Esmod - couturier school in Dubai
Any person who was born and raised in the USSR will surely be able to clearly answer the question: “Where does the motherland begin?”. That was the name of the famous song, familiar to many from childhood. But where does the fashion begin? With ideas? With pencil sketches? With fabrics? Or, after all, with couturier training? Having asked this question, we decided to get an answer from Tamara Hostal, director of the Dubai branch of the famous French university Esmod.
In 1841, Alexis Lavigne, the French inventor of mannequins and a flexible measuring tape, opened in Paris the first high-fashion school in the world, called Esmod. Today it has branches in Bordeaux, Rennes and Lyon, as well as branches in Berlin, Munich, Beirut, Damascus, Jakarta, Oslo, Sao Paulo, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka and Tunisia. Not so long ago, Esmod School opened its doors in Dubai.
Tamara, please tell me when and why did you decide to open the Esmod Institute here?
We opened the Esmod Institute in Dubai in 2006 with 18 students. This is a branch of the famous Parisian couturier school Esmod. I decided to open this university in Dubai, because until that time I had lived in the UAE for a long time, I was well acquainted with the market and, it seems to me, I understood what young women want. My mother was Russian and sewed very well. As a child, I understood that beautiful clothes mean a lot in a person’s life, and the ability to create them is a great art.
Are girls only studying at your institute today, or are there students among the students who have chosen a career as a fashion designer?
Today, six young men study with us, but the bulk of the students, of course, are girls. Although everyone around says that the best couturiers in the world are men. I agree with this, but who knows who our students will become. After all, the legendary Coco Chanel was also not a male representative.
Was the main idea of opening Esmod school to teach local young women how to design and sew clothes for themselves?
Traditionally, Esmod schools around the world offer three-year and one-year fashion design programs, a one-year fashion marketing course, and short summer and evening trainings.
The most popular with us is a three-year bachelor's program. Students entering the university come to classes daily (this is very important), and work in its walls from morning to evening. Of course, we observe all state and Islamic holidays, but, as a rule, our students do not have so many days off for three years of study. Under this program, girls receive the specialty of a clothing designer or designer tailor. To do this, they study subjects such as costume history, fashion history, computer design, as well as materials science, which hides all the secrets of the production and use of different types of fabrics, which is very important for a fashion designer. Future cutters spend a lot of time designing clothes and their elements, drawing.
Can every graduate of Esmod school sew everything they come up with on their own?
That's right. It is very important to know all the intricacies of the process of creating clothes - from A to Z. We also teach a special course for decorating clothes, which includes embroidery and decoration with beads, rhinestones, lace, galloon, braid and other artistic means. But usually this course is final.
Tamara, in your opinion, is the UAE a fertile market for this kind of education?
The UAE in general, and Dubai in particular, is a great place to study fashion design. Here you can find fabrics from almost all over the world, and in the textile markets they can be purchased for very little money. Our students have ample opportunities for experimentation. We teach them to understand the properties of different tissues. Because here, given the specifics of a hot country, light materials are mainly sold - satin, silk, cotton. But they will subsequently have to work with wool, and with velveteen, and with velvet, and with jacquard, and with warm felt, drapes, tweed. We strive to ensure that our school is dynamic. After all, if this is felt in the nature of the educational institution, then students strive to move forward.
What do you propose to create for students as term papers or tests?
We believe that inspiration is a very important component of creativity. To stimulate the creative process, we hold art classes where we talk about the works of different artists, about different techniques in art, and about art exhibitions. Our students have the opportunity to visit Paris and go to the most famous museums, including the Louvre.
In addition, we conduct creative workshops during which students are invited to create certain things from what comes to hand. And absolutely everything can be used. Pay attention to the models of dresses exhibited in our improvised museum - they were made from all kinds of household and household items - metal sponges for washing dishes, nets from vegetables, plastic spoons, forks, plates, dry pasta, coffee beans and so on. It is important for us that future fashion designers are able to feel the color, texture, style. Therefore, they are trained, almost by touch.
How many students are currently studying at Esmod?
One hundred and fifty people.
Are there Emirate citizens among them?
Yes, 35 girls from the UAE are studying with us, all of them are very talented. In general, students from many countries study at Esmod, and there are approximately 45 nationalities. Do your students take part in the traditional Dubai Fashion Week? For some reason, the organizers of the Week do not invite us there. Once we took part in the first shows, but something has changed, and now we were told that no design schools for Dubai Fashion Week are invited anymore.
Strange why?
I do not know. I told the organizers of the Week that this was the wrong decision. After all, the most talented students study at design schools, and maybe they will become the new stars of fashion catwalks in a couple of years. But the answer is silence.
Do you show the works of your best students, for example, to the leading haute couture houses in Paris?
Of course, we have well-established relations, because, after all, our institute is a branch of the famous Parisian design school. In addition, we invite many guests to Dubai who conduct their own copyright courses here.
Tamara, you have been involved in the fashion industry for many years. I would like to know who is your favorite couturier? And have you ever met with leading Russian fashion designers, for example, Valentin Yudashkin?
To my favorite couturiers, I would include Issy Miyaki and Valentino. Of course, I would really like for our students to have more opportunities to communicate with world celebrities, including Russian couturiers. I heard that Valentin Yudashkin gave his master classes at the Esmod school in Paris. If you become aware that some of them are coming to Dubai, let us know, we will be happy to invite you.
What are your plans for the future development of the school?
I would like to talk more about students than about school, because Esmod lives on thanks to them. Today we try to be dynamic, we conduct our own fashion shows and shows, to which we invite everyone. We strive to be involved in the daily life of the city. In the future, our students will have to make a choice, decide which country they would like to live in, what specialization they are most interested in - haute couture (high fashion), pret-a-porte (everyday fashion), as well as theater and cinema costumes. Each graduate must create their own collection of 50 items (for everyday wardrobe), or 4 items for haute couture and theater costumes. Our first release will take place in June this year.
I really want to open the Esmod branded boutique in Dubai so that all the models that will be presented by our graduates can be put up for sale in it. This, firstly, will help to trace the reaction of customers, and secondly, financially support our graduates, as they buy all fabrics and accessories for future collections on their own, and sometimes it is not very cheap.
I believe that a great future awaits costume designers for theater and cinema. Branches of the most famous studios will appear in Dubai over time, so specialists such as those who receive knowledge at Esmod today will be in great demand. And theaters are already there.
What do students themselves want?
Many of our students here want to create their own brand or open a boutique. If you talk with Esmod students in Europe, then everything is different there, as European graduates dream of finding jobs in Dior or Chanel Homes. That is the difference. But, despite the fact that Dior and Chanel will always remain in the position of trendsetters, for new designers there will always be free market niches that will allow them to shift the fashion industry in some other direction.
True, it will be much more difficult for our graduates to do this than in the days of Coco Chanel or Christian Dior. Much has changed in the world, and the very concept of fashion has transformed over the years. Of course, in the 1930s, if you were young, ambitious and able to sew, then you immediately got a job, for example, in the House of Dior. Today it is very difficult. Therefore, it is better to start an independent career, offering the market its own style, vision, concept. That is what we teach our students.
Do you have any competitors?
There are no direct ones. The creator of the Esmod school, Alexis Lavigne, came up with his own design and modeling method, based on drapery of fabric, both on a straight surface and immediately on a mannequin. This method is unique, and helps the student to feel the plastic tissue, understand the principles of modeling. No one has been able to repeat Lavigne yet.
How expensive is learning at Esmod?
We have many different programs designed for different periods of study. Therefore, prices depend on what the student chooses. For many professionals in the fashion industry, we offer continuing education courses, for example, a person with a degree in fashion design can attend a pret-a-porte or theater costume program. All details about the programs and their cost can be found on our website. For example, you can become a competent makeup artist by paying from 2500 to 3800 dirhams. When studying in a three-year program, one year will cost 59 thousand dirhams and so on. Quite reasonable prices if we are talking about a diploma from a school of designers like the Esmod Institute.
Tamara, we wish you success, and your students in the future to become the best couturiers in the world.
