William Klein: Fashion in France (Mode en France) William Klein, France 1986, 35mm transferred to digital files, 90 min Source: Walker Art Center

Klein returns to the fashion industry after a long hiatus with an eccentric filmic survey of haute couture in the 1980s, a humorous hybrid of designer tableaux with music by Serge Gainsbourg. Starting with an accelerated history of women's fashion since the beginning of the Twentieth century, Klein proceeds to create twelve distinct scenarios to showcase the work of then-emerging couturiers such as Jean-Paul Gaultier, Karl Lagerfeld, Kenzo and Agnès B. Klein playfully switches between genres, from comedy to ballet, from film noir to pseudo-documentary. We see an elaborate street scene featuring a crowd of characters entirely dressed by Gaultier, then Grace Jones appears as a thespian in a stylized studio sequence for Alaïa; in another sequence, seedy peepshow booths become confessionals for models baring their souls whilst fully clad in Chantal Thomass' designs. A rarely seen gem for fashion junkies.