‘Marc by Sofia’: Clothes friends

Sofia Coppola’s cozy documentary ‘Marc by Sofia’ captures the glamour and grind of Marc Jacobs’ runway prep

By James Verniere/Boston Movie News

The Sofia Coppola documentary “Marc by Sofia” is both an arguably too cozy portrait of a(nother) child of privilege who became a famous artist (in this case, the designer Marc Jacobs) and a fascinating look at the high-pressure weeks leading up to the Spring 2024 New York fashion show by Jacobs. Is the film an elaborate advertisement for Jacobs, complete with a dubious Paris Hilton cameo, or an insightful, even revelatory exploration of his will-o’-the-wisp-like art form? Can it be both?

Although she is getting an inside look at an institution, in this case, a haute couture fashion brand, Coppola is no fly-on-the-wall in the style of the late, lamented non-fiction icon Fred Wiseman. When Jacobs is on-camera in “Marc by Sofia,” he is responding to Coppola’s questions. Sometimes, we even hear or see her asking them. Yes, there is also a shot of the two of them literally in bed together. Beginning with a montage evoking the work of artist Andy Warhol and the director-choreographer Bob Fosse’s 1972 film adaptation of the stage musical “Cabaret,” two major influences on Jacobs, “Marc by Sofia” is nothing if not friendly. As a child, Jacobs was at his happiest when his father took him to the William Morris Agency office. But his father died when he was a boy, and Jacobs went to live on the Upper West Side with his beloved grandmother, who taught him, among other things, how to knit. Jacobs speaks fluently, but often pauses as if to make his listeners hang on his words. He grew up in New York City and went to the Parsons School of Design, where he received an award from Perry Ellis, an early influence.

Coppola recalls that they met when he supplied her with a policeman’s costume that fit her thin frame. Jacobs invokes 1970s-era British punk fashion designers Malcolm McLaren and Vivian Westwood as major influences. Jacobs also worships Yves Saint Laurent, a passion he shares with Westwood at dinner. Like Saint Laurent, Jacobs has taken design cues from fine art, other cultures, and pop-culture trends such as punk and graffiti. While he worked at the hip Manhattan clothing store Charivari as a teenager, the store chose to sell sweaters that Jacobs had designed.

In the film, Jacobs describes fashion as a “story told in shapes, colors and fabrics.” Blondie blares in the background. We learn that one of Jacobs’ clothing lines was shaped by “The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant,” a 1972 classic of New German Cinema about an unhappy female fashion designer by German auteur Rainer Werner Fassbinder. Has Jacobs seen “Phantom Thread”?

A snippet from 2018 shows Jacobs’ Fashion Week models marching in unison wearing wide-brimmed hats. The image suggests a nightmarish phalanx of behatted Melanias marching like mops in “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.” Jacobs quotes artist Warhol’s desire “to come back as a diamond on Elizabeth Taylor’s finger.” Jacobs also lists Liza (Minnelli), Diana Ross, Audrey Hepburn and Diana Vreeland’s apartment as inspirations. As a boy, he would go to Bergdorf Goodman’s once a week with his grandmother and admire all the swoon-worthy designer clothing on display. Jacobs finds a kindred spirit in contemporary New York City-based painter John Currin, who also harvests and references past masters in his work. Jacobs has an arguably unhealthy obsession with eyelashes and mascara. Perhaps because of this, he became the director of Louis Vuitton in 1997 and revived the brand. Yes, Chloe Sevigny and Ione Skye (daughter of music icon Donovan) have both walked Jacobs’ runways.

In a bit of self-promotion, Jacobs reminds us that he dressed Winona Ryder for her 2021 trial on charges of allegedly shoplifting a Jacobs sweater and other designer pieces from a Beverly Hills store. Ryder’s deep and abiding love for Jacobs’ fashion and the actor’s role as model and muse for the designer are mostly neglected by Coppola. Nor is the actor live on camera in the film. There is no doubt that designing a clothing and accessories line and choreographing a fashion show is like making a film in many ways.

A photograph of the singing group The Supremes glamorously dressed for a show seems to be the prime inspiration for much of Jacobs’ 2024 line, which features big ’60s-style wigs and oversized and bedazzled dresses. The title of Coppola’s film appears to be a play on words, Marc by Marc Jacobs, the name of Jacobs’ now-defunct subsidiary label. The behind-the-scenes look at Jacobs as he and his workers prepare for the show at New York City’s spacious Armory is very interesting and beautifully shot by Roman Coppola, Jenna Rosher and Shane Sigler. The show itself is a smash hit. There are minor crises but no major meltdowns, which I find suspicious, especially given how many tightly zipped models there are. Coppola ends with a montage of previous shows’ endings. It is fitting, to coin a phrase. But there were times when I think we may have lost the thread.

‘Marc by Sofia’

A documentary by Sofia Coppola

Rating: PG:13 for profanity, brief nudity, smoking

Running time: 1 hour, 27 minutes

Where to watch: In theaters

Grade: A-