Celine Dion has given Vogue magazine unprecedented access as she negotiates Paris Haute Couture 2017, even allowing them to photograph her naked as she changed between shows.
Fashion Weeks can be notoriously high stress, but the fashion bible has turned Dion’s trip around the shows into a fairytale, by sharing intimate Instagram shots with lengthy captions detailing the singer’s wondrous relationship with fashion.
“Here’s a little naked fact to ponder while Celine Dion changes looks between shows,” they teased.
“For the past five years she has worn haute couture near exclusively for her own performances (in Las Vegas and on her current ‘mini-tour’ of Europe).”
The caption goes on to explain that Dion is in the privileged position of being able to dictate certain criteria her couture pieces must live up to
“We have to make haute couture industrial,” Dion tells Vogue.
“The clothes follow me; I do not follow the clothes.”
Fashion houses send teams to Nevada for three fittings with Dion.
“Armani Prive, Schiaparelli, Giambattista Valli, Versace...only a partial list,” Vogue explained.
“Everyone, basically.
“In Vegas, Velcro panels are added to allow for her ribcage to expand or for a quick outfit change.
“Micro straps of elasticised chiffon prevent a slit from becoming a sloppy situation mid-squat.
“Shoes—always heels, never platforms—are ordered one size smaller (she is normally a 38) and refitted with metal shanks.”
Dion hasn’t just bared all physically for the magazine. She also opened up emotionally, revealing the story behind the dress she wore to her husband Rene’s funeral.
“Years ago, Celine bought a classic little black dress from the Christian Dior atelier when the house was overseen by John Galliano,” Vogue shared.
“It is simple, falling to mid calf, and narrow as can be with just a hint of stretch.
“It requires a minimum of jewellery, a statement bracelet or perhaps one of the major diamond rings she designed with her late husband Rene Angelil: two pear cuts set in a wide pave band, or two hearts of diamond and emerald abstractly interlocking, on a cushion of yet more diamonds.
“This LBD forces you to walk one foot in front of the other. This is a dress Celine knows well and clearly loves, the simplest evocation of the private luxury of couture and the total antithesis of the red carpet hoopla that attends the union of fashion and celebrity.”
Dion approaches each runway show like a shopper - and the idea that the unattainable is suddenly within arms reach - at least for the heroine of the story we are following - is delicious.
″[Dion] keeps a master file divided into mini files of pages torn from magazines,” writes Vogue.
“She circles looks from collections special issues, turns down pages, and despairs when a look or accessory is not produced and the sample unbuyable.”
Dion is clearly as comfortable in her skin as she is in couture.
When she is posed on a balcony her longtime photographer Denise Truscello, worries whether her dress is pulled down enough at the back to avoid any unfortunate paparazzi shots, but Dion simply responds:
“They might see my butt, but I don’t think they mind.”