LONDON — It has been a heady few weeks for fashion memoirs, with Virginie Viard revealing the details of her abrupt exit from Chanel after nearly 30 years and now it’s fellow French designer Roland Mouret’s turn to talk about his life and fashion career.
The designer, who chose Britain as his home in the 1990s and went on to dress celebrities and royals, mentor Victoria Beckham and bounce back spectacularly after losing his name following a split with his investor, has written a memoir that is raw, funny, sometimes jarring — and straight from the heart.
Since leaving fashion last November, he’s begun digging into philosophy, reading the works of Carl Jung and Socrates and spending his days painting at home in the English countryside. He’s taking time to reflect and think about the person he wants to become.
Although he didn’t write “I Am Roland Mouret: The Butcher’s Boy Who Dressed the World,” (Quercus) his voice, rhythms of speech and feistiness fill every page. He “cast” the novelist, Tom Connolly, to write the book, describing the process as a “literature Grindr situation,” given the number of candidates he spoke to and how particular he was about who would tell the story.
What a story it is. Mouret reveals intimate details and observations about the characters who’ve passed through his life. While he is often judgmental, he is always forgiving of them — and himself.
After all, the boy is from Lourdes, that land of miracles in the French Pyrenees, and spent a lot of time around pilgrims in search of healing. He also had a mother and father who loved him unconditionally, even if they didn’t always understand him.
He devotes entire chapters to Beckham, Lee McQueen, the British royals and even Tom Ford, who at one point he wanted to seduce, but then decided friendship was a better option.
He recalls telling Beckham, whom he mentored at the start of her fashion career, “I promise you one day you’re going to want to kill me off as your mentor and pretend I never existed, but I will leave you before you try to kill me, because I will see that moment before you.”
That moment came to pass and, despite some frosty times, the two remain friends. “I am happy and proud I made her dream a reality. And I think it’s time to give her the place she deserves,” according to the memoir. “There is nobody like her. And, yes, I still really like her.”
He misses McQueen, who was “so f–king complex and gifted. He was the true color of his generation. He took everything to that place others did not have the map to.” Mouret also thought the late designer could be a master manipulator.
He writes that McQueen’s brain “was wired to always see himself in a battle to be in control. He had a way of treating [his boyfriends] a bit like guinea pigs, curious to see how far he could push them, with drugs his method of control.”
Mouret also expresses his disappointment in Meghan Markle and Prince Harry who, in his eyes, squandered the opportunity handed to them.
“She is an actress, he has a chip on his shoulder. I have such deep affection for Meghan, but I think she has missed out on her best role here, because she did not want to be the supporting actor. It’s a waste. And it’s sad when a family splits,” the book says, adding that Kate Middleton, by contrast, “is so good at her role because she doesn’t want to star, but is willing to take responsibility.”
He also believes Markle has a desire for control. “She would try out different ways of being central to things while trying to appear humble. Some of them worked and some didn’t.”
In an interview, Mouret said he’s proud of the book.
“It made me realize this is an industry where we never really go deep. We just talk about the latest collection — and then we move on. But I wanted to talk about what fashion was like in the ‘80s, ‘90s and 2000s, talk about what [certain] designers and models brought to the industry. It’s also my story, the story of the amazing life I had as an independent designer and all the relationships I had along the way.”
Mouret said he wanted to look at himself, his relationships and the industry from different angles and to make sense of his career, which kicked off in 1997 when he staged his first fashion show in London.
“I wanted to analyze my own emotions in certain situations and ask ‘What did I learn?’ and ‘Why did I behave that way?’ I don’t have a feud with anyone, and I’m not holding onto any grudges. In the end, we all try our best. Sometimes, you have to let things go, create space in your in your mind — and move on,” he said.
In the book he writes about the bullying he was subjected to as a chunky, sensitive kid, his past cocaine addiction and his brush with prostitution. “I am glad I spent that week in Paris working as a prostitute to one man. It inoculated me against the desire to ever do that for a fashion house,” according to the book.
From a design perspective, memoir also explores how he developed an understanding of the human body and of fabric during his years of working, even as a child, in his parents’ butcher shop. He learned about the many contours of flesh, fat and muscle, while his signature draping technique was inspired by the folds in the asymmetric apron he used to wear on the job.
“I learned from the apron the power of fabric to free you or trap you. It goes from the veil in church to the straitjacket in a psychiatric hospital,” the memoir states, adding that he used that fabric to empower women.
In the book, Mouret is always dizzy with joy to see clients, including Carla Bruni, Scarlett Johansson, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter slip on one of his wool crepe or silk chiffon dresses and stride into the boardroom or onto the stage or red carpet — and roar.
Fashion gave Mouret so much for so long, but he also knew when to walk away. Last November, he severed ties with Self-Portrait, whose founder Han Chong purchased the designer’s namesake company out of administration in 2021.
He regrets nothing.
“I was ready to do it. Writing the book was a way of saying goodbye to an amazing life path. Our industry celebrates designers at the start of their careers, but they never talk about them when they disappear. The industry is a bit cowardly in that sense,” he said.
What’s more, he doesn’t miss designing and he has no plans to return. “Making clothes now would be just repeating what I’ve designed already. And I don’t miss anything about it — it’s so weird,” said Mouret, adding that his next phase is about getting to know himself better and moving on.
His hard-baked resilience, ongoing philosophical education and general enthusiasm for life have led him to explore painting.
“It’s really close to fashion and to the movements my hands were making when I was draping,” he said. “It really is just me with my hands, and the bare minimum of materials. I’m a big fan of Arte Povera and I want to express myself in a simple way. I don’t have pretensions of making big, expensive paintings. I don’t have that ego. I just like doing it my way and trying every day.”
And that’s Roland, born again.