Inspiration

   “I’m very attracted to things that I can’t define.”

  -Raf Simons

with love.

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Raf Simons : an interview

On Growing up...

"I go back to a lot of things I was seeing but not experiencing myself when I was younger. I saw the punk scene happening- I was too young to be involved- and later other strong youth culture groups, but they were thingsI felt I could not be a part of myself. I was from a small village, a very isolated place far from the city, about an hour away from Antwerp. When you are younger this is a long way. I went to a small Catholic college, where artistic things were not promoted at all. So when I picked up ideas from the street, it wasn't in me to be like that myself."

"I had nobody, absolutely nobody who I could relate to, nobody who gave me energy and inspiration."

"I've never had a 'fuck you' attitude. I've always had a sense of responsibility. It was later when I had a good job doing industrial design, living in Antwerp, surrounded by people who gave me inspiration, that I decided to quit my job and change everything."

"What I know about industrial design is that I found it very isolating and that I wanted to move away from it, but now I feel attracted to it again. In the last ten years I'm once again interested in the idea of furniture and making something that lasts and has a different presence."

On Maison Martin Margiela...

"After that [he third Martin Margiela show] I knew I wanted to be a fashion designer.  A very impactful show, I think four out of five people were crying. After that I had a very different idea of fashion."

"When Belgian designers like Martin Margiela started to come out. It was a very strong, impactful time for any Belgian who was interested in fashion."

On Fashion...

"I think that every designer should strive to make a difference, to question things, to find a way of having a dialogue with their audience. That is the most satisfying part for a designer, if your brain and heart is very much about creation."

"I'm not someone who is happy with gut reactions. I'm a creative person so I love the dialogue and energy of the shows. But overall I want to make sure people fall in love with the clothes and that they are satisfied."

"Very often I communicate ideas knowing that there is no specific outcome. Fashion is not there to educate you, but to challenge you. Sometimes I speak with young kids and I have the feeling...not that they have no interest, but that they look at it a different way. This is the reason I chose to do fashion, to create a dialogue and bring people together."

with love.

Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall 2013

Last resort season, Raf Simons was all about embracing a new sense of dynamic freedom, and that surely was translated within his Haute Couture Fall 2013 collection for the house.

Talk about complicated, for this collection Raf meshed global references (from Europe, to Africa, Asia and even America.) Noting that he was indeed for the idea of "freeing up couture" (Raf Simons), yet again he pursued the notion of haute couture in a more modern and dare we say it- accessible and wearable sense.

What a remarkable beautiful collection is was.



Attempting to re-structure fashion noms as we know them, Raf explored the future of haute couture, stating that "psychologically, emotionally, [couture] can be approached the same way as ready-to-wear: out there for women to enjoy and to wear.…It’s a psychology of how clothes can look in relation to a modern woman and the way she is living her life and experiencing the culture.” For us, this is the special thing about Raf Simons at Christian Dior. He allows the house to explore the limitations of the fashion world in ways which have not been done before.



So as Raf Simons strives to grant us freedom, we see a range of Parisienne tailoring (yes the good ol' bar jacket again), alongside traditional Asian and African influences. Almost disjointed, the collection is quite a rightful interpretation of Raf Simon's Internationalist nature, embracing the new-age Dior woman (client) in whichever part of the world she may reside in. Optimistic national emblems, bold shades, and the liquorice all-sort like stripes (which we have grown very familiar with) mark much of the energetic collection.

"If we don't adapt to what women in society are now about, couture might disappear"

-Raf Simons

CLICK TO VIEW MORE OF THE COLLECTION

Christian Dior Resort 2014

Raf Simon's took to the challenge of merging his new Dior to the world of Resort collections for the first time. Set in [not so sunny] Monaco, Simons was forced to pitch a plastic covered, white box-like structure next to a murky and grey raging Mediterranean. Of course, this make-shift construction was in place of what was meant to be a Hitchcockian like seaside venue. Word has it that Simon's even hoped that seagulls would visit. Never the less, Simon's still managed to put on the show that he hoped for.

So he began with "the clichés of what we all think about when we think about cruise", whilst "also want[ing] to bring a new materialization and work with fabrics that [he is] not used to". This exploration led to the embrace of lace, which Simons admitted to having shunned in the past for it's "old, [overtly] romantic and fragile" ways. This propelled him to take on the challenge of turning a 'stuffy' fabric into something "modern, edgy and kind of futuristic" (Simons). The lace allowed him to create a great contrast and interest (for lack of a better word) within each look.

Dynamic and futuristic was the collection, as the historic "Bar" jacket was painted bright red, and even the "New Look" esque skirts were cut down the middle and left flowing. Bright colours were painted in racing stripes and curved panels across the body, alongside metallic foils and other obscure materials. Lace was made to not appear feminine per say, but instead was merely embraced as another texture to the Dior quilt.

Even the idea of a conventional tailored pantsuit was deconstructed, paired with geometric printed crop tops. Azure and bright orange headscarves also featured, in an overall rather impressionist take on Dior, where asymmetry and dynamism was put at the forefront, with "a lot of freedom" (Simons).



Five things we can take from this collection

1. Metallic 50's style bikini bottom's

2. Middle split! (and sleek middle part)

3. That monochromatic pantsuit

4. Sheer dresses

5. COLOUR

(photographs sourced via. Style.com & WWD)

with love.