I have always been a lover of Raf Simons, from his own collection, to his collaborations with adidas, to the way he changed the "face" of Dior. When I heard that a documentary was coming to our screens highlighting Rafs journey at Dior and showing behind the scenes footage of his first collection, I knew I had to see it right away.
The film in itself was brilliant. I feel that the foreshadowing of Raf Simons and Christian Dior throughout, particularly gave a sense of reality and relation when watching Raf recreate an old fashioned collection. I think people see fashion and the industry as a luxury, they don’t think about the amount of hard work, long hours and talented people it takes to gather one collection. This is what I found most fascinating about this, was the sheer determination and effort shown by Raf and the employees of the Dior house, to upkeep such a professional and famous reputation.
Rafs first collection for Dior is one that will never be forgotten, “I’ve never done couture before, only ever ready-to-wear” he explains at the beginning of the film. I believe that inspiration is everything, I feel that you should never close your eyes because inspiration is everywhere, this is why I loved the way you could almost accompany raf on the journey, being able to pick out his thought process and the way he was thinking. Dior lived in a house with his parents, his mum had such a strong passion for gardening. When Raf went to visit Diors childhood home, he was overwhelmed by the enormous amounts of beautiful flowers - it was truly stunning. Therefore, he took this inspiration back to the house and decided that he wanted his runway venue to be covered in different flowers for each room, so everyone who experienced his collection, could also experience the childhood home of Christian Dior himself. This, to me, is what fashion is all about, bringing people of different times, ethnicity, backgrounds, to share a love of something we can all create and communicate with.
There are so many different shows, styles, outfits, collections all over the world each year, being created by thousands of talented designers, but only occasionally do you get to discover their true inspiration and thought process behind each piece, their intentions and their aspirations. This is what I find most interesting, giving the collection a voice and a purpose. And this is why I loved Dior and I, being able to follow Raf on his journey, relating to his emotions and sharing his thoughts. It just shows how incredible the industry of fashion can be, and the things that people can create.
