Isaac Mizrahi’s Criterion Closet Picks Span Fellini, John Waters and Old Hollywood

The Designer Spills His Thoughts on the Movies He Keeps Returning To

Give Isaac Mizrahi a closet and of course we’re paying attention—but Criterion’s is lined with film history instead of fabric.

For his Criterion Closet Picks, the designer and longtime screen presence digs through a shelf that swings from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s The Red Shoes to John Waters’ Polyester, with Fellini, Visconti, Truffaut, Dorothy Arzner and plenty of classic Hollywood in between. Criterion also points to Mizrahi’s love for Terence Stamp in Pasolini’s Teorema, included in the Pasolini 101 set, and his delight in rediscovering some favorite westerns.

The shelf is big, but it doesn’t feel random. Mizrahi keeps circling back to movies where style, performance and personality are doing as much work as the plot—exactly the kind of details you’d expect to catch the eye of someone whose own career has moved between fashion, stage, television and film.

Isaac Mizrahi’s Criterion Closet Picks

• The Red Shoes — Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1948
• The Leopard — Luchino Visconti, 1963
• The Damned — Luchino Visconti, 1969
• Pasolini 101 — Collector’s Set
• Jules and Jim — François Truffaut, 1962
• Dance, Girl, Dance — Dorothy Arzner, 1940
• Original Cast Album: “Company” — D. A. Pennebaker, 1970
• Essential Fellini — Collector’s Set
• Claudine — John Berry, 1974
• My Darling Clementine — John Ford, 1946
• Destry Rides Again — George Marshall, 1939
• The Complete Jacques Tati — Collector’s Set
• Now, Voyager — Irving Rapper, 1942
• All About Eve — Joseph L. Mankiewicz, 1950
• Polyester — John Waters, 1981
• Show Boat — James Whale, 1936

There is also a neat little full-circle kick to Mizrahi wandering into the Criterion closet right now. Janus Films has a new 4K restoration of Unzipped coming soon, bringing Douglas Keeve’s 1995 documentary about the making of Mizrahi’s fall 1994 collection back into view. Criterion itself identifies Mizrahi as the designer and subject of Unzipped, so this movie-shelf detour feels less like a random celebrity visit and more like another peek at the references rattling around in his creative brain.

The list is one thing; hearing Mizrahi explain why these films still hit is the real fun of it.

Isaac Mizrahi’s Closet Picks on Criterion

Criterion’s official video follows Mizrahi through his selections, including The Red Shoes, The Leopard, Polyester and Show Boat.

Source: Criterion; Janus Films.