The American designer Francine Simmons, whose clothes are available at Luxecouture in Dubai, talks about her background in fashion. I taught myself how to sew when I was a teenager and I've always been really into drawing and art. My mother told me that her grandfather was a tailor, so maybe that's where I got the talent, because my dad's a scientist and my mum's a nurse. I remember my mum would dress me sometimes and I'd be miserable. I'd fight her. I remember my grandfather got married when I was eight or so and I picked out this redstriped taffeta dress with a big skirt. I also remember dressing myself, and my mum would say, "I'm not letting you out of the house in that outfit!", so there would be fights over that. And now, of course, she doesn't say anything. I'm influenced a lot by vintage garments, from the Victorian era all the way up to the 1980s, and books that have vintage arts or silhouettes or fabrics in them. I take embroideries and rework them. I don't really do silhouette as much as I do detailing. I'm interested in texture and fabrics, but I think you need to update the shape - I mean you look at a Victorian dress and it's beautiful but who's really going to wear that?
They're really tiny. You can take a sleeve from a vintage piece and use that but change the rest of it. I collect vintage. I don't know if I have a favourite piece. I'm constantly collecting new ones. I used to wear it a lot more - now, all I do is work, so I just throw on a shirt and jeans. And I have to wear comfortable shoes because I run all around the city, so I can't even wear heels because my feet would just kill me. I have to clear out my wardrobe a lot - it just grows and grows. I don't wear many of the clothes and I have to get rid of them. There are some pieces I hold on to, the pieces I love. I think when you wear something that you feel really good in, it makes you feel more at peace. I feel better than if I'm in something I'm fussing around with. I try to make all my clothes really comfortable, because I don't want to be in a tight, restricted jacket. I also like to make clothes that I can wear in the office and then wear out at night. There are a lot of people in their twenties, thirties and forties who work nine to five: they go to the office, then go to dinner or whatever, and they're not going to go home and change. I don't get too emotionally attached to clothes. When I see something that's beautiful or different or unique, I get excited. That is the most emotional that I get. As a designer you have to not get attached because you have to be able to take criticism.
Not everyone is going to like it. So if a buyer comes and says, "Oh, I don't like that", I'm not going to run away and start crying. I always wonder who wore the vintage pieces. I think a lot of vintage stores go to estates and buy pieces from people who passed away, and it really makes me wonder. I have one pair of shoes from an estate sale that are magnificent. They're from the 1940s and they're like little platform stilettos. They're pretty high, but the heel isn't that skinny, and the detail is amazing. I can fit into them but they're not very comfortable - people had very skinny feet back then. There were so many amazing shoes at that sale. I remember thinking this woman must have had such a life. She must have been quite the woman. I wear my clothes to the point of exhaustion, until I want to get rid of them. But there are some pieces that I do hold on to and would probably like to pass down. I am completely obsessed with shoes, and I have to control myself with them. I used to wear them a lot more when I had to commute to work, but now I live and work in the same space, so I don't really wear them. Now I try to buy shoes that are comfortable and cute, but they're hard to find.
It's all about the shoe; I truly believe that. You could wear basic jeans and a Tshirt as long as you have the right shoes and bag, and maybe a scarf. Right now because the economy is so bad in the States, people are investing in handbags and shoes, and keeping the same clothes in their wardrobes, so it's not going to break their bank.
