“Crimes of Fashion: Killer Clutch” is a crime film set in Paris, France. The protagonist, Lauren, is called by her friend to help out a fashion designer as he has panic attacks. She is immediately called on board for the Paris Fashion Week to join the team Lavigne temporarily. The drama behind the scenes of the modeling and fashion world is as usual, but a tragedy occurs, and Charlotte is in trouble. Lauren goes out of her way to help her friend out along with Inspector Andre.
This article contains spoilers.
Crimes of Fashion: Killer Clutch (2024) Plot Summary & Movie Synopsis:
The film begins with Lauren falling out of a warehouse on the path outside, and a man is pointing a gun at her. We see a flashback to two weeks earlier. Lauren is having a hot dog with her father and she tries to explain her job to him. She is a cognitive psychologist who applies science to the context of fashion. Her father still does not understand what she does. He tells her that he has a 40-hour work week, but Lauren corrects him, saying not after he became a detective.
Lauren’s friend Charlotte calls her and asks her for assistance with something. Lauren rushes to Charlotte’s aid and sees Virgil St. James of Lavigne and he is Charlotte’s new boss. Lauren is excited as she bought one of Lavingne’s new dresses. Charlotte tells Lauren to calm Virgil as he is having panic attacks because of the Paris Fashion Week and press tours. Lauren helps Virgil calm down in a few minutes. Subsequently, he is so impressed with her that he wants her to join the team temporarily, and she has to fly to Paris with the others.
Lauren is introduced to the team at Lavigne. She meets Gerard Varenne, the President at Lavigne, Ondine Avedon, the Director of Visuals and Marketing, and Theo Borde, The Director of the mannequins and manager of the models. Charlotte introduces Lauren to Ari, the Chairman and CEO of Royal and Schultz, the company that owns Lavigne. Ari shows Lauren the stone–faced handbags. Virgil asks Lauren if she can figure out a fake from the real, and she can’t. Virgil loses his cool because of all the fakes and shows her the cheap material used in the fakes.
Gerard tells Ari that there is a delay in the imported Italian Leather. He is unhappy about it and asks him to make sure it is showcased in the opening. Gerard fires Patrick, the photographer, as his work does not showcase Lavigne’s clothes, and he mutters under his breath that he will get back at Gerard. The entire team prepares to meet Dianna Feeney from Luxe Arbour. Virgil is trying his best to impress Diana. Gerard gets on the bad side of Diana as he warns her that if she wants advertising she needs to give Lavigne editorial coverage. She calls him ridiculous and leaves.
Ricardo, a fellow designer, meets Virgil and asks him to think about joining creative forces, but Virgil dismisses him, saying he will not help him bail out using his brains. Theo asks Charlotte to help him with the hairpins for the models. Naomi (model) is angry as she was supposed to unveil the show-stopper outfit, but it is given to someone else. Virgil gives his signature pendant to the show stopper and favorite model. Gerard is getting a backlash from a blogger named Tabi Lee as she is put behind a column for the fashion show. After he disrespects her, she leaves furious.
The show comes to an end and Virgil is speaking when they hear Charlotte scream. Lauren rushes up to find her holding the pin box and a dead Gerard, who has been stabbed with one of Virgil’s pins. The police arrive, and they question Lauren. The inspector in charge is Andre Duvreuil. He asks her if she has seen Charlotte hold the box of hairpins near the dead Gerard, and after confirming, they take Charlotte away. She tells him that neither Charlotte nor Virgil could have committed murder, but she doesn’t have any evidence to prove otherwise.
Lauren visits the police station, asking to see Charlotte. But the fingerprint reports arrive, and there are Charlotte’s prints all over the hairpins, so she is put in prison. Andre asks Lauren to go back to America as she cannot help her friend there in France. Lauren tries to talk to Ondine, who asks her to leave the investigation to the police. Lauren stalks Tabi Lee’s social media account, notices a post, and visits her. Tabi Lee tells her she had left Lavigne to go to the Chanel after-party. In the pictures Lauren notices Naomi with Patrick at the after party.
Lauren visits Patrick, and he tells her he is mad at Gerard, but that doesn’t mean he killed him. Patrick tells her that they left the show, and he sees Diana trying to get through security to talk to Gerard. Lauren meets Charlotte, and she tells her when she entered backstage, she saw someone leaving, but she was unable to recognize the person. Lauren tells Andre about it, and he tells her that unless there is solid evidence, he can’t do anything about Charlotte. He lifts her spirit by saying Diana is suspicious as she has previously been linked to a murder investigation.
They decide to pay a visit to Diana and her assistant Emily. She also asks him to check the exits once again to see if someone leaves the building. Andre tells her that there aren’t any cameras, unfortunately. They visit Diana, and Andre opens up to her, saying that his father and older brother used to be art forgers, and hence, he always goes by the book to be better than other cops. Andre does not manage to get anything out of Diana, but Lauren tackles Emily. Emily reveals that Ondine wanted to be President of Lavigne, and Gerald passed over her, and she wanted revenge.
Andre asks Lauren why she is doing what she is doing, and Lauren reveals that Charlotte picked her up after her mother died. Charlotte was the only one there for her. Lauren visits Ondine and finds her dead with a fake stone-faced bag from Lavigne by her side. The police arrive and find a suicide note which says that she was in love with Gerard, but since Gerard didn’t reciprocate, she killed him. She regretted her actions and hence killed herself. Andre tells Lauren that the chances of Charlotte getting out are high because of the suicide note.
Lauren visits Charlotte, and she reveals that Gerard prefers men, so an affair with Ondine is impossible. Lauren meets Theo and gives him a letter saying Gerard loves him. The letter was addressed to Theo and written by Gerard. Lauren and Andre decide the case is closed, but new information comes to light that Ondine had died from a blunt force trauma and not a gunshot wound. Lauren breaks into Ondine’s apartment and finds a USB. She calls her father and discreetly asks what to look for, and she finds a location.
Lauren goes to the location and it’s a warehouse filled with counterfeits of Lavigne’s bags. Two men come in, and they look for something. Once they leave, Lauren clicks pictures of the place and bags. Andre brings the police force, but the warehouse is empty. They start digging in and see that Ricardo owns the warehouse. They bring Ricardo in and he denies that the building is his as the signature is forged.
Virgil is feeling uninspired and Lauren takes him outside to take a breather. As he sees the buildings in front of him, he is inspired, and he rushes to the workplace. Andre gives Lauren bad news that the next day, Charlotte’s case will be dealt with in court. Lauren sneaks into the warehouse again and finds a secret entrance to the basement where all the counterfeit items are. She sends Andre a message, but he is away from the phone. Lauren also notices Virgil’s signature pendant.
Crimes of Fashion: Killer Clutch (2024) Movie Ending Explained:
Can Lauren help Charlotte get out of prison?
Virgil asks her to give it back at gunpoint. Lauren is shocked to see him at the warehouse. Lauren asks if he did all this only because Ari chose Ricardo for creative director instead of him. He says he has made Lavigne what it is today, and if he was going to be thrown out, then he wants to make money out of it and, hence, the counterfeit. Virgil says he killed Gerard as he had come to know of the counterfeits and killed Ondine because he got curious about the warehouse, just like Lauren is.
Lauren starts running away, and Virgil is about to shoot when Andre hits him with a car. Virgil is arrested on the spot. Charlotte is out, and Lauren and Charlotte are happy once again. Ari asks Lauren to stay and join Lavigne full-time as a fashion psychologist. He also reveals their new designer is Donatella Ford. Lauren meets Andre, and they catch up. She tells him about the job offer and her decision to stay back and work for Lavigne.
The murderer somehow seemed obvious despite the detours and one lead giving a clue to another but eventually the murderer was Virgil. The simple fact that Virgil, unlike the others, was not questioned as much was suspicious enough. Unlike other murder mysteries, this film did not keep you on the edge. There are no intense chase scenes or an atmosphere of building curiosity. Surprisingly it didn’t have a too much glamorous vibe as well. Lauren definitely inherited her father’s detective skills, which made it easier for her to save her friend Charlotte.
