Before there was The September Issue, there was Unzipped – a documentary that offered a rare glimpse into the innermost workings of the fashion industry, detailing the run-up to Isaac Mizrahi’s celebrated autumn/winter 1994 collection. Captured by the designer’s then-partner Douglas Keeve, the film reveals not only the highs and lows of working in the industry, but a candid who’s who of ’90s fashion stars, featuring the likes of Naomi Campbell, Kate Moss, Linda Evangelista, Carla Bruni and Helena Christensen — while placing viewers smack bang in the middle of the action. Note: you will get invested. Be prepared to share the sense of accomplishment as the final credits roll.
The Doom Generation (1995)
Photography Alamy
If there’s one thing director Gregg Araki is known for, it’s his bold vision of what the world teetering on the brink of the apocalypse would look like: flamboyantly stylised, sensual and… punk rock? Sandwiched between 1993’s Totally F***ed Up and 1997’s Nowhere as part of his celebrated Teenage Apocalypse Trilogy, Doom centres on Amy (Rose McGowan in her breakout role), her boyfriend Jordan and hitchhiker Xavier on the run from an accidental murder. It’s a slang-laden, drug-addled, angst-riddled coming-of-age story – and it just so happens to be one of the most stylish films of the 1990s, with each character inhabiting a specific sartorial space.
Paying homage to James Dean in Giant (1956), Xavier embodies the archetypical 1950s rebel (think tight jeans, cowboy boots, unbuttoned denim shirt and white cowboy hat, complete with a cigarette dangling from his lips), while Amy epitomises ’90s SoCal glam-punk: oversized leather jackets, Dr Martens, vintage dresses and cat-eye sunglasses. Finally, Jordan’s (deliberately) ripped clothing appears to mirror his lacerated view of the world. Twenty seven years later, Doom’s aesthetic feels surprisingly contemporary.
Catwalk (1995)
Photography Shutterstock