Fashion Week Films: 14 Movies About the Business of Looking Good

This 2008 documentary is a love letter of sorts to the very tan, very Italian Valentino Garavani as he approaches retirement. But the famed designer is obviously not going out quietly, and the film is full of footage from his swan song: an opulent couture runway show and celebrity bash.

Jo (Audrey Hepburn) falls into modeling purely by luck in Funny Face. An intellectual bookshop clerk, she has no interest in the world of posing and pictures, until a photographer (Fred Astaire) decides she has the perfect look for a new campaign. She's whisked away to Paris for a shoot with dramatic gowns and romantic scenery.

In Coco Before Chanel, Audrey Tautou stars as the creator of the famous fashion house. The film depicts the designer's early beginnings as a poor bar performer and milliner to her later success — while wearing a string of classic pearls, of course.

What's it like at the bottom of the fashion food chain? In The Devil Wears Prada, newly hired Andrea (Anne Hathaway) has the job "a million girls would kill for," assisting iconic magazine editor Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep). Even though Andrea gets to borrow from the fashion closet and go to Paris, Miranda puts her through hell. Guess the industry isn't so fab after all.

The perks of living with four models: they help you do your hair and makeup. The downside: you see that the guy (Freddie Prinze Jr.) living in the apartment across the way may have killed someone. When Amanda (Monica Potter) and her roommates uncover a diamond-smuggling operation, they use their good looks and a runway show to take down a bad guy.

When her mother leaves on vacation and the babysitter dies, Sue Ellen (Christina Applegate) must step up and take care of her siblings by bringing home some cash. She puts together a fake résumé and lies her way into a gig at a clothing manufacturer, but things unravel when she tries to pull off a runway show right in her own yard (gotta love the '80s neon and shoulder pads!).

Some men may have a thing for models, but Jonathan Switcher (Andrew McCarthy)'s obsession goes much deeper: he's actually in love with a mannequin he built, which currently resides in a department store. When she comes to life as a woman named Emmy (Kim Cattrall), the two design elaborate window displays and fall for each other. But their love isn't easy; a competitor is after Emmy and, well, she's a mannequin.

Ben Stiller stars as Derek Zoolander, a model at the top of his game thanks to his signature "Blue Steel" look, until a fellow catwalker named Hansel (Owen Wilson) grabs all the attention. Zoolander playfully pokes fun at the industry and its stereotypes, from the not-too-bright male model posse ("orange mocha Frappuccino!") to the demanding designers (Mugatu, played by Will Ferrell).

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French actor Gaspard Ulliel stars as legendary designer Yves Saint Laurent in this biopic. Watch him as he rises to fame as the head designer at Christina Dior, only to suffer an emotional breakdown.

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The September Issue takes viewers behind the scenes of the making of the fashion bible, Vogue, and the magazine's elusive but business-savvy editor in chief, Anna Wintour. Shots of luxurious runway shows and designer-filled photo shoots make for eye candy that's also intriguing.

Go inside the prestigious world of the Dior brand with this 2014 documentary. This one is for the real fashion devotees.

Robert Altman's 1994 satire brings together a group of offbeat photographers, designers, magazine editors, and reporters (Julia Roberts and Tim Robbins) all circling around the time of a Paris fashion show. Though it's drawn criticism for its somewhat biting depiction of the industry, it does have one of the most memorable catwalks in cinematic history. In the final scene, female models strut their stuff for two minutes straight — entirely nude.

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Like the TV series, the 2008 movie is just as much about fashion as it is sex and New York City. Carrie and company show off the most outrageous outfits that you loved but were also maybe a little intimidated by.

There's nothing like Clueless to inspire you to try out that plaid skirt again. (It might come back this year!) These teen girls know more about shopping sprees than most adults.

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