Last night I had the pleasure of a cinema date with the lovely Fi from Fiona Heather. I had been desperate to see "Dior and I" since reading about it a couple of months ago and when I saw it was on at the Cameo this week the tickets were booked immediately.
The documentary started filming as a new chapter in Dior history begins with Raf Simons taking over as creative director and producing not only his first couture collection for Dior but his first ever couture collection. Oh yeah, and he only had 8 weeks to design and have the collection produced in the Dior ateliers, nae hass! The film was not only a fascinating insight into how Simons worked as a designer and how the Dior ateliers created these breathtaking pieces of fashion, it was also a very human story of someone starting a new job with a ridiculous amount of pressure and attention on them. Despite this pressure Simons comes across as an utterly charming and funny man, who is completely dedicated to creating a modern couture collection which ends up being a complete labour of love for him. When he starts tearing up as the first girls step out on to the catwalk, I definitely had something in my eye too.
I absolutely loved it and would highly recommend anyone with even the slightest interest in fashion to go and see it (Also if you love flowers go see it, the show set is ridiculous!). I have loved looking back over the images of the collection this morning after seeing a little bit of how they were created, they seem even more beautiful. For me seeing how a couture collection, in one of the most iconic fashion houses, was created was just mesmerising and also made me long for a team of amazing pattern cutters and seamstresses to turn my drawings into 3D creations. Somehow, I think I will be my own atelier for a little longer!
Right better get sewing.
Rowan x
