Dior and I – a film by Frédéric Tcheng

When I received an invite to a private screening of “Dior and I” directed by Frédéric Tcheng (genius director of “Valentino” and “Diana Vreeland”), I was beyond elated. I am the kind of person who could watch fashion documentaries for hours without tiring of them. Since Raf Simons took reign at Christian Dior in 2012, his collections have been one hit after another. This film chronicles Raf’s journey creating and finally showing first haute couture as the new creative director at Dior. Tcheng managed to capture the actual process it takes for couture creations, from their conceptions to the minute they hit the runways. In this fashion doc. we witness the everyday pressures of fashion design, the passion of the seamstresses who bring Raf’s visions to life, and the real labor of love it was to continue infusing Dior’s legacy into that collection.

Tcheng follows Raf from his first day at Dior to the day he was swarmed with congratulations by the fashion elites following his first couture show. “Dior and I” struck the perfect balance at giving us a glimpse into Raf’s life and vision as creative director and also the collaborative efforts and process that have made Dior an iconic fashion house. You get to see the Dior team go from fatigue to the emotional excitement as they watch the show. The film showed some of the technical aspects of design and also humanizes all the gorgeous creations we end up staring at in window displays. As you may or may not have noticed my recent new obsession with Dior, whenever I get a Dior piece there is a story behind the design that taps into my emotions. This-tap-into-emotion thing is what “Dior and I” will do to you too, and I can’t promise you that you won’t be lusting after something Dior. Emotion and beautiful Dior creations make sense since in a 2012 Vogue interview Raf stated he aimed “to bring some emotion back, to what I felt in the nineties.” The film shows Raf delivering on that promise.

The film opened today, Monday April 13th in select theaters, check to see if it’s showing close to you. I’m sure it will be on cable or Netflix soon enough, be sure to catch it either way. Have a wonderful Monday!

xoxo,

Liz Lizo

Photo credit FRANCOIS GUILLOT/AFP/GettyImages)