Isaac Mizrahi Gets Unzipped — Again

We’ve all seen countless fashion documentaries by now — on Valentino, YSL, Galliano, March Jacobs, not to mention endless ones on Halston and Chanel. They’re lavishly funded, beautifully produced, and slickly marketed. But the one that started it all, back in 1995, had a tiny budget, a minuscule crew and a first-time director — and may still be the form’s iconic best. Isaac Mizrahi ’s Unzipped , made largely on the fly, was spontaneous, hysterically funny and almost defiantly unstructured. It was magical. The first real behind-the scenes look at the making of a fashion collection — from conception and planning through model casting and Mizrahi’s Fall 1994 runway show — Unzipped made a huge splash when it arrived in theaters in August 1995, winning over film critics and fashionistas alike. But then, after finishing its run, it just disappeared. Caught up in a tangle of rights and ownership issues, it’s been nearly impossible to find for some three decades. Related Stories Lifestyle A Hollywood Insider Recalls Stylish Romance With Isaac Mizrahi (Guest Column) News When Isaac Mizrahi Groped Scarlett Johansson at the Golden Globes in 2006

After a restored print was screened at Sundance in January 2025 — nearly 30 years to the day it first premiered at the festival and won an Audience Award — Janus Films acquired North American rights and will finally be rereleasing it in a limited run Sept. 25 before a national rollout in October.

It’s been a while, but you probably recall the basics: The movie, shot by Mizrahi’s boyfriend at the time, Douglas Keeve, opens with the designer reeling from bad reviews of his Spring 1994 collection, then follows Mizrahi as he prepares for what will be his triumphant Fall 1994 show.

“I was a photographer — I’d shot Isaac for Esquire — and there was a certain spark there,” recalls Keeve of how he came to make the doc. “Everyone was obsessed with Isaac then.”

Before it picked up that Sundance Audience Award, it wasn’t clear Unzipped would even get a first release. “When it was done, we had some screenings,” says Nina Santisi, Mizrahi’s longtime creative adviser and an executive producer on the film. “ICM wanted to dump it somewhere. But it got into Sundance, and then Harvey Weinstein bought it for distribution, and it got into Cannes after that.”