This is the brand’s fifth haute couture collaboration and its first stable with Puig. How was this decision made?
JD : For me, the type of clothes, the glamor and the attitude may be part of the dress code, but what happens is they transform. The question is how to take an element, with all the goodwill in the world, and get people’s attention and say “Look at how pretty this is.”
JPG: That said, I don’t Make sure you can do something like this today.
JD: I’ve always thought that when you transform something and just keep a line or an element, it’s a pretty benign behavior. If you pair a Hawaiian raffia skirt with lei, it doesn’t do anything new for fashion. But if the designer does a good job, the mixing of genres and codes creates a new entity and a new identity. Very interesting if you approach it with respect. I think it’s important to keep exploring codes and reapply them in ways that create new things. You have to have confidence in your own respect and the work you put in, which is how I feel about rabbi collections, for example.
Is there an element of nostalgia here?
JD: Not for me because the clothes [in the file] are so vibrant. For me personally, nostalgia is an emotion triggered by seeing something again. For me, it’s more about discovering, for example, a dress in this draped, squashed silk velvet that used to be used for hats, but it’s not made anymore, at which point you’re like “Whoa — — she’s there”. There’s something sacred about those moments, but it’s not about nostalgia.
Do you have a muse in mind when you work?
JD: More about expressing the community. [to JPG] For me, it’s the people around you that really motivate you, so I keep that in mind without really thinking about any particular person.
JPG: Exactly. The people who inspire me catch my attention through their clothing. At the end of the day, this is sociology.
JD: Sociology of Fantasy.
JPG: There is always the concept of fun and entertainment. You can talk about clothes – that’s how we express ourselves as designers – and really say something.
JD: Happy thoughts are important because in your work no one expresses thoughts as provocatively and satirically as before. There is something innocent and generous about it.
