It stars Nicole Kidman as Satine, the most popular courtesan at the Moulin Rouge nightclub. Ewan McGregor plays the young writer who comes to Paris in 1899 to find fame as a poet. They fall in love against a background of familiar pop tunes and opulent costumes and sets filled with color, pattern and sex appeal. Period clothes, generally, do not set fashion trends. The world did not revisit hoop skirts after Gone with the Wind , and a fashion collection modeled on the costumes for Titanic sank nearly as fast as the ship.
Trends are more likely to come from movies that have a real-world freshness.
Consider Ali MacGraw's knit hats from Love Story , Diane Keaton's boyish wardrobe from Annie Hall and Jennifer Beals' ripped sweatshirts from Flashdance . They were all fashion hits, so popular that they've been recycled more than once. Though it's set at the end of the 19th century, Moulin Rouge offers the modern connection that fashion fans require to turn a movie look into a retail success story. If the movie has a signature, it's the smashing red lipstick that Kidman wears in nearly every scene. It's a rich, lush, Technicolor red.