Thu, February 11, 2010
Roland Mouret's rise was meteoric, then he fell to earth.
Back in 2006, he was heralded as the design supremo behind the Galaxy, the ultimate asset-packing dress that had celebs from Scarlett Johansson to Cameron Diaz queuing patiently for the right to wear it on the red carpet.
Then he lost everything. Mouret walked away from his business, the rights to his label, even the use of his name.
After two years in the wilderness, he's gone stratospheric again. So what happened, and just what makes Monsieur Mouret so invaluable to the fashion world?
Evidence for the latter question can be drawn from the fact that Mouret's disappearance had fashionistas cursing the heavens.
The Galaxy had redefined women’s fashion as we knew it. The contouring beneath his signature tailoring bestowed on saints and slimmers alike a super-sinuous silhouette. Short of surgery, his tactile tailoring did everything women wanted.
No other dress had ever empowered bosoms, punctured spare tyres and set off curves with such élan. Shoulders were emphasised, hips diminished, even bat wings seemed to fly away.
Then, at the height of his superstardom, with a stellar client list and the fashion pack eulogising his every move, Mouret suddenly walked off into the ether. So what happened?
Talking to us over the phone from London, Mouret tactfully describes the sensational 2005 split from his business partners Sharai and Andre Meyers as ‘a divorce’, but won’t be drawn on the details. He obviously wants to put the drama behind him, but hell, even after the most corrosive divorce, most people get to keep their name.
For a designer your name is your brand, to lose it usually signals a long – not to mention deeply unfashionable – demise. So it makes it all the more remarkable that he sits here today once more on top of the fashion pile.
It’s hard to imagine anyone falling out with the man commonly known as RM: he’s funny, flirtatious – and has a rather fruity French accent to boot.
Being such a chameleon clearly helped him bounce back. Not hidebound by any set career route, he returned with a vengeance, working for companies as eclectic as Ballet Rambert, Neiman Marcus and GAP, and designing outfits for celebrities as diverse as English rose Keira Knightley and sex kitten Dita Von Teese.
Now he’s formed 19RM, a joint venture with Simon Fuller, the former pop svengali better known for inventing the Spice Girls and Pop Idol than for any couture, haute or otherwise. Rumour has it that Fuller’s girlfriend, together with style queen Victoria Beckham, conspired to nudge him into the deal, and they haven’t looked back since.
Mouret obviously values Fuller’s expertise: ‘The guy’s a genius,’ he says matter-offactly. ‘Business always comes after the vision. It’s really a big company, with strong roots and we have big, big plans for 2010 and 2011.’
Mouret is a man who clearly has a grasp on fashion economics, where an A-lister is seen wearing one of his dresses, the paparazzi shoot them, and the results fuel the publicity machine.
His other strength is his ability to tap into the future. He was one of the first designers to make his fashion shows available to the public online the very next day. He even allows clients to preorder, realising that in these modern times nobody wants to wait. Not surprisingly, pieces sell out in hours.
His Spring/Summer 2010 show was recently broadcast online via 28 cameras for viewers at home to be able to see the show from every angle, and he recently worked with iPhone on a shopping application.
‘Technology can link every country together,’ Mouret declares, ‘it’s the new luxury service that people will come to expect.’
Now tapping into the East, he’s keen to add an oriental string to his bow. Ahead of the unveiling of his exclusive Chinese New Year collection for pioneering store Lane Crawford, Mouret is audibly excited.
Sure, every big fashion house now hails China as its potential saviour, but Mouret appears genuinely enthused. As gushing as he may sound, it’s hard to be cynical once you’ve viewed the exquisite range.
This isn’t Mouret’s first oriental escapade. As he explains, his trip with Vogue last year inspired the new collection. ‘The colour, the fabrics, it’s really fashion-forward, but at the same time really easy to wear.’
His intended audience will undoubtedly agree. ‘[Chinese women] get it so rapidly,’ he says. ‘It’s a country that’s opened itself up to fashion in the last five years and already the Chinese woman is such a strong player, open to the future, willing to take risks.’
However, given that Mouret has taken inspiration from the likes of Chanel and Miuccia Prada, the collection isn’t too much of a conceptual gamble.
Mouret is more than used to his own share of imitators. Copycat ripoffs reduce most designers to rampant psychotics. But while copies of the Galaxy dress allowed most midrange brands to add several zeroes to their own balance sheets, we find the designer in a contemplative mood about the phenomenon.
‘I feel honoured to have inspired an homage, but I do find it a bit sad. I think we can fi nd a way now for everyone to have an identity and to make it work.’
Born and raised in France, Mouret claims to be inspired, but not overawed by the French fashion legacy. He might channel Chanel as inspiration, but he’s too creative to reduce his designs to a simple homage.
‘I love the legacy of Chanel and the way Karl Lagerfeld made it work. But I’m happy to develop my own ideas,’ he adds. Fusing the full-throttle glamour of the past with the fast-paced fashion of the future is what drives Mouret.
‘The ’30s and ’40s period is really inspiring. But now we’re in a new millennium so we have to recreate differently. Creativity now is not in your face, it’s not bling bling, it’s how you are creative for a customer. Chanel never came into fashion to be in the press, Chanel designed for her customers.’
But it never hurts to know the right celebrities. With power comes great connections. Beyoncéonce offered advice to Mouret on shortening hems and it was win-win all round, but Mouret has learned to tread the minefield of fashion contacts carefully.
Long-linked to Victoria Beckham, Mouret mentored her with her dalliances in fashion, but rumours abound as to how far his mentoring actually went. Her dresses certainly had the Mouret magic, but he’s fiercely loyal.
When asked how he rates celebrities-cum-designers, he remains the consummate diplomat. ‘It’s the sign of the times. If people have the talent, there’s no problem. And with Victoria, it’s now her fourth season and she made it work. She gained the respect of her peers.’
He won’t even bad-mouth Lindsay Lohan. The Hollywood actress was universally panned for copying other designers, and her collaboration as artistic director for fashion house Ungaro was deemed a disaster by none other than Emanuel Ungaro himself, but Mouret simply answers, ‘She’s just had her first collection, let’s see what she can bring next.’
Asked about Project Runway, the reality show that catapults fledgling designers onto the catwalks of New York Fashion Week, Mouret is equally supportive.
Sure, an invitation to be on the jury must have helped. That, and the fact that host Heidi Klum is publicly very partial to the odd Mouret frock.
‘They’re willing to compete on TV to get experience,’ he says, ‘and you need to have genuine talent to get on such a project.’
But honest hard graft is what will really earn you Mouret’s respect, and it is an attribute that the designer himself is clearly not short of.
So what of the future? December’s Rainbow Project collaboration with online fashion source Net-a-Porter was a roaring success, but Mouret is keeping his cards close to his chest. A move into menswear is confirmed, and he hopes the collection will make it over to Beijing.
But what about everything else? ‘It’s only the first part of the year. Don’t worry, it will come.’
Combining reinvention with keeping it real is the secret behind Roland’s renaissance. With Victoria Beckham, Sir Elton John and Karl Lagerfeld all hanging on his every move, he insists the most famous person on his speed dial is his mum.
For a man so closely linked with the stars, it is surprising what a homebody he is. He tells us he likes nothing more than gardening and pottering about his new country hideaway in deepest rural Suffolk (England) with his partner.
Maybe, after hitting such heady heights with the Galaxy, it took a little grounding to put Roland Mouret back on top of the fashion world. Now he’s back, it’s clear he’s here to stay.
Roland Mouret’s Chinese New Year collection is now available exclusively at Lane Crawford.
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