The filmmakers behind the BAFTA-nominated documentary McQueen, which delved into the life and career of iconic British designer Alexander McQueen, are set to take a broader look beneath the seams of the high-end fashion world in a new series in collaboration with Fremantle for Sky Documentaries, the dedicated documentary channel launched by Comcast-owned Sky.
Kingdom of Dreams, from Misfits Entertainment (also behind the Emmy-winning Netflix doc about the Paralympic Games, Rising Phoenix), will be an archive-led chronicle of the fashion industry across three decades, from the late 1980s and early 1990s into the 2010s, when the forces of groundbreaking creativity — led by individuals such as McQueen — and disruptive business converge and collide.
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“It was like a Golden Age,” Misfit’s Peter Ettedgui, who wrote McQueen, told The Hollywood Reporter. “You had these four fashion kingdoms of Paris, Milan, London and New York, and during this time a bigger story grew on top of that to do with changes in the way that business was done and also this extraordinary young generation of disruptive talent that came through. As a result of all this, fashion became a global industry like never before.”
According to Misfit’s Ian Bonhôte (director of McQueen), the idea for the series was borne out of McQueen‘s development and the realisation that not only were they tapping into a much bigger story ripe for exploration, but that they had already uncovered vast troves of archive material.
“Obviously at the time we were specifically looking for things connected to Alexander McQueen himself, but we suddenly realised how many more amazing fashion moments there were, including shows from different designers and the crossover of designers going from one house to the next,” he said.
The four-part series will use these never-before-seen personal archives, alongside rare library material, powerful visuals and story-driven interviews to bring this “Golden Age” to life on the screen. While Kingdom of Dreams is currently now in pre-production and the list of fashion industry figures to be featured is yet to be finalised, Bonhôte and Ettedgui suggested that it wouldn’t just include designers, but the supermodels, photographers and business owners that also helped define and influence this dramatically changing world.
The Sky Original documentary was commissioned for Sky Documentaries by Zai Bennett, managing director of content, Poppy Dixon, director of documentaries and factual and Jamie Morris, director of programmes and negotiated by Jack Oliver, head of co-productions, Sky Entertainment. Hayley Reynolds, commissioning editor, and Oliver will also serve as executive producers for Sky U.K. The series will be distributed internationally by Fremantle.
“The creativity, opportunity and mystery inherent in the fashion industry has always sparked curiosity and intrigue,” said Dixon. “When the team at Misfits and Fremantle shared their ambitious plans to tell the story of how the industry grew to become the global behemoth it is now, we knew Sky Documentaries would be the perfect home for this captivating story.”
Jamie Lynn, executive vp co-production & distribution, EMEA at Fremantle added: “Developing such a bold and ground-breaking piece of event television with the Misfits team has been an absolute joy and this series perfectly encapsulates the type of exciting, must-see documentary series that Sky are known for. We are certain that Kingdom of Dreams will enthrall international audiences, by capturing the story of style, high fashion and its creative power houses in a contemporary way.”
Kingdom of Dreams is expected to be complete mid-2022, and will launch in the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Germany and Austria on Sky Documentaries.
