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CM I love this one, she looks really sort of raunchy and irreverent and totally in charge. Tell me a bit about her and the dress.
JG Well, that was from the Super Woman collection (Wonder Woman Spring-Summer 2001), I don't know if you remember that one, Diana, and that was an embroidery... and we were trying to get the feeling of customisation so we actually got more than one embroiderer to be involved, and then got them all to put it together, which we did in the last collection a lot as well.
CM You mean on one garment you had more than one embroidery company?
JG Yeah, nightmare.
CM Did you tell them?
JG No, we do because they all have to fit like a jigsaw, and we wanted that idea of customisation but we wanted it to have a reality about it, so you really did have to get Annie to work with Lanel to work with Montex to work with Lesage because we wanted that feeling of customisation of the most haute couture of embroiderers in Paris, that's how we ended up with that sexy kind of rock n' roll.
CM You always imagine them all being very jealous and very disinclined to work together, it's quite an achievement I would have thought?
JG They love what they do so much and to keep it alive, to make it alive, they do actually help each other, sometimes Lesage will give Annie from Montex the beads, because he's got the best stock of beads that go back..
CM Right, forever, right down?
JG Oh yeah, he's still got those popcorn beads. Do you know the story behind the popcorn beads? His father produced these little beads and his mother was dying them and stuff and cooking at the same time, and they fell in the frying pan and they literally started going pop, pop, pop, like the Schiaparelli popcorn, and that's how it was created.
CM So much is accidental, you've got to be really open to see, I mean a lesser man would have thrown those away because they would have been spoiled.
JG No, no Elsa probably went in there and thought 'yes, they're perfect for the Circus collection, yes!'.
CM So you've got to keep an open mind all the time?
JG There is a camaraderie definitely, as I was saying Lesage will often, will say 'oh, I really want those beads'. You know, you've got this and you've already got a lot on your plate, and the timing's tight, and I'd love Annie to do this but she just hasn't got those, and they'll swap beads, sell beads or whatever. There's a lot of that that goes on which is quite cute.
CM I think that's great.
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