What a difference a year makes. After months of lockdowns, wearing masks and social distancing, things are reopening little-by-little for the better.

Over the past year, the making of the film too has been impacted. And although we tackled other tasks necessary to finish the film, like working on the opening sequence or meticulously revising our outstanding interviewee list, we had to slow our production down considerably.

As you know we were able to plan and execute two very important interviews during the COVID pandemic—The Virtual Interviews. And we are extremely enthusiastic and appreciative of the participation of both Marc Jacobs and Matthew Yokobosky during such a trying time.

And now we reset, albeit somewhat differently, our production to continue where we left off, including the Motion Picture Association of America Covid-19 protocols and move out of the overwhelming COVID-19 mindset.

Here’s where we are today, the Update…

We waited. We waited through the absence of passing car sounds and idle chit-chat of neighbors walking along the street. We marked the days by mealtimes and daylight, wondering when this will all be over. The enormous unknown ever looming as we waited for answers, heartily impatient to connect face-to-face with loved ones and colleagues… and so we connected through motion pictures, television, music and streaming platforms (not to mention video conferencing).

Today, the tide seems to have turned on the virus, and at some point, this summer we hope to return to New York to obtain archival footage, photos and other materials. Thankfully, New York has been able to keep COVID-19 cases down with the number of people testing positive for the virus steadily decreasing, the same happening with hospitalizations and mortality rates; and so, we’re now confident we can safely return to the city. We needed to wait this long to ensure our team wasn’t at risk traveling to and from NYC, working in close proximity to others and generally interacting with people outside their family and close friends.

For a start, our DRAFT team members are almost all fully vaccinated, so we’re able to go ahead and put things in the works—and we’ll begin close to home. Our first move will most likely be our last shoot in Los Angeles. We’ve interviewed quite a few ex-Charivari employees who’ve relocated out west, leaving the big Apple behind. They now enjoy the year-round mild coastal weather, and eventually traded-in some of their stylish clothing in default perennial black, for a Californian wardrobe of lighter-hued activewear; yet twenty-four years after the company shut its doors, we’ve discovered some Charivari left in ALL of them.

Very soon Ric will finally be interviewed, and we’ll try to capture on film, how and why this film is important to him and fashion history. As a former manager of Charivari 72nd Street, we’ll explore his perspective being on the inside of the Charivari phenomenon and in hindsight, now as a filmmaker.

Bear with us as we strategize and plan the rest of this year, hand sanitizers and all! Good things are happening as we begin the great reset and restart production. And if you remember something noteworthy to our story, now is the time to let us know in case we need to include it in our narrative! You can send us a message via Facebook, Instagram or via this website—we always love and look forward to hearing from you.

The Great Reset

Here’s where we are today, the Update…