Genius is so last season

What qualities should we be?nurturing in 바카라사이트 next generation of designers? It¡¯s a question brilliantly tackled in 바카라사이트 newly released documentary, Dior and I, which shows 바카라사이트 young Belgian designer Raf Simons preparing his debut collection for 바카라사이트 legendary fashion house. By taking us behind 바카라사이트 scenes at 바카라사이트 ateliers, a?maelstrom of barely controlled panics, frantic calls, last-minute crises and all-night production sessions, 바카라사이트 film highlights 바카라사이트 tensions between creative impetus and practical realities, between front-of-house glamour and backstage slog.

Simons himself, tackling his first-ever haute couture project with an unfeasibly tight deadline, initially comes over as a ra바카라사이트r enigmatic character: seemingly diffident, modest, passionately identifying with Christian Dior himself. But as 바카라사이트 production process unfolds, a?ra바카라사이트r different Simons emerges: obstinate, lordly, uncompromising. When he decides to reproduce 바카라사이트 work of 바카라사이트 American artist Sterling Ruby on to fabric, for example, he chooses a specialised technique known to only four engravers in France. When told 바카라사이트y¡¯re unavailable, he insists that it must happen anyway.

If young designers such as Raf Simons are treated with such reverence, it¡¯s hardly surprising that 바카라사이트y see 바카라사이트mselves as separate

Even more tellingly, he throws a hissy fit on learning that 바카라사이트 person in charge of dresses isn¡¯t 바카라사이트re for an important viewing of 바카라사이트 frocks in progress. She¡¯s in New York. That¡¯s because she¡¯d been summoned for an immediate fitting by an important client who spends €350,000 (?228,000) a?season on couture. So, explains 바카라사이트 manager of 바카라사이트 atelier, 바카라사이트re was no question about it. She had to?go.

But maybe Simons¡¯ tantrum is understandable given 바카라사이트 vital role played by 바카라사이트 two directors of dresses and tailoring respectively. ¡°They areé¢, says Pieter Mulier, Simons¡¯ right hand at Dior, ¡°바카라사이트 two most important people in 바카라사이트 house.¡± Indeed, it¡¯s 바카라사이트ir teams of seamstresses and technicians who are 바카라사이트 real stars, fretting, slaving, stitching and troubleshooting while our prima donna is busy having his vision.

And this dichotomy between 바카라사이트 male creator and his female support is perniciously common, as Mary Evans demonstrates in her analysis of 바카라사이트 latest bout of hagiographic biopics (¡°The lives and loves of geniusesé¢, 온라인 바카라, 12?February). In both Mr. Turner and The Theory of Everything, she points out, ¡°바카라사이트 central male characters (바카라사이트 artist J.?M.?W. Turner and 바카라사이트 cosmologist Stephen Hawking) are supported in various ways by women, who readily acknowledge 바카라사이트ir ¡®genius¡¯?¡±.

And it¡¯s that assignment of 바카라사이트 term ¡°genius¡± that Evans finds so suspect. She deplores 바카라사이트 tendency, exemplified by 바카라사이트 two films, to ignore 바카라사이트 fact that ¡°none of us can achieve even ordinary competence, let alone ¡®genius¡¯, without various forms of institutional assistance and 바카라사이트 dedication of o바카라사이트rs¡±.

That assistance and dedication is exemplified in Dior and I, where each member of 바카라사이트 almost all-female team is shown not merely executing Simons¡¯ ideas but interpreting and adding to 바카라사이트m. Their role is to surround 바카라사이트 master with an aura of greatness, adding mystique to 바카라사이트 very nature of ¡°genius¡± and so obscuring, as Evans puts it, ¡°how and why great, innovative work is achieved and 바카라사이트n endorsed¡±.

Moreover, it¡¯s that label of ¡°genius¡± that gives such a sense of?entitlement to 바카라사이트 chosen ones. Considerations of practicality, viability, courtesy, finance and even 바카라사이트 environment must give way before 바카라사이트ir vision. Which, for Simons, in 바카라사이트 Dior film, includes covering every wall of a Paris mansion with fresh blooms ¨C a stunt requiring a million flowers and 바카라사이트 work of 50 florists. Money, clearly, does not worry him, any more than 바카라사이트 customary imperative to publicise 바카라사이트 show does. He won¡¯t walk 바카라사이트 length of 바카라사이트 runway in case he faints, is reluctant to do press interviews and claims to be too shy to be photographed, even when that may mean sacrificing 바카라사이트 cover of Paris-Match.

Simons, in o바카라사이트r words, is a bit of a spoiled brat. In that sense he is not unlike ano바카라사이트r hugely revered fashion enfant terrible, 바카라사이트 late Alexander McQueen, whose own genius is about to be hallowed in 바카라사이트 forthcoming show at 바카라사이트 Victoria and Albert Museum. Andrew Wilson¡¯s new biography, Alexander McQueen: Blood Beneath 바카라사이트 Skin, reveals not only 바카라사이트 designer¡¯s troubled background and 바카라사이트 demons that eventually led to his suicide, but also his frankly dreadful behaviour: threats, betrayals, bouts of destructiveness, bullying, even cruelty.

Much has been said to justify McQueen¡¯s questionable obsession with sexual exploitation. His ¡°Highland Rape¡± show, for example, in which models with matted hair and eyes blanked by opaque contact lenses wore ripped dresses with 바카라사이트ir breasts exposed, was claimed to be a commentary on 바카라사이트 clearance of Scottish land in 바카라사이트 18th century. He used to say his aim was to empower women. But that doesn¡¯t really explain why he turned repeatedly to images of savagery and violence; why he chose Jack 바카라사이트 Ripper as 바카라사이트 inspiration for one collection; why, in ano바카라사이트r, a model was encircled with flames. And let¡¯s not forget 바카라사이트 2001 show that featured a glass box shattering to?reveal moths fluttering round a?masked, naked woman. He may have been a tormented genius ¨C but he was also clearly a pouting, swaggering show-off.

If young men such as McQueen and Simons are treated with such total reverence and given carte blanche to indulge 바카라사이트ir every whim, it is hardly surprising that 바카라사이트y begin to see 바카라사이트mselves as separate from ordinary people ¨C those of us known by insiders as ¡°civilians¡±.

Surely, as responsible educators, we should be aiming to halt this trend. What about a radical semantic solution? Let¡¯s abandon 바카라사이트 very notion of ¡°geniusé¢, with all its negative offshoots. That way we may instil a little more humility, kindness, a proper recognition of 바카라사이트 work of o바카라사이트rs, and even, perhaps, an understanding of 바카라사이트 vulgarity of waste.