Deep thoughts of a ‘fashion genius’

Home > >

print dictionary print

Deep thoughts of a ‘fashion genius’

테스트

A haute couture dress by Galliano from Christian Dior’s spring/summer collection in Paris, February.

John Galliano, one of the world’s most important living fashion designers, is coming to Seoul to shoot a promotional film for the city to be broadcast overseas. Galliano is the chief designer for Christian Dior, France’s household name for haute couture, and the first English designer to lead a major French fashion brand.
As part of the shoot, which was originally scheduled for later this month then delayed until July because Galliano had some health issues, the designer will tour local fabric shops, fashion complexes and royal palaces to illustrate Seoul as a source of inspiration, touching on topics like the city’s liveliness and its vibrant lines, colors and planes.
Galliano graduated from St. Martin’s School of Arts in London, and moved to Paris in the ’90s. He’s created dresses for top Hollywood celebrities including Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman.


Q. Bernard Arnault, the chairman of Christian Dior, recently told me that he saw special characteristics in you that coincided with Christian Dior. What do you have in common with Christian Dior? What about you is different?
A. I am very lucky that Mr. Arnault had such courage and such vision — he really took a chance on me, and together we have managed to reposition Dior back where it belongs. I think what Mr. Dior and I share is that we are adventurers, we are on a permanent quest for beauty, we are dreamers and we both seek to create that New Look. The difference is I am now and he was then — but his spirit remains ever present, ever inspiring.

Do you believe that fashion design is truly art?
We work in a pyramidal system at Dior and haute couture is right at the top. It is the raw, the unrestrained and most exciting moment in creation as this is when the pigments and the palette can be their most innovative and new. Couture creates originals, dreams up works of art you can wear. Couture lets you and begs you to dream.

In my opinion, a fashion designer should read the public’s taste and try to show that in their designs. How do you do this?
I think fashion is a very good barometer of the time we are in. I think that it is a reflection of the mood and the woman of the moment, and I think it evolves and is influenced by what surrounds it. Fashion feeds off what is around, the mood of the moment, the taste as much as economic climes. I think that fashion can give the shape and shade of the time we are in. Fashion should dress the now.

테스트

John Galliano, chief designer at French fashion house Christian Dior. [JoongAng Ilbo]

You are often referred to as a “fashion genius.” Are you happy with the term?
Thank you. That is very kind of you to say. It is a great honor and not something that I think about; you can’t get big-headed or complacent. I think that there are many talented designers, many people I admire, but I would reserve the label of genius for Mozarts, Picassos, this level. I am not sure I have earned this yet. I don’t think you get bogged down with this, or worry about what others think, what others do, but you should just be your most creative, be true to yourself. I don’t want to compete with others or rest on my laurels, you are only as good as your last show, and you are there to create not to be famous! I want the clothes to be the stars!

You have won British Designer of the Year many times and you are the first British designer to be creative director of a French haute couture brand. What are your influences? Do you think you still have a British touch in your design?
First British designer since Mr. Worth! (British-born Charles Frederick Worth, father of haute couture.) But yes, first British designer in a while, and I know not the last. Even though I have lived in Paris for nearly two decades I still feel very much a Londoner at heart. I think that London is such a cosmopolitan city that even if you leave, it always welcomes you back. You never really feel as if you have left. I visit London regularly, I was born in Gibraltar, which is a British settlement in Spain, so I guess Galliano is a small British settlement in Paris! Besides I have lots of friends from London who visit and keep me in check, but also I have many French friends so I guess I have the best of all worlds.

What influences your design the most?
Travel. I love traveling. I love seeing the world, visiting new cultures, plundering it for ideas and experiences. Travel is the most enriching and exciting thing you can do.

You manage to dress up radically differently for every fashion show.
People always ask me about this and I find it really weird. It is not a conscious thing, it is more a reflection of the journey me and my team have just been on.
I evolve as I immerse myself into the collection that I am working on. I think you would worry more if I didn’t evolve and appear as a sympathetic foil to the muse. I love learning about who I am designing for, who I am dreaming of and I evolve as I learn more and more about them. It is like a love affair, and I am a true romantic so I love that.

You had several collections influenced by Asia before. Do you like Asia?
Love. Visiting Asia is like nowhere else on earth and one trip is never enough. I love visiting Asia – there is so much to see, so much to immerse yourself in. It’s such a fascinating and inspiring place. I hope to visit it again very soon.

Do you know Korea?
Of course I know Korea. It is a very beautiful and inspiring place. It is independent and rich in its individuality and its character. It has amazing architecture, both old and new, and people and personalities that make me long to investigate her more.


By Kang Seung-min JoongAng Ilbo [myfeast@joongang.co.kr]
Log in to Twitter or Facebook account to connect
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
help-image Social comment?
s
lock icon

To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.

Standards Board Policy (0/250자)