A Quote by Raf Simons

I want to get away from couture just being done for a picture or for a single moment on the red carpet. I want to try and convince women that couture can be worn in the day and that there's a reality and relevance there, because that's what Mr. Christian Dior wanted.
Couture is emotion. Couture is freedom. Couture is not thinking about pricing and not thinking about craziness. You can do whatever you want to do in couture.
I had the luck at 18 to become assistant to Christian Dior, and to succeed him at 21 and to meet with success from my first collection in 1958. That will be 44 years in a few days. Above all it was Christian Dior who was my master and who was the first to reveal the secrets and mysteries of haute couture.
My first stage was couture. Boom. Couture. It has changed because women have evolved. Back in the day there were princesses. Today, there are still princesses, but she no longer rides around with horses and a carriage. She parties, she goes on vacation, she goes on boats. She wants to be dynamic. I understood this and I kept going. We do prêt-à-porter, men's, and couture.
On 9/11, that morning, I was in a Christian Dior Couture appointment at the Hotel Pierre.
For me, haute couture is a necessity. I never would have done this job were it not for haute couture. It is a comfort, a security. I almost feel it is our duty to continue. Haute couture is France. We have to keep all the skills and craftmanship alive.
I don't have anything against homes for the elderly, but my mom, after having nine children, after all the sacrifices, living in an apartment - it gave me anxiety. Being the only male in the family, I said, "No I can't let this happen." Therefore I signed, because I wanted to buy a house for my mom. I started at Givenchy and the whole fashion world was saying, "Couture is finished." No, couture is not finished. Couture has changed - thank goodness.
I'm constantly correcting young people and fashion students in this nation when they say "Well, I do couture." By definition, you don't. You have to be licensed by the government of France to do couture. So don't use that term. You can say that you do one-of-a-kind, you can say it's custom, but you can't say it's couture - because it's inaccurate.
It's couture. Everything has to be done by hand. That is most important. That is the crucial element. Without it, that is not couture anymore.
Couture is also a term used for top-of-the-range, to-order clothing - but not to the level of intricacy and expense as haute couture. And without the 'haute', the word 'couture' itself isn't protected.
Because I worked in fashion, I know that I like fashion. Haute couture is a form of art that I can appreciate. I'm definitely not someone who wakes up every day and thinks about what I'm going to wear, but on the red carpet, it's reflective of the mood I'm in, or the movie I'm going to represent.
When I was young, especially when I was at school, I thought couture was about big gowns, big hats (that is couture as well, of course) - but my couture is about going near the clothes and having a look at the details. I like people to have a shock in a chic way.
With Dior Haute Couture, the dream is already there.
If you want me to explain the picture, if you put it in reality, then the mystery goes away. The situation just catches you and you think it is absurd or mysterious and you just take the picture. You dont want to see the bare reality of what happened. I took the picture as the picture, not as the realistic story of what happened.
I want to give haute couture a kind of wink, a sense of humour - to introduce the whole sense of freedom one sees in the street into high fashion; to give couture the same provocative and arrogant look as punk - but, of course, with luxury and dignity and style.
I did that Dior Couture 60th anniversary show in July. It took so long to get ready, I think I would have rather been watching.
I am very happy to design haute couture. It's a love story between couture and me.
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