Talking collective,<br>routine and hard work with<br>Nicolas Di Felice

Talking collective,
routine and hard work with
Nicolas Di Felice

ORDINARY TALKS

In the large panel of designers wandering around Paris, I certainly wished to one day meet Nicolas Di Felice. First because I have loved Courrèges for years, second because he is from Belgium and I deduced that he was probably a very nice person, and third because I had heard that he liked techno, which I consider, in a very biased way, to always be a good sign. Well, I can’t say I was disappointed! Nicolas is everything I thought he'd be - from what I could gather from our 30-minute conversation. In fact, he is as likeable as he is talented. We discussed the importance of the collective in the fashion industry - something he tries to emphasize in the way he works for Courrèges - and how his current work for Jean-Paul Gautier allows him to rethink his vision and evolve differently. Fashion can sometimes be a harsh place to work in, but some things make it impossible to leave. An informal chat with Nicolas on a Friday morning is proof of this. 

PAULINE MARIE MALIE : Can we speak casually? (Tutoyer, in French)

NICOLAS DI FELICE : Yes, of course.

N. D .F : I'm in a cab on my way to work at the Courrèges offices on Rue François Ier in Paris. At the moment, I'm splitting my time between Courrèges and Jean-Paul Gaultier and my schedule is pretty tight. We're lucky, business is good right now and we may be able to retrieve the entire historic building. People’s priority is not to buy luxury clothes at the moment, and it makes sense.. given the political situation.

P.M. M. : How do you approach work in general?

N. D .F : At Courrèges, even though we're a luxury brand, we always try to stay close to people. When we opened the flagship in the Marais, we had a block party. There's a very festive and collective side to the way I approach my work. In fact, I couldn't do anything without my friends. 
P.M. M. : You are this year’s president of the Hyères festival fashion jury. How did « collectiveness » translate into your jury?

N. D .F : When I agreed to take part in the festival, I started to think about putting together an interesting jury. I really wanted to involve a mix of friends and industry people like Marie Chaix and Piergiorgio (Del Moro). They work in fashion and for the biggest brands. At first, we hardly knew each other and had to get used to each other professionally. Today, they get on very well with my friends. My way of working is sometimes a little strange for fashion people: I ask everyone for advice, my assistant as much as anyone else: I like the idea of working together for the long run.

P.M. M. : You are a nice guy, in short?

N. D .F : When I started at Courrèges, strangely enough, we were quite small. We soon began to work collectively. This jury is composed of personalities I've met along the way and I think that's great. Working together has to be fun and reflect the image of the company.

P.M. M. : Fashion can sometimes feel very lonely, and it's not easy to find your way. How do you deal with this situation?

N. D .F : My first job at Balenciaga in 2007 was very demanding. I just got here from Belgium, I didn’t know anyone in Paris, then I moved on to Dior where I was promoted to head designer. People did not like me so much. I'm a typical Belgian, quite happy with my life. It's easy to feel isolated with the competition inherent in this environment, but I've noticed that small groups and alliances often form in the face of difficulty, and that's essential. If I didn’t have my friends, my work would feel a lot different and not in a good way. It is great to be able to work together on projects but also to experience the nice things this industry can also bring. I am someone who likes to share - when I watch a movie I like I stop it to replay it with someone I love. I always need to share nice things. The first public show at Courrèges was organized at Vincennes, where I first kissed my boyfriend. Things can move very fast in this business, it's dizzying. I’m lucky to be surrounded by people who are ready to jump into the adventure with me. The flavor would be very different without them.

P.M. M. : I think it's essential to celebrate. Especially when things are tough, would you agree?

N. D .F : It feels good to be reminded of it actually, I work a lot these days and I haven’t been out dancing for a while. I miss it. For ages, the most important musical movements have been born out of social crises. Crises are followed by musical responses, and not just in the underground. It's something that's materialized in a very concrete way at Courreges. When I started, we were in the middle of the Covid crisis, and we started working together. I was lucky and I say it often. It's a job that can be thankless, you don't have a social life because you work too much, you have to do unrewarding tasks. You're challenged every day. If, afterwards, you can't enjoy the positive things and the perks, and say to yourself “Hey, it's pretty great what we've done together”, then I'll be a lot less driven.

P.M. M. : There are ways to find meaning. That’s what techno is all about. It's a highly collective form of music that gives meaning and energy to keep going.

N. D .F : There's a great comic book called The Sound of the Machine, which explains the birth of electronic music by following several movements, from Detroit to Berlin. It all stems from socio-political revolts. I really like this comic, it teaches you a lot with the interactive side of the drawing.

P.M. M. : Do you know Der Klang Der Family? A book that tells the story of techno and about escaping reality, in a way. Do you feel the need to escape reality?

N. D .F : It is important to find ways out but I wouldn’t say I’d like to espace reality. This job is hard, but it is also a dream, because if there's one thing I do instinctively, it's make clothes. I love doing things with my hands. I pin, I sew, I really love making garments. There are booth models here everyday and we try on clothes. At the moment, we're busy with fittings on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, which leaves the other days to work on things like communication or accessories. We turn on the music, the mannequin is there, we put the clothes on. That's what I studied, that's what I do. Of course, in 2024, that's only a small part of the job. There are artistic directors for whom this part is less important.
P.M. M. : Do you draw?

N. D .F : Yes, I do. And I work with 3D to communicate the first ideas.

P.M. M. : Creative Directors do need to have a 360-degree vision these days…

N. D .F : I feel like if you are to accept such a job, you need to have that global vision. For Courrèges it came naturally. A project that is both simple and comprehensive, I came with an idea I knew what I wanted to do.

P.M. M. : For Jean-Paul Gaultier, the process must be quite different, right?

N. D .F : With Courrèges, the main idea was to design something both practical and wearable. For Gaultier, I was given free rein on everything.. I'm learning a lot about my own tastes, what I want to do, but especially what I can do. I'm also discovering new techniques. As I was very well acquainted with Jean-Paul Gaultier's creative universe, I didn't want to do something that had already been done. Great talents were there before me. What does it mean to do Couture? Every time I go there, the idea I had metamorphoses into something entirely different.

P.M. M. : Does it take you completely out of your daily routine?

N. D .F : It certainly allows me to take a step back from what I'm used to doing every day.

P.M. M. : The theme of this issue is “The Resilient and the Dreamer”. We've been talking about resilience through techno and creation. My concluding question is: can we still dream today?

N. D .F : Yes, of course, we still need to dream, it's so important. We need to aspire to something better, something softer, something closer, something less far away. We're coming out of hard times, we're receiving information differently than before, continuously. So it may seem like things are worse than before, but in reality they've been bad for a long time. Can we still dream? I'm not one to answer that, but in any case, we need to keep dreaming, for strength and ambition.
Words PAULINE MARIE MALIER
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