There are no models who can represent how a woman would dress in the street,” opines Roland Mouret. “That kind of spontaneity and identity doesn’t exist on the catwalk.” When the self-professed “voyeur of life” came across documentary photographer Vianney Le Caer, Mouret commissioned him to shoot reportage-style images of his muses. His one brief? To watch François Truffaut’s 1977 film The Man Who Loved Women and become acquainted with “the way women can leave a trace in a man’s mind based on their movement”. Mouret was captivated by the notion of street style, before the term was fully initiated into the fashion lexicon.
Collaborators so far include British Vogue contributing beauty editor Funmi Fetto, artist Zoe Grace, fine art and philosophy student Freya Jones, model Sophia Hadjipanteli, curator Fru Tholstrup, creative director Giannie Couji, stylist Leslie Fremar and radio DJ Jo Whiley. “There is nothing calculated about [the line-up].” Mouret explains, “They are women who enjoy being women, but of course they are linked, because they stand for something. I would never ask someone who has nothing to fight for to represent my work.”
The creative praises his cast for their “sense of difference and fluidity”. “There is no one who singularly reflects Roland Mouret,” he muses. “My women are individuals, and my clothes are just a tool to show themselves.” With a client list including the Duchess of Sussex, his modesty belies his position in the industry. “I knew Meghan before she was a royal, so it’s really humbling that she wears my designs,” he says. “When I’m dressing someone famous, it’s my job to give them a moment. My fashion is to help people, not destroy them.”
Many high-profile clients have fallen for Mouret’s now-iconic Galaxy dress – the form-fitting, unbelievably smoothing design that demonstrated the Frenchman’s intuitive understanding of the female form when it launched in 2005. His explanation of its success is not rooted in the fabrication or the technique, but the skills he learnt from his father. “I’m the son of a butcher,” he begins. “All my life, I have touched bone, muscle and fat. I think of these three elements when designing for the body. It’s complex, because no woman likes each part. The Galaxy deals with what women feel inside, while putting them on a pedestal.”
His proudest moment was not seeing 30 high-profile celebrities wearing the Galaxy within three months – the statistic that caused entrepreneur Simon Fuller to back the label’s relaunch as RM in 2006. “It was when I realised that my father had given me everything I have,” he notes. “I never thought that the designer son of a butcher could share the same values, but my dad has been my best mentor.”
Mouret’s mission to celebrate femininity has had to evolve with the times. He says he is “star struck” by 2019’s break away from homogenous beauty norms towards gender fluidity. At his autumn/winter 2019 show, he cast male models to walk the runway in size 20 iterations of his latest womenswear – not only to symbolise togetherness, but as a solution to waste. “When I was in my teens, I bought second-hand clothes from flea markets,” he remembers. “Most of them were not my size or my gender. I let creativity dictate what I wore, not labels. Putting men in the show was brilliant because it gave me the opportunity to express myself and my values.”
Collaborators so far include British Vogue contributing beauty editor Funmi Fetto, artist Zoe Grace, fine art and philosophy student Freya Jones, model Sophia Hadjipanteli, curator Fru Tholstrup, creative director Giannie Couji, stylist Leslie Fremar and radio DJ Jo Whiley. “There is nothing calculated about [the line-up].” Mouret explains, “They are women who enjoy being women, but of course they are linked, because they stand for something. I would never ask someone who has nothing to fight for to represent my work.”
The creative praises his cast for their “sense of difference and fluidity”. “There is no one who singularly reflects Roland Mouret,” he muses. “My women are individuals, and my clothes are just a tool to show themselves.” With a client list including the Duchess of Sussex, his modesty belies his position in the industry. “I knew Meghan before she was a royal, so it’s really humbling that she wears my designs,” he says. “When I’m dressing someone famous, it’s my job to give them a moment. My fashion is to help people, not destroy them.”
Many high-profile clients have fallen for Mouret’s now-iconic Galaxy dress – the form-fitting, unbelievably smoothing design that demonstrated the Frenchman’s intuitive understanding of the female form when it launched in 2005. His explanation of its success is not rooted in the fabrication or the technique, but the skills he learnt from his father. “I’m the son of a butcher,” he begins. “All my life, I have touched bone, muscle and fat. I think of these three elements when designing for the body. It’s complex, because no woman likes each part. The Galaxy deals with what women feel inside, while putting them on a pedestal.”
His proudest moment was not seeing 30 high-profile celebrities wearing the Galaxy within three months – the statistic that caused entrepreneur Simon Fuller to back the label’s relaunch as RM in 2006. “It was when I realised that my father had given me everything I have,” he notes. “I never thought that the designer son of a butcher could share the same values, but my dad has been my best mentor.”
Mouret’s mission to celebrate femininity has had to evolve with the times. He says he is “star struck” by 2019’s break away from homogenous beauty norms towards gender fluidity. At his autumn/winter 2019 show, he cast male models to walk the runway in size 20 iterations of his latest womenswear – not only to symbolise togetherness, but as a solution to waste. “When I was in my teens, I bought second-hand clothes from flea markets,” he remembers. “Most of them were not my size or my gender. I let creativity dictate what I wore, not labels. Putting men in the show was brilliant because it gave me the opportunity to express myself and my values.”
The evolution of his customer is something he finds fascinating, because, he believes, they are ageing together. “There’s a sense of maturity, but we have got youth in our lives,” he smiles. He hopes his “Women in Mouret” passion project will grow to encompass enough pictures for an exhibition – not to satiate his ego, but to carry on meeting “amazing” people.
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