Following the huge success of Netflix’s Beckham documentary focusing on the footballing legend’s life and career, the streaming platform has today [Thursday, 9 October] released a new three-part series – this time following David’s wife. In much the same format, Victoria Beckham sees the former Spice Girl-turned-fashion designer prepare for her brand’s biggest show to date during Paris Fashion Week, while delving back to the beginnings of her pop career and recounting her journey to where she is now for the film cameras.
Someone who was instrumental in Victoria’s transition from music to fashion was Roland Mouret, with the French fashion designer making his first appearance at the end of episode one as well as featuring heavily in episode two.
Who is Roland Mouret?
Roland Mouret is a French fashion designer who launched his eponymous line in London in 1998. Despite dropping out of fashion school after three months, he worked as a model and stylist in Paris after being spotted in a club and hired by Jean Paul Gaultier to style his first menswear show.
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In his thirties, he moved to London, opened a cafe and made his first foray into commercial fashion design when he received financial backing to become the Creative Director of People Corporation, a street-wear collection inspired by the cafe’s clientele. It was only when the funding was withdrawn due to the global recession that Mouret, now aged 36, finally decided to launch his own label, showing at London Fashion Week that year to great acclaim and successfully securing new financial backers.
What is Roland Mouret’s most famous dress?
The designer is best known for his ‘Galaxy’ dress, which debuted during his spring/summer 2006 show in New York and quickly amassed a huge celebrity following. With a structured silhouette and lined with Powerflex stretchy fabric, the dress accentuated an hourglass figure and was worn by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Nicole Kidman and many more A-Listers. Victoria Beckham, in particular, regularly wore his designs.
Cameron Diaz wearing Roland Mouret’s Galaxy dress in 2005
Victoria Beckham wearing a Roland Mouret dress in 2007
Less than two months after the spring collection’s release, Mouret parted ways with his backers and retired from his label. He ended up taking a two-year hiatus from fashion before launching RM by the designer Roland Mouret in July 2007, with backing from Simon Fuller. The designer eventually bought back the rights to his own name in September 2010.
Why did Roland Mouret get involved with Victoria Beckham’s fashion line?
When Roland Mouret returned from his two-year hiatus, it was with the help of Simon Fuller, who funded his new brand. Fuller is a film and TV producer who is best known for creating Pop Idol, American Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. He also managed artists, including Amy Winehouse and The Spice Girls. It was through Fuller as their shared manager that the designer and Victoria were first introduced, which then led to Mouret becoming Victoria’s mentor as she embarked on launching her fashion line in 2008.
“I loved what he did, I loved his designs. At that time, it was my dream to be in the fashion industry, but I knew that I knew nothing. We had a manager in common, and that’s how I first met Roland,” the mother of four says in the first episode of her Netflix documentary.
Mike Marsland//Getty Images
Victoria Beckham and Roland Mouret at a party in 2010
How did Roland Mouret get involved with Victoria Beckham’s fashion line?
In the Netflix documentary series, Victoria discloses that she felt like no one took her seriously in the fashion industry when she first set out to start her brand. She knew she needed someone to believe in her, and that person ended up being Mouret.
“Roland saw something, I don’t know what, but we connected, and he believed in me,” Victoria tells the camera of how Mouret taught her the basics of fashion design. “He was very very honest, and he was really tough. He didn’t care if I liked what he said or not; he just said it.”
Mouret is famous for his draping approach over sketching, working directly with the fabric on a dress form to craft his designs. “He really challenged me. I don’t sketch, but I did start by draping on myself,” she reflects. “I remember standing there in the mirror, in my underwear, with Roland and just bits of fabric. And he just kept saying, ‘perfect the dress.’ He gave me the tools that I needed to create.”
Dave M. Benett//Getty Images
Did Roland Mouret design Victoria Beckham’s collections for her?
Following the release of Victoria Beckham’s first collection of just 10 dresses, there were rumours about just how involved in the process Mouret had been given the similarities in design and style between the two designers. A Beckham representative explained at the time, per British Vogue, Mouret had introduced Victoria to his pattern cutter, fabric suppliers and seamstress atelier, which may also have contributed to potential similarities.
However, as Victoria’s brand continued over the years, it became clear to see her own design vision coming through in each collection. As she explains in the documentary, she set out to create clothes for herself that she couldn’t find elsewhere, and this seems to be the same mission for her brand today.
Watch ‘Victoria Beckham’ on Netflix now.
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Alexandria Dale is the Digital Fashion Writer at Cosmopolitan UK. Covering everything from the celebrity style moments worth knowing about to the latest fashion news, there’s nothing she loves more than finding a high street dupe of a must-have designer item. As well as discovering new brands, she’s passionate about sustainable fashion and establishing the trends that are actually worth investing in. Having worked in fashion journalism for six years, she has experience at both digital and print publications including Glamour and Ok!