Dior et moi

Like most people, my exposure to haute couture comes mostly from Vogue magazine and the "what are you wearing" interviews done on the red carpet. I expected this documentary to be a red carpet parade of elegant Dior couture, but instead saw a film that spends the majority of its time in the atelier (workroom) of the House of Dior to chronicle the less elegant process of creating a couture collection. The creative process takes us from Raf Simon's vision as the new artistic director for the House of Dior, to a complete couture collection, and it is a thrill ride. There is a necessary tension in Simon's need to be true to his own vision whilst being true to Dior and the film does a wonderful job of finding those synergies between Simon and Dior, both in their collections and as people. Layer that with a wonderful study in creative collaboration as the craftspeople who work at the atelier (some for 20 or 30+ years) meet and learn how to support Raf and his first ever couture collection. I have a new appreciation for the art of haute couture after seeing this film. If I only had the budget!