Roland Mouret

Roland Mouret may well be French by birth but he has truly been taken under the London fashion wing as he spends much of his time in the British capital. Sad news then that today it was announced that he's taking his RM designs to Paris for next season.

Mouret will join the exclusive Paris Couture schedule from March 2009 although he plans to speed up the system by making his clothes available in just 2 months.

He commented, “The real luxury is that people want clothes straight after the show. With what’s happening around us, when a lot of women are really frightened to invest in clothes, we have to make the relationship with the customer stronger and keep the signature pieces, with the same hand.” Back in September Roland spoke out about the need for change in the fashion industry saying then, "There will come a time when the fashion shows as know them will end."

Today he also hinted that a menswear collection is in the pipeline but did not give a specific date for it's launch. Last season Gareth Pugh successfully moved from London to Paris when he won ADNAM funding.

I admire Roland's determination to take his fashion line in to the future and wish him all the luck in Paris!
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London based designer Roland Mouret spoke to the new Wall Street Journal magazine this weekend about the fashion industry's need to adapt to the current financial climate. He spoke about the changing requirements of fashion and indeed he has already proved his ability to adapt to meet them. For example, earlier this year Roland teamed up with net-a-porter for the second time to sell his clothes directly from the catwalk.

Roland takes a business approach to fashion under the careful guide of ex-Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller. In this article he speaks about the changing face of fashion weeks stating, "There will come a time when the fashion shows as know them will end. That time is soon. Producing a show costs sometimes hundreds of thousands of dollars. I don't think the returns justify it."

Designers are getting increasingly more outspoken and Roland is never one to hold back. He spoke out against "it-bags" calling it a "fake trend". He argued that they have no meaning and are just a way to make money. "Designers don't have to work or think about how to make their customers look good with a bag. That's why it's an easy choice." Do you agree with Mr Mouret?

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French designer Roland Mouret appeared at Harrods last night as part of their Design Icons series. Appearing on a panel with Design Museum director Deyan Sudjic, Alessi's managing director, Matteo Alessi, and magazine editor Aidan Walker they discussed the true meaning of a 'Design Icon'.

Mouret spoke of his 'iconic' galaxy dress which appeared on so many red carpets. He argued, however, that the icon was not the dress itself but rather the woman that wears it. "What I try to do is allow a woman to work with the icon inside herself. The body is an icon, and I create a shell for that body."

He discussed how that dress became iconic when men commented on how amazing women looked in it. "It is fantastic to be able to create a moment between two people," Mouret explained. "Sometimes we are frightened to be ourselves so we define who we are through products. Ultimately, fashion design is about a woman's fears - every season I try to capture that." The lecture will be available to view on the Harrods website later today.
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