Bob Mackie: Naked Illusion showcases the six-decade career of award-winning costume designer, Bob Mackie. And like his costumes, Bob Mackie is wholly unique and unfiltered, which makes for a compelling and candid subject. The film examines Bob’s unique upbringing, those whom he has held dear within his inner circle, and the familial surprises in his life that have all contributed to the optimism and audacity present in his work. Because the film is fully authorized, Quixotic Endeavors was given access to the full Bob Mackie archive, which has been meticulously kept and curated with many rare and unseen artifacts, including the outfits that didn’t make the cut. The film captures the over- the-top costumes as they get sequined and beaded from sketch to stage.
Specific highlights include some of the soon-to-be lost art methods by old-world artisans that help make each outfit Mackie conjures something to behold and remember. The documentary feature includes original interviews with Bob Mackie clients and collaborators, along with those he has inspired – designers, stylists, comedians and actors, as well as Bob’s first-person account of some of his most iconic looks from The Carol Burnett Show’s Startlett O’Hara dress to Cher’s 1986 Academy Awards look with feathered headdress and Tina Turner’s iconic concert costumes. Bob Mackie is a truly peerless and timeless costume designer, with interviews from Cher to Pink, to Tom Ford and Miley Cyrus, to Rupaul and Carol Burnett a testament to that fact.
