9-Year-Old Designer Max Alexander Celebrates Documentary Premiere at FIT
The Fashion Institute of Technology opened the Bob Fisch Presentation Hall in its Joyce F. Brown Academic Building for a private screening of “Couture to the Max,” a 35-minute documentary short that had premiered earlier this year at the Tribeca Film Festival. The event, hosted by designer Max Alexander alongside FIT , took place on June 14.
The film, directed and produced by Dori Berinstein, centers on Alexander, a fashion designer who started selling his own work at age 4 and now holds a Guinness World Record as the youngest runway fashion designer. The documentary traces his path from staging a backyard couture debut at 5 to presenting collections at fashion weeks in Paris, New York, Aspen, Denver and Miami. Its core subject is Alexander’s current project: a sustainable collection built from upcycled coffee bean bags, part of a broader push to use deadstock, biodegradable and repurposed materials in place of conventional fabric. Related Articles Industry News New Documentary Examines the High Cost of Handmade Fashion Features FIT Grads Served Body During This Year's Future of Fashion Showcase
Shot by directors of photography Jenna Rosher and Safi Rauf, with editing by Elisa Bonora and Teresa McDonald and a score by Steve Wright, the film features appearances from figures including Sharon Stone, Isaac Mizrahi, Fern Mallis and Bob Mackie. You May Also Like
Berinstein, a six-time Tony-winning Broadway producer and Emmy-winning filmmaker, has built a career chronicling figures in entertainment and design, including past documentaries on Kenny Loggins, Kenneth Cole, and Carol Channing.
Guests at the FIT screening were given the chance to see the film in the context of the school’s fashion program, a fitting venue given the documentary’s interest in how younger designers are pushing the industry to reconsider its relationship with waste. The reception afterward gave attendees time to speak with members of the production team and discuss the film’s themes directly.
For Alexander, the screening marked another stop in a year that has already included a Paris Fashion Week appearance in March, where he showed a collection made of 90 percent biodegradable and repurposed materials. The documentary frames that work as part of a sustained effort rather than a one-off gesture, tracking his move from a designer known mostly for novelty into one positioning himself around upcycling and antiwaste production.
The film’s distribution future was also part of the evening’s backdrop, with sales handled by Mel Miller and Ryan Harrington and publicity managed by Chris Albert of Albert Media Group. The FIT event served as one of several stops for the documentary as its team works to expand its audience beyond the festival circuit.
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