Roland Mouret: the Galaxy dress is bigger than me
The French fashion designer selects the objects that inspired him
This butcher’s apron is where it all began This apron was supposed to be my future. It’s a contradiction – everything I rejected and everything that created me. My dad was a butcher in Lourdes and I used to wear it when I helped him in the shop. It was a family business. I was seven years old and the apron touched the floor, like a gown. I knew I didn’t want to become a butcher but I was the only kid in the village who got to wear this amazing piece of fabric. I learned how to fold it and tuck it when it got dirty. It was the first drape I did. Everything started with that first movement. I wore it every day and it shaped my sense that clothes should be unique and different but at the same time like a uniform. I still believe that my job is to make glamorous uniforms.
This hanger is my way of making a difference Every year millions of single-use plastic hangers are discarded by the fashion industry. It’s our dirty little secret. I’ve tried to make a difference. Last year I collaborated with a young Dutch company, Arch & Hook, to design this 100% recyclable hanger made from plastic waste collected from the sea. It’s a long journey, getting the fashion industry to change its ways. But I’m proud to be trying.
This stone reminds me of the human form I design for This is a Gorgotte stone from Fontainebleau in France. It’s the most beautiful sculpture that nature has done. It’s magical, a fairy stone. I keep it in my pocket. It has such a human shape. You can lose yourself in looking at it. All my life I’ve been touching muscle, bone and fat. It’s like you’re reading someone, learning about their life. When I touch this stone, memories of people come back to me. It’s very emotional.
This painting made me feel like a child again One day Damien Hirst asked me to do a painting with him. It was one of the best moments of my life creatively. We stood on a balcony and threw paint onto a massive revolving wheel below. It was like being a child again. Damien allowed me to stop the wheel when I wanted to, to say “It’s done.” He gave me the power to define the end result. I will never forget it.
The Galaxy dress designed itself in my hands I wanted to design a dress for a real woman, not a catwalk model. A dress that could be worn with a bra. I have no technical education and I never went to fashion school. In a way, I didn’t design the Galaxy dress – it decided to be designed through my hands. It exists because I didn’t know what I was doing. It’s a dress that allows women to be who they are, not what someone else tells them to be. Women still need the Galaxy dress in their wardrobe. Recently I went to the store and a young woman in her 30s was buying it. This dress is bigger than me. I love that, because it means I’m known for my work. I feel like a 1980s pop star who had a massive number one.
This sculpture feeds my creativity This black clay head was sculpted by my husband, James Webster. For me it sums up the emotion of his generation – he’s 17 years younger than me. When you’re creative and you’re married to another creative person, there are four of you in the relationship: two people plus two creativities. I couldn’t imagine not liking what he does. I take one of his sculptures with me wherever I go. His creativity feeds mine. As told to Arthur House
Photographs Pedro Aguilar
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