The documentary capturing the unique world of Dries Van Noten

What made you want to create a film about Dries?

 In 2010 I was shooting a film on the photographer Juergen Teller who was photographing a collection for Dries with Dakota Fanning for three days in Dries’ garden, this was when I met him for the first time. I was making a series of films about photographers and I was getting a bit tired of the subject, so I was open for new subjects at that time. It was also the time when John Galliano was fired – I’d read a few articles about the scandal and the increasing pressure put on fashion designers in those days, it intrigued me about the fashion world. I wanted to enter a world with my camera that I hadn’t known before. I met Dries and really liked his designs, but also liked that he was a very normal person. We had a chat and lunch together and I liked his approach to fashion and philosophy.

How difficult was it to get him to open up to you?

It took me three years to convince him to say yes. In the beginning after I met him, I didn’t ask him, but the more research I did on him, the more interested I got, he has such an interesting creative career. There was a programme on ARTE, the German network, and I spoke to them about it for the series. They’d tried to approach him for years and he had always rejected it. I wrote to Dries and he wrote me back with a personal handwritten letter, which is very much his style. He didn’t say no, rather he said it wasn’t the right moment but he might come back on this offer another time. I went to his fashion shows for three years and kept trying. He had his exhibition ‘Inspirations’ in Paris which was a huge success, I said to him it would be great to feature this moment of the event which represented him opening up his career to the public in the film, and this convinced him a little bit. He replied saying that the exhibition was so much work, the camera would’ve only stressed him out more, so I suggested we do it as a test, and then it just continued.

What do you think makes Dries unique among other designers?

First of all, his designs. Then his independence and his creative independence. Also living in Antwerp, staying there and not moving to Paris or London, so he can exist in a place where he is less distracted by the daily world of fashion. I could never imagine him working for a luxury brand or a big company, being directed by managers who say ‘this year we should sell more blue’. He needs to work in his own rhythm to accomplish what he wants to do. He puts his hand on every single piece that’s produced and developed in his company and that’s very important to him. He likes the creative process, that’s who he is.

Were there any qualities about him you wanted to make sure were communicated in the film?

You’ll see in the film – when you see him putting a bouquet of flowers together in his house – the amount of care he puts in, and this says more than you could ever say about him. He likes to express himself through colours and fabrics, but I do think he can express himself very well if you ask him the right questions. His daily schedule is incredible, it starts early and goes on till very late, he rushes from one meeting to the next. The first interview I did was in the studio, but I never did that again as it was very hard to get him to relax and reflect in that context.

"Dries needs to work in his own rhythm to accomplish what he wants to do"

When you thought of the aesthetic of the film did you want to align with Dries’?

The pace of the editing is slow, Dries is a very meticulous designer and he plans all the things that might happen in advance. I was focusing on the personality, the creative mind. He works in his own rhythm, sometimes under pressure but at the same time he takes his time to find the best solution. The look of the film reflects the beauty of his work. For my work I never have a specific idea of how it should look, I get inspired by what I see in front of the camera.

How do you think Dries maintains such a singular vision?

It’s the way he lives and the structure he’s built around him, that’s how he’s been from the beginning. He works in a creative team and loves to have inspiration from the outside world and younger people, but in the end he has to make the final decision, it has to be a Dries piece. He speaks very openly about mistakes, failures and less successful collections which you don’t hear people speaking about in the fashion world.

"He can exist in a place where he is less distracted by the daily world of fashion"

Were there any similarities between how you operate as a director and how you saw Dries working?

Again, independence is also essential for my work, I work with a small team. I don’t want the pressure of the viewing figures – I want my projects to be successful but when you’re inside an industry and bureaucracy, you’re not free anymore. As an independent filmmaker, if I, for example, started filming one collection, then Dries might say ‘if you want to follow the essence of my work, you have to film more of my collection’, and I have to respect this. Film making and fashion are similar when you think about the editing and sequencing process. When I saw Dries select final pieces for a menswear show with 120 looks to start with which were then edited down to 50 or 60, I realised I do the same thing with filmmaking, I shot 200 hours but the end result is only 90 mins.

In the age of social media where everything is on display what can documentary offer us?

Being discrete! Dries told me there are days where he struggles and gets stuck in his ideas. I wasn’t going to shoot him crying. I think it’s important to leave a private space for the person. I think that a quality of documentary film making is to leave that space.

DRIES is out now on DVD – find out more about the film.

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