Anna Wintour on the Nuances of Reality vs. Documentary
From yesterday's WWD, a snippet of Vogue editor Anna Wintour's speech at the MPA retailer's conference in Orlando this Monday:
"We were offered Project Runway' first, and we turned it down," she said. "Vogue is not in the business of making entertainment out of the struggles of new designers. We're in the business of nurturing the next generation of American talent."
She was speaking, of course, of competitor Elle's involvement with Bravo's hit reality show. So lowbrow, really — Anna would only approve a nuturing project about the struggles of new designers, like a feature-length documentary:
"Seamless" documents the establishment of a new fund created jointly by Vogue Magazine and the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers) in fall 2004 and the process by which ten finalists are weeded down to one winner. The filmmaker follows three of these ten fashion lines — Doo-Ri, menswear line Cloak (designed by Alexandre Plokhov), and Proenza Schouler (designed by the disarming and charming duo Lazaro Hernandez and Jack McCollough). We see the struggles of the jury — composed of fashion editors (Anna Wintour), young but established designers (Narciso Rodriguez), and CFDA members as they determine the purpose of the award and then interview the designers, travel to showrooms and watch their shows for spring 2005.
Because Anna sticks to her word, we're sure that Seamless isn't the least bit entertaining. Except for whenever she's on the screen, that is.