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The Battle of Versailles pitted French and American designers against one another in an epic runway showdown in 1973.
Fashionistas get excited. Selma and iconic Apple Music commercial director Ava DuVernay is co-writing and directing a film about the Battle of Versailles, which essentially marked the beginning of America as a global presence in the fashion industry, while introducing models of color to an international stage.
The historic event was previously recounted both in a book by Pulitzer Prize winner Robin Givhan, on which DuVernay's film is based, and the documentary Versailles '73.Deadline reports:
The movie will chronicle the November 28, 1973 fashion show that took place at the Palace of Versailles. A fundraiser for the restoration of King Louis XIV's palace, it pitted the top five French designers (Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro, and Marc Bohan of Christian Dior) against five then-unknown Americans (Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Halston, Stephen Burrows and Anne Klein, who brought along her then-assistant Donna Karan) in front of an audience of the world's social elite. By the end of the night, American fashion would be born, racial barriers broken, and the industry would be left forever transformed.
DuVernay is co-writing the movie with Michael Starrbury for HBO Films, with Givhan acting as a consultant. Below, check out the trailer from Versailles '73 for a hint of what to expect and to learn why Pat Cleveland is the Oxford definition of "everything":
