The Evolution of an Haute Couture Collection - Part 1

Rather than reproduce the journal entries I wrote while I was interning at Dior, I will instead reconstruct events based on those entries as well as realizations I came to afterward. Although I aim to be as accurate as possible, there may be slight inaccuracies or things I don't remember. I will do my best.

The haute couture collection was developed in a surprisingly short period of time (about a month), given the intricacy and number of garments (there were 49). It started with Galliano deciding on a theme, which for that particular season, was the dance. All different styles were drawn upon for inspiration, ranging from flamenco to ballet to reggae.

Here are some photos of the inspiration boards.

The reason why it is possible for a house like Dior to produce an haute couture collection in such a brief amount of time (while simultaneously continuing work on its pret-a-porter and accessories lines) is because it has a very organized and well-developed infrastructure. At the time there was Galliano with his two head assistant designers -- Steven Robinson (who passed away not too long ago) and Bill (I forget his last name). According to one of the interns, Steven was more involved in the artistry and Bill was involved with the technical aspects.

Below them was a host of designers in specialized areas, plus a studio manager who coordinated everything and the production staff who kept track of the design process in order to be able to coordinate production in the future.

Each designer had a specialized function. In French there are more specific descriptions of fashion designers than in English. There is the term "createur," which has subtle connotations of being the person with the ideas or concept. Then there is the term "modeliste" which describes a designer who makes prototypes, or "toiles" as they are described in French, by draping them out of muslin on the mannequin, more like a sculptor. Then there is the term "styliste" which describes a designer who designs by sketching on paper.

In this case Galliano would fit the "createur" role, since he was the mastermind behind the collection, and directed his assistants with his vision. I have heard a comparison between fashion designers and film directors, which makes sense to me after witnessing both processes. At some point, both have had experience with many, if not all, aspects of the creative process, but ultimately they direct other people to execute the vision that they have.

There were a few "modelistes" in the studio, one Korean girl who had studied at the Chambre Syndicale and two from northern Europe (I forget where exactly, maybe Norway or Sweden?) who had studied in their countries of origin. They were given directives from Galliano or his head assistants but told me that instead of being assigned specific shapes they had freedom to experiment, and Galliano served as a "third eye" to yea or nay what they came up with, guiding them.

Here is one of them, hard at work. You can see how sculptural the process is, as Galliano's style tends to involve an intricate three-dimensionality.


Then there were a couple of "stylistes" who worked to adapt the couture designs to more wearable options for clients and celebrities who were comped with free clothes. They would also attend fittings so that they were aware of the details of the garments and/or perhaps document them for organization purposes. There was one girl who was there full-time, having recently graduated from St Martins (a large number of the designers were St Martins grads, as was Galliano). Another was freelance and had previously worked at Valentino. Both were elegant and beautiful Italian women.


There was also a textile designer, who had also graduated from St Martins. For some reason, they didn't really use computers or the internet much at the studio, so most of her design work was accomplished through the use of physically cutting and pasting with photocopies, with the help of us interns.

There was also a knits designer, who knitted leg warmers, leggings, and a rasta beanie for the show (among other responsibilities).

There were several other designers, including accessories designers and designers for the pret-a-porter collections (who were still involved in the couture collection as they would later adapt certain ideas for pret-a-porter), and some freelance designers as well. There were so many with all different functions that it was difficult to keep track of who did what. Somehow they all worked together to fulfill Galliano's vision.