Alice Winocour on 'Couture': Fashion, Illness, and the Dispossession of the Female Body

Director Alice Winocour discusses her film 'Couture (Haute Couture)' in an interview with El Mundo, drawing parallels between the fashion industry and illness. She argues that both realms involve a process of dispossession of the female body, treating it as a commodity with an expiration date. Winocour describes fashion as a 'memento mori,' a ritualistic race against death where beauty is glorified just before its inevitable decline. The film intertwines the stories of four women: a Sudanese model seeking survival, a makeup artist aspiring to be a writer, a dressmaker crafting a key garment, and a film director, played by Angelina Jolie, who faces a breast cancer diagnosis while preparing for a major show. Through extensive research, Winocour exposes the harsh realities behind the glamorous facade of Paris Fashion Week, highlighting the physical and emotional toll on women whose bodies are constantly measured, intervened upon, and sold. The narrative explores themes of vulnerability, mortality, and the intense labor underlying the creation of perfect images, challenging the perceived frivolity of the fashion world.