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"  If you&amp;#039;ve ever been curious to witness the creative chaos that takes place in the hours preceding a fashion show, then tune in to The Day Before, documentarian Lo\u00EFc Prigent&amp;#039;s four-part series debuting on Sundance Channel September 9 (the day prior to New York Fashion Week). Each episode follows a different designer\u2014the stellar lineup includes Sonia Rykiel, Proenza Schouler&amp;#039;s Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, Karl Lagerfeld for Fendi, and Jean Paul Gaultier\u2014as they prepare their creations for the catwalk. We asked Prigent to give us the scoop. \u2014Erin Clements    What inspired you to take on the project? When I first talked to the great people at Sundance Channel, my idea was to film a one-shot sequence, an hour in the life of a fashion house like Sonia Rykiel who has all the drama required for a good documentary in their Boulevard Saint Germain building in Paris. Lynne Kirby from Sundance said, &amp;quot;Why don&amp;#039;t you extend that to 24 or 48 hours?&amp;quot; And the idea for the series was born. I loved the idea of filming fashion like a sporting event, like a 400-meter Olympic run. Something fast, energetic, dramatic\u2014with moments of hope, despair, and laughs.   What did you hope to capture about the process of producing a show? I like it when they give us the keys to the castle without explaining anything. I can film anywhere, and decide if I want to focus on the grand ballroom or the little kitchen in the back. I hoped to capture something dramatic and revealing, something maybe silly, but always something real. I&amp;#039;m not looking for fake drama and cheating reality-TV intrigue. I&amp;#039;m desperate for the sweat, tears, blood, and glory of fashion. My hope is always to get past the usual sound bites, to get to some truth and the core spirit of a house.  Was there anything that particularly surprised you while filming, or made you view the designers in a different light? At Proenza Schouler, it was very fascinating to watch how Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez became superhuman designers. They sketch the same, they end each other&amp;#039;s sentences, they dress the same, they love the same girls, they get out of the lift with the same walk, they have this communion and at the same time you feel they&amp;#039;re not this boring couple; they constantly seem to enrich each other, to add new words to this sentence. This was very interesting and even moving to witness. For you, what was the most compelling part of the series? The love that the heads of ateliers have for their work is amazing to me. I know you&amp;#039;re hearing violins when I say that, but they are dedicated to their craftsmanship and they do not do it for the fame, the champagne, or the silly luxury yachts. They do it for the dress. They talk to their dress. They have a sense of collective work. They start and finish a dress and then they ask who in the atelier needs help. They laugh and eat, they care about their job, and most often they don&amp;#039;t get to see the actual fashion show. At first, they are always reluctant to have a camera sneak in the atelier, but when you get to film them, that&amp;#039;s real access.  Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Channel "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.elle.com/culture/news/a2687/the-day-before-premieres-on-sundance-2058/>