for press only and wanted to share my review of the film (without giving too much away) with my fellow Roitfeld enthusiasts.

Surely they expect "press" to view the film once, write about it, then move on with their lives. Do you think I did that? Absolutely not! I watched it over and over and over!

How could I resist re-watching my leather clad heroine, in all her smokey eyed glory, recount the first time she listened to Jay Z, what keeps her relationship working, and what it's really like collaborating with Karl Lagerfeld? There was an adorable cameo by Kanye West, with appearances by Alber Elbaz, Riccardo Tisci, and Tom Ford to name a few, each of whom were nothing less than enchanted by our beloved Carine.

Watching Carine jet set, or rather, helicopter set from one fabulous event to the next is truly awe-inspiring, but the most inspirational part of the film had to be her eloquent, delicate inability to describe her occupation for customs.

(Come on, how fab is that?)

There's so much more I'd love to divulge, but I'll exercise a bit of restraint (just this once!) in hope that you all will treat yourself to a little Parisian chic and check out the movie for yourselves.

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Carine Roitfeld Mademoiselle C film stills © 2013 Fabien Constant and Cohen Media.