Chado Ralph Rucci Documentary

Neiman Marcus sponsored the screening of an excellent and inspiring documentary, Ralph Rucci: a Designer and his House, tonight at the Corcoran Art Museum. Rucci, whose design house is called Chado Ralph Rucci, is currently the only American designer invited to design couture in Paris.

"Chado" is apparently a meticulous Japanese tea ceremony, and while most of Rucci's current designs do not appear to be Japanese-inspired, meticulous is certainly a great description as well artistic, singular, and simply beautiful. The hour-long documentary takes the viewer through the execution of designs from sketch through to its final stages. Obviously an hour-long film cannot show the details of every step - a single hand-sewn piece can take as long as 1000 hours! But the film is beautifully edited, showing Rucci sketching, tight shots of hand sewing, beading, pinning to mannequins, fitting the models, and finally the models strutting the garments down the runway. It was also interesting to hear Rucci's staff discuss how he designs and describe his point of view. Unfortunately, being more visual than auditory, I missed too much of the commentary. I was too caught up in the design of the collections, the colors he used, the artistry of the painter that he is and that he applies to design, and his design environment. I was left with the impression that there is a sort of Eastern, Zen quality in the way he corales and uses energy in the development of a collection. I must see the movie again so that I can listen more closely.

The photos above are from Style.com, where you can view his collections. The beauty is in the details of the garments, which photos frequently cannot capture or as Rucci said, are impossible to see two rows away from the catwalk.

The filmmaker, David Boatman, introduced the film and took questions afterward.

Martha Stewart, produced and narrated the film. Rucci was on her show late last year; you can see that episode here. Sundance Studios has three-year rights to the movie and occasionally airs it. You can see a clip here. After the three years are up it will go to disc.

There was a large audience there; nearly a full house.

Waiting for Neiman Marcus goodie bags.