Selma director Ava DuVernay, has been keeping busy filling up her slate with ambitious projects – including this latest addition for HBO that is also seeped in historical significance.
Ava DuVernay
The 1973 Palace of Versailles fashion show that not only helped usher in the era of the black supermodel but also gave global exposure to American fashion designers will be tackled in a movie for HBO Films – The Battle of Versailles.
DuVernay has been commissioned to co-write and direct the project that is currently still in development.
The sources being utilized to craft the script will be extracted from the 2015 book authored by fashion journalist Robin Givhan – The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled Into The Spotlight And Made History.
History was indeed manifested on November 28, 1973 when an upscale fundraiser was held at the Palace of Versailles for the purpose of raising money to aid in the renovation of King Louis XIV’s palace.
The glitzy affair was staged as a high-priced battle between Europe’s five best designers (Yves Saint Laurent, Hubert de Givenchy, Pierre Cardin, Emanuel Ungaro, and Marc Bohan who represented Christian Dior) and America’s five undiscovered gems (Oscar de la Renta, Bill Blass, Anne Klein, Halston, and Stephen Burrows).
The esteemed gathering of the world’s most influential movers and shakers bore witness to what eventually became one of the industry’s most culturally inclined events as it not only put African-American designer Stephen Burrows on the map but most importantly – it purposely assembled the top 11 black models dominating the landscape at that time.
Models on display
Their inclusion and the American team’s eventual victory helped to usher in the era of global dominance and recognition for American fashion. It also overwhelmed the industry’s crippling racial divide by proving the bankability and appeal of African-American models.
The 1973 event has always maintained legendary status and now it will finally be familiarized for the viewers who have been pining for the opportunity to understand its origin.
Givhan will serve as a consultant while Michael Starrbury (The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete) will share co-writing duties with DuVernay.
DuVernay, as mentioned earlier is wasting no time when it comes to racking up a very detailed and colorful itinerary of assignments. It was recently announced that she has been tapped to direct Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time and the Lupita Nyong’s starrer, Intelligent Life.
She has also been hard at work on her first ever TV series for OWN – Queen Sugar – about two sisters from Louisiana played by True Blood alum, Rutina Wesley and Lyen Gardner.