Dries
A fashion documentary about renowned Belgian designer Dries Van Noten. Directed by Reiner Holzemer, and featuring Dries Van Noten, Iris Apfel, and Pamela Golbin.
I do enjoy a fashion doco. Beautiful fabrics, beautiful catwalks, beautiful assistants, beautiful offices and, of course, the beautiful country retreat.
Dries Van Noten is a Belgium fashion designer of world renown (although my all-time favourite is his fellow Antwerp Six collaborator and friend, Walter Van Beirendonck – documentary about him soon, please).
With his vision, and the help of many people, Dries makes incredibly beautiful and inspiring fashion. I can easily spot one of his fabric designs when I’m window shopping. He takes his job/life seriously. His independent fashion label employs many people in his office and workshop, as well as the sewers in India who embroider his garments every season.
It is obviously hard and stressful work. Near the end of the film, Dries says that he’d like to be able to take a catwalk season off. Well, Covid-19 has made that happen.
From a personal perspective, I have an interest in clothing and have my own fashion brand, Op-Shop Ucci. The Ucci came about after going past a Gucci shop in San Francisco where someone had stolen the G, while Op-Shop is inspired by the 90% of my wardrobe that comes from op shops. Op-Shop Ucci has a few rules – wear things that totally don’t go together, that shouldn’t work but it does, and never wear black.
So, for me, Dries was especially enjoyable, especially the catwalk shows.
Library members can watch Dries on Beamafilm.
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