Handmade with Love in France
Cineplex Odeon
Sunday, Feb. 9, 4:30 p.m.; Feb. 9, 9:45 p.m.
Rating: Four stars
Director Julie Georgia Bernard’s slight but fascinating behind-the-scenes fashion documentary is as irresistible as the French artisans whose under-appreciated contributions to haute couture the film affectionately celebrates.
They’re a dying breed, these victims of globalization who for decades have lovingly operated out of cramped Parisien ateliers that are now being purchased by design labels such as Chanel, Dior and Hermes.
The film’s endearing craftspersons include Gerard Lognon, an amusingly grumpy, straight-shooting pleat maker whose ancient, painstaking process of pleating fabrics for runway models using giant cardboard molds that he heats up is a wonder to watch; fourth-generation artificial flower maker Bruno Legeron; hatmaker Lorenzo Re, whose carving of wooden hat moulds is mind-boggling, and feather guru Eric Charles Donatien.
After you get to know these interesting personalities, whose artistry-in-action Bernard lovingly photographs and intercuts with dazzling shots of their embroidered and bejewelled finished products, you’ll be less inclined to complain about the higher costs of name brand fashions. The title says it all.