“Revealing: Celebutante” Premiering Wednesday February 5th Features Expert Commentary from Jean Paul Gaultier, Carolina Herrera, Iman and More
New York, NY – January 23, 2014 –Sundance Channel continues its ongoing probe into the fashion industry and society’s obsession with celebrity in the third of four all-new specials hosted by ELLE Creative Director Joe Zee, “Revealing: Celebutante,” airing Wednesday, February 5th at 9 pm ET/PT. Through compelling social experiments and in-depth interviews with industry insiders, Zee reveals the power of fame.
The world loves celebrities, and the fashion world can’t get enough of them. The right look and enough exposure can turn almost anyone into a fashion icon. Meanwhile style bloggers often garner more of the limelight than the runway shows they’re covering. In this special, ELLE Creative Director Joe Zee pokes at the fame bubble to reveal what drives our obsession with celebrity and what it takes to become one. Can he create an overnight media sensation from scratch during New York Fashion Week? With help from experts like Carolina Herrera, Tom & Lorenzo, and Simon Doonan, Zee examines the ever-growing, ever-twisted relationship between fame and fashion.
In one social experiment two men run errands in New York City; one is an ordinary man, the other is a Tom Cruise look-alike. Will they be treated differently by those they encounter? In another experiment Zee asks a group of people to look at various high and low end celebrity designed wardrobe items next to pieces from a mass retailer. Can they separate celebrity designed clothes from mass produced ones? And will they be able to identify the star that designed them? Lastly, Zee holds a faux reality show casting call and invites people to do outrageous things to be cast. How far will the average person go to achieve fame?
Contributing their views on fame and fashion are: fashion designer Jean Paul Gaultier; fashion bloggers Tom & Lorenzo; Barneys Creative Ambassador-at-Large Simon Doonan; Women’s Wear Daily Executive Editor Bridget Foley; legendary supermodel China Machado; CEO, People’s Revolution Kelly Cutrone; Into the Gloss Founder and Creative Director Emily Weiss; fashion photographer, blogger and Advanced Style author Ari Seth Cohen; stylist Leslie Fremar; journalist and Bargain Fever author Mark Ellwood; The Marketing Arm Entertainment Director Robert Familetti; Photographer, Blogger and creator of TheSatorialist.com Scott Schuman; Wall Street Journal columnist Teri Agins; fashion blogger Bryanboy; Columbia University History Professor David Eisenbach; and fashion historian Valerie Steele. Returning from “Revealing: Extravagance” to weigh in are model, actress and entrepreneur Iman and fashion designer Carolina Herrera.
As the creative director for ELLE magazine since 2007, Zee has helped to further elevate the publication into the successful fashion magazine that is today. He began his career at Allure Magazine and from there became the fashion director at W Magazine, then contributing editor for Details and Vanity Fair. He has also been creative eye behind advertising campaigns for brands including DKNY, Perry Ellis, Kenneth Cole, Sean John, Banana Republic, H&M, Estee Lauder, M.A.C. Cosmetics, Chanel, Coty and others.
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About Sundance Channel
Sundance Channel is the destination for What’s Next, Now. Showcasing both today’s creative icons and the emerging talent of tomorrow, Sundance Channel tells credible, authentic, and emotionally immersive stories of Invention, Fashion, Film, Travel, Design, and Enterprise. Launched in 1996 and owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc, Sundance Channel provides perspectives dedicated to founder Robert Redford’s mission to celebrate creativity.
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About AMC Networks Inc.
Dedicated to producing quality programming and movie content for more than 30 years, AMC Networks Inc. owns and operates several of the most popular and award-winning brands in cable television. AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv, and IFC Films produce and deliver distinctive, compelling and culturally relevant content that engages audiences across multiple platforms. The company also operates AMC/Sundance Channel Global, an international programming business, and AMC Networks Broadcasting & Technology, a full-service network programming feed origination and distribution company.
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