Through the Eyes of Dior

Léa Tahon

Protoype Seamstress

Atelier Dior Prêt-à-porter Flou Tailleur

Her voice is soft and her eyes focused, even behind her “resting glasses.” Léa, a “prototype seamstress” joined the atelier in July 2022 and, at 23, is one of the youngest “hands” at Dior. 

She was only 20 when she started her career as a “petite main” for Alexandre Vauthier. As a child, she used to draw, and then she started to dream of this profession, with such determination that, in order to study at the Flora Tristan professional high school in Montereau Fault-Yonne, she had to travel 3.5 hours every day just to improve her skills in the art of cutting and fitting. She still lives with her parents, and has designed a bustier dress without knowing yet where to wear it...

“At school, I learned to sew, to use Lectra software for patterns, to understand the weaves of fabrics, canvas, twill, satin... The eye? That requires years,” she says, “because the key is to take a step back. Here, at Dior, we learn the techniques necessary to improve the art of ironing and it's a different training ground.”

On her sewing machine, she fixed a heart-shaped cushion all pricked with needles. For a few weeks now, the two ready-to-wear ateliers, Flou and Tailleur, have merged into one: a synergy that allows them to perfect the models – whether the hems or topstitching – before production, but also to share a vision. 

by Laurence Benaim