You Will Be With Us In Paradise Is The New Fashion Documentary We Needed

When you think about fashion documentaries, you might conjure up the romantic cinematography of Dior and I or the emotional talking heads of McQueen. But with You Will Be With Us In Paradise, a new, satirical look at the industry, director Isaac Lock has flipped the fashion film genre on its head.

The documentary takes a peek behind the fashion curtain, following the revival of iconic Italian fashion house Fiorucci. Revealing what it truly takes to successfully 'rebrand' a well-loved but out-of-sync label, the film unpicks the notion of a comeback and the reality of refreshing a 1970s brand in the digital landscape of the 21st century.

Fiorucci launched in Milan in 1967 and soon became the poster child of 1970s New York. From its signature vinyl trousers to its cherub iconography, the brand was synonymous with the hedonism of the disco era, counting Andy Warhol, Cher, Jackie Onassis and Madonna among its many fans. For a while it rode the wave of liberation and rebellion but before long, fell out of favour.

Fast-forward to 2015 and former Victoria’s Secret CEO Janie Schaffer and business partner Stephen take on the challenge of reviving Fiorucci for the millennial market. Following the duo as they work to relaunch the brand in 2017, the documentary shows them juggling everything from construction complications at the brand’s flagship store in Soho’s Brewer Street to chaotic party planning ahead of the relaunch at London Fashion Week.

But don’t fret – if you're after a look at Fiorucci’s contribution to fashion history, the film also supplies this in spades, featuring interviews with the likes of Diane von Furstenberg as well as former Fiorucci employees. Performance artist Joey Arias, who worked at the brand's New York concept store in its heyday, gives perhaps the best accounts of Fiorucci’s cultural significance, spinning tales about Calvin Klein dropping by and in-store baristas who would lace the coffee with shots of speed.

While the film is a raucous look at the weird and wonderful world of fashion (and a much-needed antidote to the oh-so-serious grandeur of films like The September Issue), our highlight has to be the incredible dancers from the Theo Adams Company who are hired for Fiorucci’s grand reopening. Including professional Sicilian mourners and flying cherubs shooting laser beams, the Giallo-inspired choreography evokes the eccentricity and playfulness of Fiorucci, and provides the film's most visually stunning sequences.

You Will Be With Us In Paradise does a brilliant job of juxtaposing the madcap extravagance of Fiorucci’s 1970s heyday with the much less glamorous reality of what goes on behind the scenes of the fashion industry. Accentuating this opposition with a comedically contrasting soundtrack, the film takes a smart and satirical look at fashion, and the blood, sweat and tears it takes to merge the old and the new.