HAUTE COUTURE

The movie as seen by Sylvie Ohayon

Esther is at the end of her career as Head Seamstress at Maison Dior Avenue Montaigne workshop. One day, she gets her handbag stolen in the metro by a 20 year old woman, Jade. Instead of calling the police she decides to take care of Jade.
She offers her the opportunity to work at Maison Dior as an apprentice. She sees in her the opportunity to pass on her skills, the craft of dressmaking, her only wealth. In the frenetic world of Haute Couture, Esther will give Jade la beauté du geste, a way to reach beyond herself...
 
Director’s notes: excerpt

“Just as in my books, there is obviously an autobiographical dimension in the movie or rather subjects I can relate to at the moment. I have been remarried for 14 years with a man who had a young daughter for whom I cared for as though she were my own child. This must have had an impact on my biological daughter who resented me and went to live with her father when she was 13. This experience as a mother was combined with my deep patriotism, my love for France. Therefore it is the culmination of my role as a mother whose daughter derails, as a step mother who did a good job and my attachment to my country.
I wanted to film Seamstresses at work and to show that behind the magnificence of high fashion there are regular people making magic with their hands.”