Dior and I - what a brilliant movie!

I've just seen Dior and I. The movie is great. It was first recommended to me by a non-sewing friend but if you are into fashion and/or sewing you will be in heaven!! I was.

It is a documentary and takes us behind the scenes at the House of Dior as incoming designer Raf Simons conceives his first collection. It is brought to life by the amazingly skilled employees (in pretty cramped conditions), and they go through a major change as they all learn to work together. 

There's a great scene where Raf wants to see how a white toile of a jacket would look in black. Instead of taking days to make another one they go out in the garden and spraypaint it black. Good to know that even haute couture has moments when you just have to get in there!

And for my fellow Myers Briggs junkies it is an amazing view of how Introverts get by in such a public world. Dior writes about being two Christian Diors ... the public one is a different person to himself. Raf doesn't want to do all the PR stuff but makes himself do it.

Huge pity that you can't pause and rewind in a movie theatre though.

Here's the trailer to the movie ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUIvJQUhB5I

You've gotta go!!

Cheap fashion - how to make clothes for very little cost ...

Several weeks ago I was approached by a woman who demanded that I justify my prices and said that my clothing was far too expensive. I was so shocked by her aggression that I was unable to answer her before she stomped away. 

I would have liked to point out to her that Minnie + Ree clothing is made in New Zealand and I and the women who help me with the sewing would like to earn a living wage. Luckily the latest report on ethical clothing companies has just come out and hopefully Ms Aggro will hear about it.

Bangladeshi clothing factory collapse 2012

The Baptists World Aid’s 2015 Fashion Report has found just five percent of companies it surveyed are paying international suppliers workers a living wage that meets their basic needs. You can read about it here:

http://theregister.co.nz/news/2015/04/ethical-clothing-companies-revealed-just-jeans-valley-girl-glassons-and-other-retailers-fail-test

This is just so horribly sad and I am so grateful that I live and work in New Zealand. 

If you would like to know more, here is a link to a Norwegian programme where several young fashion bloggers go to work in Cambodian clothing sweatshops.

link to videos is here