Raf Simons Talks About Fashion and Elitism

Two weeks after leaving his position as creative director of Dior, designer Raf Simons was interviewed by System magazine, from Business of Fashion.

Speaking about the challenges he faced at the helm of Dior, the designer talked about the changes in the luxury fashion market, in general. Citing the fast pace of fashion consumption on the internet, Raf said:

"Fashion has become pop. And I can’t decide whether that is good or bad. The only thing I know is that I was an elitist. And I don’t know if I should be ashamed to admit that fashion was better when it was elitist, not for everyone. Now haute couture is for everyone."

"Everything is so accessible, so we no longer have to make an effort," explains the Belgian designer. "When we were young, you had to decide to investigate something because it took time. You really had to research and dig deep. Now, if something interests you, a second later, you can already have it. And a second later you can also get rid of it."

In the rest of the interview, the designer talks about the immense pressure he felt having to deliver six collections a year, which affected his creative process due to the short time frame. Simons says: "The problem is when you only have one design team and six collections to deliver, there is no time to think. And I don’t want to create collections where I am not thinking."

Read the full interview on the BoF website.

Source: Harper's Bazaar.