Marc by Sofia is a bland, uninsightful, and noisy compilation of fashion shows and details about designer Marc Jacobs’ life and creative process. Though technically striking and not without a personable undertone that may make us feel like we’re friends hanging out with this doc’s subject and director, Sofia Coppola fails to draw any significance from this tedious representation of Marc, the industry, fashion, art, and collaboration. It wraps up nicely, though, helping keep Marc by Sofia afloat by a string of its designer pants for those already knowledgeable about its topics and subjects. But obsessive detailing alone does little to convey meaning or life storytelling when there’s no cohesive, unifying point behind it.

Coming into this, it’s hard not to expect a lot more. What’s not to like in the idea of a documentary about a legendary fashion designer icon, made by arguably the most recognized of the younger Coppola filmmakers? Even if you don’t care for fashion—despise it as an industry, even—Marc Jacobs’ name is hard not to know; his thumbprint has been left across culture, art, and clothing trends for decades. Who wouldn’t want to learn more about the man, especially as fashion and global issues like climate change bust heads? Eagerness aside, Marc by Sofia is unfortunately anything but that.

Rambling on about the compelling details as if they’ve been told the world over to a room full of close friends, Marc gloms any intrigue from itself in exchange for fashion show compilations—runways, behind-the-scenes decisions on fabrics and waist measurements, photos of important fashion figureheads in the same room, and a LOT of garble. Marc by Sofia’s most significant points get mere mentions before the documentary slips back into hangout mode with Marc, other fashion designers, friends, and acquaintances. For example, the film could clarify the significance of Jacobs’ 2024 Runway, which serves as the doc’s anchor, and how it exemplifies his creative evolution. While the eventual spring ’24 pieces do reflect much of what this smorgasbord of Marc’s inspirations—helping Marc by Sofia end on a much more profound note than the rest of the film calls for, as a leisurely robed Marc discusses his need to “make my room… my safe space, my world where” imagination was limitless and “[I] could really do anything” due to his borderline abusive household—for the most part, these crucial moments get lost amongst otherwise dry over-explanations of Marc’s life, fashion, and beauty standards without much purpose or provocation. Marc himself even brings up the fashion industry’s hypocrisy, with his being a man designing women’s clothing adding to the “fantasy” of “unattainable [female] beauty,” only to add no weight or get any further attention. It’s like viewers are supposed to know these details already and relive them over a glass of wine.

Marc by Sofia is thus dull, insubstantial, and more stylistically inclined than artfully intentional. It could be much worse—the ending deepens things, points could’ve gone unsaid, everyone seems to have a good time with whatever they do on- and off-screen, and there are some neat visuals from time to time—but there’s not enough here for those not into fashion to hook onto. For fashion lovers, Sofia Coppola diehards, and those looking for a film to play in the background at a dinner party, Marc by Sofia has some appeal, but for the rest, it’s not a worthy watch.

In theaters now @ Capitol Theatre, Coolidge Corner Theatre, West Newton Cinema, Kendall Square Cinema, and some AMCs