Believe it or not, but it was because of Victoria Beckham that Simon Fuller is backing Roland Mouret in his new fashion foray.
“Victoria said he’s her favorite designer, so I called him up, and he said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it!'” Simon Fuller, multimillionaire creator of American Idol, recalled.
The two men announced their new venture at London’s Nobu restaurant as Mouret’s first 19RM design – a graceful forties gown in a ivory grey chiffon worn by Luca Gadjus – floated around the room. 19RM will be under the umbrella of Fuller’s company, 19 Entertainment.
“I’m opening a creative office in London to work on different projects that won’t stop at fashion,” beamed Mouret. “There’s no blueprint for what we’re doing, but there are so many possibilities with TV, video, and other things.”
“The thing about fashion,” said Simon Fuller, “is that for all its elitism and glamour it now touches just about everyone, down to the kid in the street wearing dirty jeans.”
It should be interesting to see what the collaboration brings. The first 19RM gown is quiet dreamy…
With Mouret’s direction, Fuller is thinking of launching a fashion station as well as various fashion lines, “from designer to street wear”, all of which sounds incredibly exciting, if a tad vague. The first project for 19 RM, which is owned 50/50 by the pair, involves Mouret opening a new design studio in London.
One of its first commissions is to design costumes for the Rambert Dance Company’s 80th anniversary celebrations — all doubtless lovely, but something which frankly could be brokered without Fuller.
Fashion thrives on snobbery. But occasionally, someone breaks out of the enchanted kingdom — Mouret, for instance. For eight years he was an insider’s darling. Then, thanks to a dress that was a happy synthesis of sex and scaffolding, he finally registered with the public.
