House of Z

The documentary follows the life and career of the fashion designer Zac Posen. Posen rose fast at twenty one; a few years later his label fell out of favour and he had to rebuild himself. The film runs in two parts: first his childhood, his early meeting with art and his sudden success, then what came after that success. Excess, the pressure of the press and the loss of his own line make up the second half of the account. Archive footage and interviews are used side by side. The strain between art and commerce is the point the film keeps returning to. Naomi Campbell, Karen Elson and André Leon Talley are among those speaking. Sandy Chronopoulos’s eighty seven minute film, a joint Canadian and American production, was completed in 2016.