Dior & I

   'Dior and I" is a workplace film, a documentary that follows the workers and Simons himself preparing and viewing his process of preparing Simons first Haute Couture show. The “I” referred to in “Dior and I” does not refer to the new Dior designer Raf Simons, but to Christian Dior himself. In his 1956 memoir “Christian Dior & I,” quoted in voice-over throughout the documentary, the fashion icon reflects on his divided self. “There are two Christian Diors,” he writes. “Christian Dior, the man in the public eye, and Christian Dior, private individual.” 

   The documentary offers a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of a fashion house. It also focuses on the difficulties of the creative process, and the adjustments that must be made when a new successor has taken over a fashion house. For Simons, it’s a life of stress of trying to be creative with a brand, while deadlines approach quickly. Simons describes fashion as a mix between the present and the past, and in Simons Dior designs he wants to take Dior’s “gigantic and sublime” history and blend it with the modern era. Simons also can be a rather demanding as he has big ideas, for example turning the tie-dyed-like paintings of New York artist Sterling Ruby into prints on silk, one of many demands that test his staff’s resources and patience. And when he rents out a palatial Paris townhouse for the show, layering every wall with flowers, his dream of re-creating a mini-Versailles comes true.

   The final show and collection is a success, the clothes are magical, the elite crowd, including Marion Cotillard, Jennifer Lawrence, and Sharon Stone, is luminous. And you also witness Simons himself weep with relief and success. The workers from the atelier, meanwhile, look on at their work whilst huddle in the background in their characterless clothes. Dresses that will go for $350,000 or more to wealthy buyers.