French designer Julien Fournie plays up haute couture elegance on reel, not runway

Record ID: 1561262

  • Title: French designer Julien Fournie plays up haute couture elegance on reel, not runway
  • Date: 8th July 2020
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JULY 3, 2020) (REUTERS) ***WARNING: CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** PETTICOAT TEAL DRESS ON MANNEQUIN IN WORKSHOP EME WORKING SKETCHES FOURNIE SHOWING PRINTED SILK DRESS, SAYING (French): "This for me is the very essence of haute couture. In one go, you have this pinched up kimono sleeve, and at once you have the woman's silhouette entirely built-in and suggested, because it's very sexy but finally it's fully covered. This is really the DNA of the house. It's what we call 'modest fashion.'"
  • Embargoed: 22nd July 2020 12:45
  • Keywords: Julien Fournie Paris fashion week haute couture luxury
  • Location: PARIS, FRANCE
  • City: PARIS, FRANCE
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Fashion
  • Reuters ID: LVA007CLY9NBT
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE: EDIT 2141-HEALTH-CORONAVIRUS/HAUTE COUTURE SHOWS DESIGNERS INCLUDING FOURNIE TALKING ABOUT CREATING COLLECTIONS DURING LOCKDOWN
    French fashion designer Julien Fournie (pronounced fur-ni-yeh) shines a spotlight on the glamour and exclusivity of haute couture in a film he created for Digital Haute Couture week, in lieu of a classic runway show.
    Styled like Marilyn Monroe, Czech model Michaela Tomanova models looks from Fournie's fall collection, including a grey silk dress adorned with feathers and a teal blue petticoat dress paired with a long navy blue coat.
    He himself designed a floral print for a kimono dress, for which an Italian workshop created the silk fabric.
    Like his peers, Fournie was tasked with creating a film for the online-only couture week, with fashion shows impossible to mount due to social distancing requirements, a sustained ban on gatherings of over 5,000 people, and with many models unable to travel.
    Fournie said he missed the spontaneity of a fashion show, and that "In the end, haute couture is about telling new stories to women."
    The story he wished to tell in his film is about how craftsmen like seamstresses, fabric weavers, and feather-makers work together to create dresses. It was shot in his own atelier, featuring his seamstresses such as his veteran Jacqueline Eme.
    Haute Couture Week features one-of-a-kind outfits stitched by hand, presented by a select club of designers, of which Fournie has been a member since January 2017.
    The 45-year-old designer spent lockdown largely centred on his Paris atelier and said he was even relieved to have a moment to create a collection without distractions.
    "For the past decade, I was like a hamster who didn't stop running… I no longer had the time to enjoy my team, not even to see a dress being created, or even to choose an embroidery or design a print," he said.
    Fournie said his clients can choose among the looks and have a private fitting. He is scheduled to visit some in Qatar and Saudi Arabia in September.
    Though he said his business is coping well despite the economic impact of the coronavirus crisis, he said he is open to new investors to help his fashion line grow.
    Digital Haute Couture week runs from July 6-8.
    (Production: Michaela Cabrera, Melodie Sforza)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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