Netflixing Fashionably

Enter Carine Roitfield. A name many in the fashion industry are familiar with. If it doesn’t ring a bell, checking out “Mademoiselle C” on Netflix might be a great way to spend your evening or take a break from binge watching. The documentary follows Carine through all her struggles and wonderful moments as she sets out to launch her magazine titled CR. 

However she is not a newcomer to the fashion world,  her early careers include; working for Vogue Paris for 10 year and being Mario Testino’s stylist as well as Tom Ford’s muse. Carine has many wise words and lessons for the future aspiring business owners, fashion editors, and simply people with big dreams who are driven and are not afraid to pursue their aspirations. A perfect sentence to describe her is as “A great performer, [who] will always need a stage to perform” said by Stephen Gan, president of fashion media group. This is one of the ultimate reasons why she left Vogue, she wanted to pursue her own business and to create a magazine and find her own so called “stage”. The journey to launch a magazine is not an easy one, it requires a lot of drive, risk, creativity and a very business minded persona. Over the years fashion has become increasingly more of a business and has deviated from its original definition as an art. However as much as the public understands that fashion is a multibillion dollar making industry, we all crave to see art and magical stories and not just advertisements, according to Carine.

The spreads of her magazine tell those mystical and magical tales perfectly, from a guardian angel to a young revolutionary to a mother holding a baby, she is capturing the story that extends beyond the pages of the magazine. The motto that Carine sets is “ fashion can’t matter more than the individual” she is adding life to every one of her spreads, it’s not just about different garments but it is about people as individuals and what we like, love, what is relevant in our life from a very intimate perspective. I personally recommend everyone to see this documentary, because it truly shows the insider point of view of how hard it is to start a business, the mishaps along the way,  and to simply start with nothing and to really connect every small detail together and create a theme that appeals to the masses. This is my favorite documentary hands down. Carine is absolutely beautiful, sarcastic, charming, and incredibly smart, a true “Parisian” not just in style but also class, she can teach everyone a bit something.

Berta Amelinaite