Designer Marathon: Chanel (Volume 1, #8)

Culled from more than three decades of Videofashion library archives, this eighth program from the first volume in the Designer Marathon series focuses on the House of Chanel, particularly chief designer Karl Lagerfeld. Combining archival footage and interviews spanning Lagerfeld's reign as artistic director from 1983 right up through the 2007-08 winter show, Designer Marathon: Chanel also includes clips of founder Coco Chanel, along the way painting a historic portrait of the famed haute couture brand from its roots in the early 1900s to the label's continuing evolution as a contemporary trendsetter in style. Overlaid narration accompanies fashion show clips, runway footage, and interviews, while the program also takes viewers to a perfuming laboratory, inside the 57th St. boutique, and backstage to watch hair and makeup teams at work. Competitors Valentino, Marc Jacobs, and Tom Ford; models Ines, Naomi Campbell, Veronica Webb, and Shalom Harlow; and celebs such as Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Nicole Kidman (who starred in a 2004 commercial for Chanel No. 5 directed by Baz Lurhmann), and Elijah Wood are also seen throughout this informative and entertaining look at a fashion house legend. Recommended. [Note: other titles in the series include John Paul Gaultier, Marc Jacobs, Donatella Versace, Fendi, Prada, and Dolce & Gabbana.] Aud: C, P. (J. Williams-Wood)