Don't sacrifice days when the sun shines but next time the sky turns overcast head to the nearest cinema showing
Dior and I and escape into the fashion world. This 90 minute documentary packs in more suspense and emotion than the best Hollywood thriller. We follow Raf Simons as he is welcomed as the new artistic director of the
House of Dior and observe his highs and lows ("there is not one dress here, not one!" hisses Raf at the first fitting, unaware that his precious toiles are stuck in a malfunctioning lift) – as he creates his first haute couture collection.
Film maker Frédéric Tcheng, who co directed
Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel, captures the mounting tension as Raf attempts to absorb and filter a daunting design legacy – and produce his own distillation
in just eight weeks. As the director explains "at Dior’s headquarters in Paris, it is impossible not to feel the presence of the founder. His picture is everywhere. I started imagining that Raf must feel like Mrs. De Winter in Hitchcock’s Rebecca, overwhelmed by the ghostly presence of the past occupant of the house. Raf’s story is one of emancipation."
Other narrative strands reveal the inner workings of the design house, budding friendships and the tireless seamstresses of the atelier who work through the night. Echoing the making of the collection, the film comes together in its final triumphal moments, models stalk through blossom filled rooms, we witness the shoots of a new Dior age and Raf Simons – whose dislike of the camera challenged the director – seems to realise being a wall flower is no longer an option. It is, in a word much employed by Simons, "sublime".
Dior and I, in UK cinemas now 2015, www.facebook.com/diorandimovie
