Interview With A Man: Roland Mouret
By The Gloss
Fashion designer Roland Mouret opens up about his life, work and inspirations …
Fashion designer Roland Mouret is celebrated for his ability to drape curves and for his iconic, body-sculpting Galaxy dress. Having stepped down from his eponymous label in 2025, he has moved into painting and his memoir, I am Roland Mouret, will be published by Quercus Publishing this month. Born and raised in Lourdes, France, he now lives in England.
How would you describe your parents? My parents were the butcher and the butcher’s wife and my relationship with them was based on working with them . They were children of the Second World War who were constantly rebuilding and the best gift they could give us was to build something for us. But the price we had to pay was that we had to work with them and when the working stopped, they were tired and there was nothing for each other. It became an unbalanced relationship.
You grew up in Lourdes; did it make a big impact on you? As a child you absorb so much information, and I had this imagination developing all the time. It leaves an imprint inside. The imprint of men wearing dresses, the faith, the people all walking in the same direction, a circus of lights at night and twinkling things in stores. These imprints became a unique pattern that I used later when I realised that I drape like the sculptures in the church. Plus, the fact that when I went to school, the nuns allowed me to start to draw, so in my head I saw that religion and creativity could be the same.
What did you think you’d grow up to be? I wanted to be a priest first. It’s really funny because as a child, without knowing anything about myself, without knowing what I would become as an adult, my sexuality, there was something attractive about being a different kind of man. My dad wanted me to be another butcher. He was doing everything for me to take over but slowly that unraveled and I thought “How can I escape? How can I escape that pattern?” I had to find a way to protect myself without hurting anybody, but definitely without becoming a victim.
What is your biggest strength at work? My biggest strength is knowing nothing.
Your new book is called I am Roland Mouret. Does your name mean an enormous amount to you, after all the ups and downs you’ve had? This book reflects on all the characters, all the identities I had to create in my life to become Roland Mouret, the name that my parents gave me. In deciding the name of the book, the most simple approach was ‘I am Roland Mouret’, in all the ups and downs, everything I made and everything that fell apart. And throughout the journey of learning who I was, I had to try to learn who I was inside and what to project out into society. It’s that weird balance of defining the soul, the spirit you are inside and also defining what you represent outside because that’s the best way people will understand you. And so to call it ‘I am Roland Mouret’ is in a way to say goodbye to Roland Mouret, goodbye to all the characters.
Did it mean a lot to you to have the opportunity write the book? Yes. In my head, it’s a kind of David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust moment.
Your friendships are for the most part … for a long time and no more than five people.
You’ve lived in both England and France, where do you consider home? England. French people outside of France are like the olive in the dirty martini. We are the best. In our own country, we become a bit average.
Your most physically attractive feature is … my moustache. I love it. It’s my best friend.
What is your style signifier? I wear shorts. I only wear trousers if it’s really cold, but I will wear shorts for eight or nine months in England. There is something about shorts that makes me relate to the boy I was and I really like that.
You buy your clothes when … I think I buy to replace and I trust this collective subconscious that I have. I love to wear big shawls or a blanket on my shoulders like my grandmother. Or I will use a piece of rope as a belt. I like really heavy coats like my uncle wore. In the last five years, I have come to a stage of life where everything becomes related to this collective subconscious.
Do you use skincare products? No. I use just one deodorant that I fell in love with because it has this nice masculine attitude. It’s called AKT and it is a cream in a tube with a beautiful gold key. It has a sense of simplicity but masculinity.
Do you like to have a tan? I went through years where I thought a tan was a sign of a different life, but now, it’s not really important to me. I have Moorish blood in me, so I can tan easily but it’s not important. Nothing is important now – except my moustache.
Do you have an exercise routine? Yes, with kettlebells. It’s mostly to be out of pain. Arthritis is the person who sleeps with me now. It’s my new partner.
You most recently listened to … I listen to a lot of music. I’m a big fan of folk music and Brandi Carlile.
You most recently read … The Three Principles by Sydney Banks.
How do you deal with a setback – you have worked through some in your life and career? I think I read a lot of philosophy because it’s about the beauty of how you sit back and reflect and try to understand. What I’ve learned is that nothing stops, everything carries on. Everyone and everything is linked. The world is not focused, it is out of focus. And we try, with social media, to fix the more beautiful moments of an out-of-focus situation and pretend that’s our reality, but I’m very aware that everything is out of focus and it’s all in movement.
Do you cook at home? I love cooking. It’s a moment of celebration. Every day I cook and it’s a ritual. I live by myself now and I cook for myself. I will have a glass of wine. I’ll have nibbles – blanched almonds and Parmesan – and I start to cook. Most days I just eat once, at dinner, and I want, at the end of the day, to eat and say, “That was good. I really enjoyed that”. I love to cook for other people and I enjoy going for dinner, but it’s important to me to cook for myself, because by doing so, I show myself love.
What do you do when you say you’re doing nothing? I read a lot and I meditate. And I read the same book a lot, because I have a tendency to forget everything. I’ve learned how to do nothing and not feel guilty anymore. It took me a good two years to feel that way, because when you wake up for many years feeling that by what you do, you will save the world, or save the life of a woman, then it’s hard to wake up and say you’re not going to save anyone today. That takes time, but there is no guilt to doing nothing. So I do nothing now.
I am Roland Mouret is available to buy now.
