Raf Simons's days in Christian Dior.

I was very surprised to know that Raf Simons, the artistic director of Christian Dior, left the most prestigious fashion house after his three and a half years contribution.

 “Dior and I,” is a fashion documentary film that depicts Raf’s eight weeks, from day one when he started working for Dior till his debut haute couture collection of fall-winter 2012.  Initially, I thought it’s just a behind the scene fashion movie, but it was much more than I expected.  On the contrary, it became one of my favorite movies of the year 2015.

Raf had been a director of Jil Snder, a Milan fashion brand, which is characterized as sharp with modern line and form.  As for Dior, it’s the most elegant and feminine brand.  People were very curious how Raf, a minimalist, would meet the high demands and create his own Dior style when he took the position as a director of Dior.

A haute couture collection usually takes six to eight months to prepare, but Raf was given only eight weeks.  What is worse, he had never designed haute couture before.  The movie reveals all the process of making the collection including some conflict with staff members and Raf’s nervousness as well.

What impressed me most is Raf’s attitude.  He is calm, shy and restricted rather than arrogant and self-indulgent, which people in the fashion industry are likely to be.  He is intensely focused and never loses control until the end.  He knows exactly what is required, that is, a mixture of Raf’s modern minimalism and Dior’s legacy.  It’s easy to say, but when I saw his final output, I knew he did it in a perfect way. 

Nowadays, almost everything seems to be determined by marketing.  People are likely to rely on the analyzed data and figures because they don’t want take any risks.  As for Christian Dior, Raf’s inspiration and creativity itself was the marketing that showed the big brand the way to go. 

Under the incredible pressure of high expectations, he must have carried a heavy load on his shoulder.  Raf explained the reason why he left Dior as “personal” only.  Anyway, I’m looking forward to seeing his next challenge after leaving Dior.

The trailer of "Dior and I"

You can see the details of Raf Simons's first show 

that was introduced in the "Dior and I."  

Christian Dior Paris Fashion Week Haute Couture 

2012/13 AW held on July 2^nd  25 min

Raf Simons’s last collection for Jil Sander 2012/13 AW.  

It was held just before he moved to Christian Dior.  

It’s mesmerizing.  

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Taken on a visionary trip. Yubiwa Hotel’s performance at Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale.

photo: Tsunan Shinbun

This autumn, I went to Niigata to see a Yubiwa Hotel’s performance, titled “But I was so in love ---Tsunan-machi Okura snow shed version,” or あんなに愛しあったのに〜津南町大倉雪覆工篇,  held at the Echigo-Tsumari Art Triennale.  Yubiwa Hotel is one of my favorite performance units and I had longed to see this performance since I saw it last timeat Ichihara Art×Mix in 2014.  

Shirotama Hitsujiya, the director of Yubiwa Hotel has a unique way of making dramas.  She trys to find “treasures” of the local area by doing ethnological research and creating stories based on them. This time, the drama is set in Tsunam-machi, a remote area in Niigata pref., which has heavy snow in winter.

We got to the Tsunan-machi Okura snow shed, which Hitsujiya selected as the stage for this performance.  The Okura snow shed, located just along the Shinano River, used to be a snow shelter to protect the local road and people from heavy snow.  We, the audiences were asked to walk back and forth through the snow shed with the actors as the story went on.  Basically, the shed became the tunnel that connects the real world with fantasy. 

Having heavy snow, sometimes over 4 meters a day in winter, and a decreasing population, Tsunan-machi has a lot of difficulties.  The drama starts when the schoolgirls who belong to “social study club” introduce the history and some legends of the region.  The play seems to raise several important matters; how can we cope with this situation and how can we figure out any solutions.  However, it’s not a social scientific drama, on the contrary, soon before we know it, we are drawn into a beautiful fantasy.

One schoolgirl says;

“Teacher, can we also become snow?  If so, we would be able to come back here again.” 

I think these words are a great invention of this drama because it is a fantastic solution to the problem that this remote area has. 

And then, winter comes and snow starts falling on the ground of Tsunan-machi with a snow fairy, or yukimushi.  The aerial dance that expresses the snow fairy was breathtaking and we saw the image of people coming back to their hometown by transforming themselves into flakes of snow.

Although there aren’t so many words in this drama or possibly because there aren’t so many words, the performance appeals to our senses and we feel at one with the fantasy that Hitsujiya created. 

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