RaDiCal SIMPLICITY

After 12 years alongside Nicolas Ghesquière and a brief stint at Dior with Raf Simons, newly appointed artistic director of Courrèges Nicolas Di Felice brings the famous space-age fashion house back to life.

You were born in the post-industrial Belgian city of

L’OFFICIEL:

Charleroi. How has architecture influenced you?

It’s not the architecture of Charleroi that

NICOLAS DI FELICE:

inspires me, but rather its harsh, dark side, which is also popular and very lively. I love this city for its contrasts. What inspires me in my work is precisely the contrast between Charleroi and Paris. If I had to keep an image of my childhood, it would be those car trips where we went from a field as far as the eye can see to a club in a hangar whose façade was lit up with a bright neon pink. El Dorado, in a Las Vegas spirit.

Did your interest in fashion originate with MTV?

L’O:

We didn’t have access to fashion magazines. There were

NDF:

no billboards. So between the 1980s and 2000, my first glimpses of fashion were on MTV. It helped me understand that we can create our own character and universe.

What were your years at Balenciaga like?

L’O:

From Nicolas Ghesquière, I learned precision. Even

NDF:

though I was already a very precise person, I had a great respect for the material, and I loved to sew. But at Balenciaga, it was a level above. Each stylist had to make a few pieces, but each one was more than merely completed—it was perfect. I learned to be precise not only in my way of working, but also in what I expect from the people with whom I work. Before making images, I am first a technician. I make clothes, and I’m proud of it.

And with Raf Simons…

L’O:

It was a relatively short time. I have fond memories of

NDF:

Raf when he was at Dior. He is a romantic and passionate person. But his focus at Dior was very much on drawing. When I was a student at La Cambre, we had to draw pieces in a pragmatic—not artistic—way. I spent a year drawing, but what I really love is creating clothes on the body: cutting, pinning, making, and redoing.