Raf Simons has opened up about his time at Dior, revealing to the New York Times’ T Magazine that he had “needed a challenge.” Speaking to journalist Alexander Fury, the Belgian designer said: “Jil [Sander — the German-based label Simons designed for between 2005-2012] is a niche brand. And I think it wouldn’t have been a challenge to take on another niche brand. It’s not only the style, it’s not only the aesthetic, it’s also how it sits in the fashion world, how people look at it, and how people criticize it; how it’s communicating with so many different women.”
Simons, who brought an end to his time at Dior after just three and a half years last October, also intimated to Fury that the size of his own, eponymous brand “may necessitate taking other creative director roles at other labels… to shore up his own business and keep its expression free.” While the question of whether a much rumored role at Calvin Klein figures among those other labels remains unanswered, what is revealed is the strong emotional connection the designer feels towards his own brand: “When you start performing as the creative director of another brand, you realize how much it’s not… that. How different those two are. You could really work your ass off, really bring a lot of your own thing, but it’s not the same thing.”
Credits
Photography Willy Vanderperre