Design is all-pervasive in the man-made environment: it helps shape the society in which we live and influences our desires and aspirations. This series examines its impact on diverse and surprising aspects of contemporary life. Six films pivot on portraits of individual designers, but also place them in the context of their rivals and contemporaries. Car design, advertising, environmental design, communications, status symbols, even fantasy are brought into focus. Contributors include Ferdinand Porsche, Muriel Cooper of M.I.T’s Media Lab, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Giorgio Armani and special effects man Bran Ferren.
The Beauty Queens
One of the most profound and far-reaching social changes of the twentieth century was the enfranchisement and liberation of women. This, in turn, removed the Stigma that only fallen women adorned themselves with cosmetics. Beauty became a multinational billion-dollar business. The Beauty Queens looks at this huge industry and its power for social change, focusing on the lives and achievements of three exceptional women who helped shape its development: Helena Rubinstein, Elizabeth Arden and Estee Lauder.
Alexander Tauner
Art director Alexander Trauner talks about his distinguished career in a programme amply illustrated with library material. Having gained his early experience with the great designer Lazare Meerson, he worked with Marcel Carne on Drôle de drame, and it marked the beginning of a lengthy association with the director, encompassing Les Enfants du Paradis. In Hollywood he collaborated with Billy Wilder on several films, including Irma la douce, and in England he was no stranger to Pinewood.