Dear Shaded Viewers,
Last night I watched Dior et Moi, an excellent documentary that shows you the reality of what it was like for Raf Simons to take the reigns at the prestigious house of Christian Dior. The story begins with Raf on his first day meeting his large and treasured atelier. The fact that this was Raf's first step into the world of couture alone carries an immense amount of pressure and beyond that the entire fashion world was watching… and of course we cannot forget the history of the house and the ghost of the master, Christian Dior.
The film culminates with the first Raf Simons for Christian Dior couture show and on route to that final show you see all the fashion family along the way. You learn the personalities of his artisans and you see him meeting Maida, his casting director, Alex de Betak, his show producer and the emotion packed meetings with his PR. All through the film the ghost of Christian Dior is with you. At one point you see Raf in a private plane visiting the childhood home of Dior and while he is sitting in the garden he talks about how profoundly he was effected by the book written by Christian Dior ‘Christian Dior et moi’. (FYI the book was reprinted by La Librairie Vuibert in October 2011, first edition 1956).
The film is filled with emotions and I highly recommend you tune in to Canal + Tuesday January 27th at 23h05.
Later,
Diane
P.S. The last image is from 2004, the year after Raf Simons won the Swiss Textile Award and was present to hand over his crown to the new winner, Haider Ackermann. I was happy to be the President of the 2004 Swiss Textiles Award. A lot has happened to Raf since his 2003 prize, which marked a major turning point in his career
