When Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), former winner of the coveted Male Model of the Year award, goes to work for up-and-coming fashion designer Mugatu (Will Ferrell), he has no idea that he is walking into a complex web of political intrigue and murder. Mugatu is planning the assassination of a Malaysian politician whose campaign against exploitative child labour looks set to cut into the fashion industry's proft margin, and he sees Zoolander as the perfect person to pull the trigger. The designer brainwashes the model so that he will perform the assassination as soon as he hears the Frankie Goes to Hollywood classic 'Relax', and then sits back and waits for the politician's scheduled appearance at an imminent New York fashion event. Will Derek realise the threat he poses in time to prevent the murder? Or will the cruel and ruthless fashion industry triumph once again?