Ep. 19 - When Couture Goes Global - inspired by MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS
Lesley Manville (2nd from left) as Ada Harris at the House of Dior fashion show in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris. Photo by Dávid Lukács
Episode 19 of Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters is devoted to fashion – past and present – inspired by the film Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris.
The conversation covers luxury fashion and couture as a global phenomenon influenced by contemporary concerns about sustainability of people and planet, as well as how clothes help us recall special memories and can represent life changing adventures.
Guest: SHAZIA SALEEM - Designer, and Co-founder of Pop London Boutique
“...almost every brand in the world manufactures internationally, from places like India, from Parkistan, from China. They are really skilled artisan craft people in all those countries and they deserve just as much respect being compensated in a fair way just as much as people who manufacture in Europe.”
SHAZIA SALEEM is regarded as an expert in ethical and sustainable fashion with over a decade of experience in this niche. Shazia studied fashion in Florence, Italy. She has represented the UK on international design projects, was part of panel discussions at COP26 (the UN Climate Conference in 2021) and is a regular contributor to BBC Radio. Shazia is also the designer and co-founder of Pop London, a sustainable fashion business that she runs with her sister, Menissa.
Sustainable fashion for people who love fashion, Pop London Boutique was selected by Condé Nast Traveller as London’s only sustainable fashion destination and by Stylist magazine as one of London’s best shops to visit.
Connect with Shazia Saleem and Pop London Boutique
Pop London Boutique website | Twitter @popldnboutique | IG @poplondonboutique
Shazia Saleem recommends watching this Dior video that takes you behind the scenes in making haute couture for their clients and collections. Saleem says, “The video is wonderful showing some of the intricate work that goes into contemporary couture.” The video also shows the global process by featuring crafts persons making Dior couture in India.
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS is based on the 1958 novella of the same name by Paul Gallico. Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris is the enchanting tale of a seemingly ordinary British housekeeper named Ada Harris, played by Lesley Manville, whose dream is to own a couture Christian Dior gown. The dream takes Mrs. Harris on an extraordinary adventure to Paris and the exclusive House of Dior.
In addition to Manville, the film’s cast includes Isabelle Huppert (Claudine Colbert), Jason Isaacs (Archie), Ellen Thomas (Vi Butterfield), Pride and Prejudice’s Anna Chancellor (Lady Dant), Lambert Wilson (Marquis de Chassagne), Alba Baptista (Natasha), Emily in Paris’s Lucas Bravo (André Fauvel), Sanditon’s Rose Williams (Pamela Penrose)
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS is directed by Anthony Fabian (Skin, Good Hope), with script by Fabian, Carroll Cartwright, Keith Thompson, and Olivia Hetreed. Costumes by Academy Award winning costume designer Jenny Beavan (Cruella)
MRS. HARRIS GOES TO PARIS had its theatrical release July 15, 2022. It’s currently available through streaming services like Apple TV, Amazon, google etc. for a fee.
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Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris by Paul Gallico was Historical Drama with The Boston Sisters’s 2022 Summer Movie/Book Club selection (voted by our newsletter subscribers). You can purchase the Mrs. Harris Goest to Paris and Christian Dior’s autobiography Dior by Dior (recommended by Shazia Saleem) from our bookshop.org affiliate bookstore. Your purchases support independent booksellers and a small commission supports the podcast.