Roland Mouret was born 1962 in Lourdes, France, the son of a butcher. He started his working life as a model and later worked as an art director.

However, while he was a stylist, he was very much keen to make clothes which he himself liked, rather than use other designers garments. So he started his own fashion company in 1998, and made his show debut at the London Fashion Week during the Fall 2000 season.

Mouret has very strong ideas that clothes should not be designed for teenagers or very young girls, but for mature independent women and that is what he tries to do.

He is a master of drapery and fold, and has impressed the world with his "cut without pattern" approach. With a touch of ease and haughty glamour, he creates clothes which look accidental in detail. A pin would hold a skirt, bunching it and make it body hugging.

His sophisticated and very grown-up collections are eye-catching and sensual. He combines his mastery of draping with his superb tailoring and you get a commercially successful line.

Spring/Summer 2003

Mouret participated in London Fashion Week in September 2002, showing his Spring/Summer 2003 collection. Here on the left, is a dress from that show. Known initially for his evening wear, Roland showed day dresses for the Summer. His design philosophy is simple, make clothes that are modern and wearable.

Autumn/Winter 2003

He showed his winter collection during London Fashion Week in February 2003. On the right is an outfit from the Winter show.

He showed a sensuously rebellious collection reminiscent of Mary Quant and the 1960's. He sent sexy black dresses accented with black leather or gold harnesses, thick black bonded wool coats striped with black patent leather, and brightly coloured knitwear, a new line he is interoducing for the Winter season.

New elements this season include Jeans and Bag collections. Mouret has seen consistent growth and commercial success, from his design artistry.

Spring/Summer 2004

Roland Mouret's Spring collection was shown during New York Fashion Week in September 2003. A dress from the show is shown here on the left.

This was his first showing in New York and his collection included smartly tailored collarless coats, sassy suits and sexy jersey mini dresses. He mixed his French sensuality with English quirkiness, adding a touch of S&M black to sunset yellow and orange dresses. His signature draping was seen in clever ruching that put a sophisticated twist on jersey summer dresses.

Fall/Winter 2004

The Fall collection was shown during New York Fashion Week in February 2004. His original slot was brought forward by two days but fortunatel;y his clothes were ready to go. The collection included plenty of Mouret classics; distressed dresses and skinny trousers, all beautifully unique.

Spring/Summer 2005

During New York Fashion Week in September 2004, Roland Mouret presented his Spring collection. An outfit from the show is pictured on the left.

Roland collaborated with Jonathan Saunders (click to read more about him) to include print on his catwalk for the first time. His collection is made up of separates which can be mixed up to create a woman's own sense of identity. It was mostly inspired by the South of France in the fifties, but there is a rich mix of fabrics, including Lurex, boucle and Irish linen.

Fall/Winter 2005

The Fall/Winter collection was shown during New York Fashion Week in February 2005. Roland seems to have given up his adopted London for the New York runways. His collection was forties inspired, specifically by Luis Buneul's Belle de Jour and Catherine Deneuve. His clothes were meticulously crafted with precision tailoring, especially needle skirts. He included square-neck, puff-sleeve cocktail dresses hugging the body and a shrunken pea jacket. Washed-leather numbers were also shown. His boleros, cut extra-tight and above the bust, were a hit.

Oscar Night
February 27th 2005

Roland's beautiful black gown was chosen by previous Oscar winner Scarlett Johansson, shown here on the left.

Ready-to-Wear
Spring/Summer 2006
New York

Roland Mouret presented his Spring/Summer 2006 collection during New York Fashion Week in September 2005. An outfit from the collection is shown on the right, a long geometric print skirt, with a black top.

He was inspired by Cole Porter and Jean Cocteau but the most important point was his fabrics. He used asymmetrical cuts, beautiful draping, tiny waists and forties-style femininity. There was an appearance of simplicity but his clothes were cut with wizardry, adding frills, tucks and flares. His show was a combination of sensuality and modesty, without flesh exposure.

Roland quits his own company

In October 2005, it was announced that Roland Mouret is quitting his own company. The name actually belongs to Scottish businesswoman Sharai Meyers and her banker husband Andre Meyers, who together hold 100% of the stock in the company. Apparently the Meyers and Roland do not get along and Roland has split off.

The timing is a bit unfortunate. In October, just after the announcement, his hourglass "Galaxy" gown was celebrated in all the magazines as the dress of the moment. His company was just coming into a profitable situation after 5 years of hard work and the house has $ 2 million of orders on hand. Most of the business has been built up because the clientele love Roland's designs.

Creative director at Harrods Suzanne Tide-Frater says he has almost perfect style and when he made a personal appearance in the store, Harrods sold 20 dresses in an hour.

The Meyers husband and wife duo seem to consider Roland is an employee, but they do not seem to understand that clientele come to their store to buy Roland Mouret originals, and without him we do not feel they will continue to buy.

Why did he sign his name away? Well he says that in 1998 he had no money, only his native French chic, and ideas about wrapping the body in a length of fabric in a sexy way, irrestible to women. Sharai Meyers had just sold her management consultancy business and asked Roland to make her a dress. The dress was such a success that Sharai's boyfriend of the time proposed marriage and became her husband.

Sharai offered Roland money to set up and expand, and he took it, as so many designers have done before him. He didn't read the fine print, and the whole business became property of the Meyers.

Now he is officially on sick leave. In six months, he will leave the premises in Chelsea, London. Then ?? Well, he is hopeful of finding a spot as a designer with another well-known house in Paris, Milan or even America. It is our feeling that wherever he goes, the celebrity ladies he has been dressing, will follow him and some lucky house will get a whole new clientele. But as he says, it will never be under his own name again.

2005