Directed by Stanley Donen, Funny Face (1956) paired Audrey Hepburn and Fred Astaire in one of Hollywood’s most visually striking musicals. Paramount Pictures shot the film using the widescreen VistaVision process, with real fashion photographer Richard Avedon serving as special visual consultant. Avedon designed the opening title sequence, shaped the film’s photographic style, and even provided his own professional photographs for the magazine office scenes. Astaire’s character, Dick Avery, was directly based on Avedon’s career.
Hepburn played Jo Stockton, a Greenwich Village bookshop clerk swept off to Paris for a high-fashion shoot. Her entire on-screen wardrobe was designed by French couturier Hubert de Givenchy, including the iconic red dress she wore running down the stairs at the Louvre.
The production crew traveled to Paris to film at the Louvre, the Tuileries Garden, and the Eiffel Tower. Paris weather proved difficult — heavy rain turned the Tuileries grass into thick mud, forcing the crew to lay large sheets of plywood over the ground so Hepburn and Astaire could safely perform their choreography. The wet grass also made the tap sequences near a small church outside Paris slippery and challenging.
Astaire was 57 during filming; Hepburn was 27. She performed all her own singing and dancing, training extensively to match Astaire’s professional pace. Top model Dovima also appeared in the film as a character named Marion, alongside other real 1950s fashion industry figures.
Back on the studio sets, production designers painted everything — furniture, walls, and props — in vivid shades of pink for the “Think Pink” sequence. The darkroom scene was filmed under red lighting with actual chemical trays to authentically recreate photo development. Every detail was crafted to reflect the real fashion world Avedon knew firsthand.
