Prêt-à-Porter (film)
Encyclopedia
Prêt-à-Porter is a 1994 American satirical
black
comedy film
co-written, directed, and produced by Robert Altman
and shot during the Paris, France, Fashion Week
with a host of international stars, models and designers. The film may be best known for its many cameo appearance
s and its final scene which features two minutes of nude female models walking the catwalk.
As themselves
Designers
Models
.
Golden Globes 1995
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
black
Black comedy
A black comedy, or dark comedy, is a comic work that employs black humor or gallows humor. The definition of black humor is problematic; it has been argued that it corresponds to the earlier concept of gallows humor; and that, as humor has been defined since Freud as a comedic act that anesthetizes...
comedy film
Comedy film
Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on humour. They are designed to elicit laughter from the audience. Comedies are mostly light-hearted dramas and are made to amuse and entertain the audiences...
co-written, directed, and produced by Robert Altman
Robert Altman
Robert Bernard Altman was an American film director and screenwriter known for making films that are highly naturalistic, but with a stylized perspective. In 2006, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences recognized his body of work with an Academy Honorary Award.His films MASH , McCabe and...
and shot during the Paris, France, Fashion Week
Fashion Week
A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, which allows fashion designers, brands or "houses" to display their latest collections in runway shows and buyers and the media to take a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, these events let the industry know...
with a host of international stars, models and designers. The film may be best known for its many cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
s and its final scene which features two minutes of nude female models walking the catwalk.
Cast
- Marcello MastroianniMarcello MastroianniMarcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe Awards.- Personal life :...
as Sergei/Sergio - Sophia LorenSophia LorenSophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
as Isabella de la Fontaine - Julia RobertsJulia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
as Anne Eisenhower - Jean-Pierre CasselJean-Pierre CasselJean-Pierre Cassel was a French actor.-Life and career:Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite , an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor. Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road...
as Olivier de la Fontaine - Kim BasingerKim BasingerKimila Ann "Kim" Basinger is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for her portrayals of Domino Petachi, the Bond girl in Never Say Never Again , and Vicki Vale, the female lead in Batman . Basinger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture...
as Kitty Potter - Chiara MastroianniChiara MastroianniChiara Charlotte Mastroianni is a French actress and singer.-Biography:Mastroianni was born in Paris, the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni. Her elder half-brother is Christian Vadim; her elder half-sister is Barbara Mastroianni.She had relationships with the actors Benicio...
as Sophie Choiset - Stephen ReaStephen ReaStephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...
as Milo O'Brannigan - Anouk AiméeAnouk AiméeAnouk Aimée is a French film actress. Aimée has appeared in 70 films since 1947. She began her film career in 1947 at age 14. In 1958 she portrayed the tragic artist Jeanne Hébuterne in the film Les Amants de Montparnasse...
as Simone Lowenthal - Rupert EverettRupert EverettRupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
as Jack Lowenthal - Rossy de PalmaRossy de PalmaRossy de Palma, is a Spanish actress. Described by many as a Picasso come-to-life, Rossy de Palma broke the rules of beauty in 1988 when she starred in Pedro Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and became a model and muse for designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, and...
as Pilar - Forest WhitakerForest WhitakerForest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...
as Cy Bianco - Richard E. GrantRichard E. GrantRichard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...
as Cort Romney - Tim RobbinsTim RobbinsTimothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
as Joe Flynn - Lauren BacallLauren BacallLauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
as Slim Chrysler - Lyle LovettLyle LovettLyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
as Clint Lammeraux - Tracey UllmanTracey UllmanTracey Ullman is a British stage and television actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, screenwriter and author ....
as Nina Scant - Tara Leon as Kiki Simpson
- Georgianna RobertsonGeorgianna RobertsonGeorgianna Robertson is a Jamaican born fashion model and actress. She has appeared on over covers of Spanish, French and Italian editions of Elle and Vogue Paris...
as Dane Simpson - Lili TaylorLili TaylorLili Anne Taylor is an American actress notable for her appearances in such award-winning indie films as Mystic Pizza, Say Anything..., Short Cuts and I Shot Andy Warhol, and the acclaimed TV show Six Feet Under....
as Fiona Ulrich - Ute LemperUte LemperUte Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
as Albertine - Tom Novembre as Reggie
- Anne Canovas as Violetta Romney
- Sally KellermanSally KellermanSally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...
as Sissy Wanamaker - Linda HuntLinda HuntLinda Hunt is an American film, stage and television actress. After making her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in Popeye , Hunt portrayed Billy Kwan, her breakthrough performance in The Year of Living Dangerously...
as Regina Krumm - Teri GarrTeri Garr-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
as Louise Hamilton - Danny AielloDanny AielloDaniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
as Major Hamilton - Jean RochefortJean RochefortJean Rochefort is a French actor, with a career that has spanned over five decades.Rochefort was born in Paris, France. He was educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen He was 19 years old when he entered the Centre d'Art Dramatique de la rue Blanche. Later he joined the Conservatoire National...
as Inspector Tantpis - Michel BlancMichel BlancMichel Blanc is a French actor and director who is noted for his roles of losers and hypochondriacs...
as Inspector Forget - François CluzetFrançois CluzetFrançois Cluzet is a French film and theatre actor, best known in the English-speaking world for starring in the 2006 French film "Tell No One", based on the novel of the same name by the American author Harlan Coben...
as Nina's assistant - Kasia FiguraKatarzyna FiguraKatarzyna Figura is a Polish actress. She is sometimes billed as "Kasia Figura", as in Prêt-à-Porter , Robert Altman's 1994 film.- Career :...
as Sissy's assistant - Sam RobardsSam RobardsSam Prideaux Robards is an American actor.-Life and career:Robards was born in New York City, the son of actors Jason Robards and Lauren Bacall. He began his acting career in 1980 in an off-Broadway production of Album, and made his feature film debut in director Paul Mazursky's 1982 film Tempest....
as Regina's assistant - Alexandra VandernootAlexandra VandernootAlexandra Vandernoot is a Belgian actress. While having starred in a number of French films, her best-known role internationally is as Tessa Noël, Duncan MacLeod's girlfriend, in the fantasy television series Highlander: The Series...
as Sandra de la Notte, Sky TV Reporter
As themselves
- Harry BelafonteHarry BelafonteHarold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
- BjörkBjörkBjörk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
- Paolo BulgariBulgariBulgari is an Italian jeweler and luxury goods retailer which has been owned by the French firm LVMH since October 2011. The trademark is usually written "BVLGARI" in the classical Latin alphabet , and is derived from the surname of the company's Greek founder, Sotirio Voulgaris...
- Naomi CampbellNaomi CampbellNaomi Campbell is a British model. Scouted at the age of 15, she established herself among the top three most recognisable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and she was one of six models of her generation declared "supermodels" by the fashion world...
- Anello Capuano
- CherCherCher is an American recording artist, television personality, actress, director, record producer and philanthropist. Referred to as the Goddess of Pop, she has won an Academy Award, a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, three Golden Globes and a Cannes Film Festival Award among others for her work in...
- Helena ChristensenHelena ChristensenHelena Christensen is a Danish fashion model, Victoria's Secret Angel, beauty queen, and photographer. She has also served as creative director for Nylon magazine, designed clothing, and supported funding for breast cancer organizations and other charities.-Early life:Christensen was born in...
- David CopperfieldDavid Copperfield (illusionist)David Copperfield is an Emmy Award-winning American illusionist, and was described by Forbes as the most commercially successful magician in history. Copperfield's network specials have been nominated for 38 Emmy Awards and won a total of 21 Emmys...
- Gamiliana
- Elsa KlenschElsa KlenschElsa Klensch is an Australian-American journalist and novelist, often working in the world of fashion. She was the producer and host of Style with Elsa Klensch, CNN's weekly fashion and design television program, which ran from 1980 to 2001.-Career:...
- Serge Molitor
- Claude MontanaClaude MontanaClaude Montana is a French fashion designer. His company, The House of Montana, founded in 1979, went bankrupt in 1997.Born in Paris in 1949 to a Catalonian father and German mother, Montana began his career by designing papier-mâché jewelry covered with rhinestones...
- Thierry MuglerThierry MuglerThierry Mugler is a French fashion designer and creator of several perfumes.-Childhood:Mugler was born in Strasbourg, France on 21 December 1948. His passion led him to focus more on drawing than on school and at the age of 9, he began to study classical dance...
- Tatjana PatitzTatjana PatitzTatjana Patitz is a German model and actress who rose to international prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, representing top fashion designers, campaigns, and collections, and who continues to model today.-Modelling career:...
- Nicola TrussardiNicola TrussardiNicola Trussardi was an Italian fashion designer and entrepreneur.-Career:Trussardi was born in Bergamo, Lombardy....
Designers
- Sonia RykielSonia RykielSonia Rykiel née Flis is a French fashion designer.Ethnically a Polish-Romanian Jew, Sonia Rykiel was born in Neuilly a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France, the eldest of five daughters of a Polish mother and a Romanian father. At the age of 17, she was employed to dress the window...
- Jean-Paul GaultierJean-Paul GaultierJean Paul Gaultier , born 24 April 1952 in Arcueil, Val-de-Marne, France) is a French haute couture fashion designer. Gaultier was the creative director of Hermès from 2003 to 2010. In the past, he has hosted the television series Eurotrash....
- Christian LacroixChristian LacroixChristian Marie Marc Lacroix is a French fashion designer. The name may also refer to the company he founded.-Early life:Lacroix was born in Arles, Bouches-du-Rhône in southern France. At a young age he began sketching historical costumes and fashions. Lacroix graduated from high school in 1969...
- Issey MiyakeIssey Miyakeis a Japanese fashion designer. He is known for his technology-driven clothing designs, exhibitions and fragrances.-Life and career:Miyake was born 22 April 1938 in Hiroshima, Japan. As a seven year-old, he witnessed and survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. He studied...
- Gianfranco FerréGianfranco FerrèGianfranco Ferré was a fashion designer also known as "the architect of fashion" for his background and his original attitude toward creating fashion design....
for Christian DiorChristian DiorChristian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
Collection
Models
- Susie Bick
- Carla BruniCarla BruniCarla Bruni-Sarkozy is an Italian-French songwriter, singer, actress, and former model...
- Naomi CampbellNaomi CampbellNaomi Campbell is a British model. Scouted at the age of 15, she established herself among the top three most recognisable and in-demand models of the late 1980s and early 1990s, and she was one of six models of her generation declared "supermodels" by the fashion world...
- Linda EvangelistaLinda EvangelistaLinda Evangelista is a Canadian model. She has been featured on over 600 magazine covers and has garnered work on numerous modeling assignments with companies, most recently with L'Oréal.- Early years :...
- Roshumba WilliamsRoshumba WilliamsRoshumba Williams is an American model who first became known for her appearance in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition in the early 1990s. She also works as an actress and reality TV show judge. As a teenager in 1987, she was discovered in Paris by fashion designer Yves St...
- Ève SalvailÈve Salvail-Biography:Salvail was born in Matane, Quebec. While modeling in Japan in the early 1990s she made the decision to shave her head bald and have a Chinese dragon tattooed on her scalp. Her distinctive look was spotted by Jean Paul Gaultier and soon she became a top model in the European fashion...
- Claudia SchifferClaudia SchifferClaudia Schiffer is a German model and occasional actress, who reached the peak of her popularity during the 1990s, initially due to her resemblance to Brigitte Bardot. Schiffer is one of the world's most successful models, having appeared on over 500 magazine covers...
- Adriana SklenaříkováAdriana SklenaríkováAdriana Sklenaříková Karembeu is a Slovak fashion model and actress. Also she is a former Guinness record holder for the longest legs among female models...
- Tatiana SorokkoTatiana SorokkoTatiana Sorokko is a Russian-born American model, fashion journalist and haute couture collector. She walked the runways for the world's most prominent designers and fashion houses, appeared on covers of leading fashion magazines, and became the first Russian model of the post-Soviet period to gain...
- Christy TurlingtonChristy TurlingtonChristy Turlington Burns is an American model best known for representing Calvin Klein from 1987 to 2007. She has worked on dozens of modeling contracts with companies including Maybelline Cosmetics and Versace. Turlington starred in her fashion documentary Catwalk and Isaac Mizrahi's Unzipped...
Title
Miramax considered that American audiences would not understand a French title, so they released the film in the US as Ready to Wear (Prêt-à-Porter). In other countries, the original title was used. The US DVD and VHS title was Robert Altman's Ready to Wear.Reception
Prêt-à-Porter received generally negative reviews from critics; it currently holds a 26% 'rotten' rating on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
.
Box office
The film debuted poorly. By the end of its run, the film grossed $11,300,653 in the domestic box office.Accolades
National Board of Review 1994- Won: NBR Award (Best Acting by an Ensemble) for Marcello MastroianniMarcello MastroianniMarcello Vincenzo Domenico Mastroianni, Knight Grand Cross was an Italian film actor. His honours included British Film Academy Awards, Best Actor awards at the Cannes Film Festival and two Golden Globe Awards.- Personal life :...
, Sophia LorenSophia LorenSophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
, Jean-Pierre CasselJean-Pierre CasselJean-Pierre Cassel was a French actor.-Life and career:Cassel was born Jean-Pierre Crochon in Paris, the son of Louise-Marguerite , an opera singer, and Georges Crochon, a doctor. Cassel was discovered by Gene Kelly as he tap danced on stage, and later cast in the 1957 film The Happy Road...
, Kim BasingerKim BasingerKimila Ann "Kim" Basinger is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for her portrayals of Domino Petachi, the Bond girl in Never Say Never Again , and Vicki Vale, the female lead in Batman . Basinger received a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture...
, Chiara MastroianniChiara MastroianniChiara Charlotte Mastroianni is a French actress and singer.-Biography:Mastroianni was born in Paris, the daughter of Catherine Deneuve and Marcello Mastroianni. Her elder half-brother is Christian Vadim; her elder half-sister is Barbara Mastroianni.She had relationships with the actors Benicio...
, Stephen ReaStephen ReaStephen Rea is an Irish film and stage actor. Rea has appeared in high profile films such as V for Vendetta, Michael Collins, Interview with the Vampire and Breakfast on Pluto...
, Anouk AiméeAnouk AiméeAnouk Aimée is a French film actress. Aimée has appeared in 70 films since 1947. She began her film career in 1947 at age 14. In 1958 she portrayed the tragic artist Jeanne Hébuterne in the film Les Amants de Montparnasse...
, Rupert EverettRupert EverettRupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
, Rossy de PalmaRossy de PalmaRossy de Palma, is a Spanish actress. Described by many as a Picasso come-to-life, Rossy de Palma broke the rules of beauty in 1988 when she starred in Pedro Almodóvar’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and became a model and muse for designers like Jean-Paul Gaultier, Thierry Mugler, and...
, Tara Leon, Georgianna RobertsonGeorgianna RobertsonGeorgianna Robertson is a Jamaican born fashion model and actress. She has appeared on over covers of Spanish, French and Italian editions of Elle and Vogue Paris...
, Lili TaylorLili TaylorLili Anne Taylor is an American actress notable for her appearances in such award-winning indie films as Mystic Pizza, Say Anything..., Short Cuts and I Shot Andy Warhol, and the acclaimed TV show Six Feet Under....
, Ute LemperUte LemperUte Lemper is a German chanteuse and actress renowned for her interpretation of the work of Kurt Weill.- Biography :Born in Münster, Germany, Ute Lemper was raised in a Roman Catholic family. She joined the punk music group known as the Panama Drive Band at the age of 16...
, Forest WhitakerForest WhitakerForest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...
, Tom Novembre, Richard E. GrantRichard E. GrantRichard E. Grant is a Swaziland-born British actor, screenwriter and director. His most notable role came in the film Withnail and I. He holds dual British and Swazi citizenship.-Early life:...
, Anne Canovas, Julia RobertsJulia RobertsJulia Fiona Roberts is an American actress. She became a Hollywood star after headlining the romantic comedy Pretty Woman , which grossed $464 million worldwide...
, Tim RobbinsTim RobbinsTimothy Francis "Tim" Robbins is an American actor, screenwriter, director, producer, activist and musician. He is the former longtime partner of actress Susan Sarandon...
, Lauren BacallLauren BacallLauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
, Lyle LovettLyle LovettLyle Pearce Lovett is an American singer-songwriter and actor. Active since 1980, he has recorded thirteen albums and released 21 singles to date, including his highest entry, the number 10 chart hit on the U.S. Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, "Cowboy Man"...
, Tracey UllmanTracey UllmanTracey Ullman is a British stage and television actress, comedienne, singer, dancer, screenwriter and author ....
, Sally KellermanSally KellermanSally Clare Kellerman is an American actress and singer known for her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in the film MASH , for which she was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.-Early life:...
, Linda HuntLinda HuntLinda Hunt is an American film, stage and television actress. After making her film debut playing Mrs. Oxheart in Popeye , Hunt portrayed Billy Kwan, her breakthrough performance in The Year of Living Dangerously...
, Teri GarrTeri Garr-Early life:Garr was born in Lakewood, Ohio in 1947. Her father, Eddie Garr , was a vaudeville performer, comedian and actor whose career peaked when he briefly took over the lead role in the Broadway drama Tobacco Road...
, Danny AielloDanny AielloDaniel Louis "Danny" Aiello, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared in numerous motion pictures, including Once Upon a Time in America, Ruby, The Godfather: Part II, Hudson Hawk, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Moonstruck, Léon, Two Days in the Valley, and Dinner Rush...
, Jean RochefortJean RochefortJean Rochefort is a French actor, with a career that has spanned over five decades.Rochefort was born in Paris, France. He was educated at the Lycée Pierre Corneille in Rouen He was 19 years old when he entered the Centre d'Art Dramatique de la rue Blanche. Later he joined the Conservatoire National...
, Michel BlancMichel BlancMichel Blanc is a French actor and director who is noted for his roles of losers and hypochondriacs...
Golden Globes 1995
- Nominated: Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical
- Nominated: Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for Sophia LorenSophia LorenSophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...