A graduate in fashion design, pattern making, loose-fitting sewing and tailoring, a graduate in costume design, a Master Craftswoman in Arts and Crafts, Mrs. Aline BUFFET was a finalist in the Best Craftsmen of France competition and obtained the Quality Excellence Charter.

She is also a fashion designer, a costume designer, a model maker, a teacher trainer for technical high schools, and the director of the fashion school and of the professional training centre COURS ALINE BUFFET, which is QUALIOPI certified.

Located in the heart of Cannes, a stone’s throw from the Croisette, the COURS ALINE BUFFET fashion school offers teaching based on the experience of the ALINE BUFFET fashion house.

This school is a private establishment where all those passionate about “Made in France” know-how are trained.
It stitches, it draws, it cuts… Welcome to the heart of the haute-couture technical school of Aline Buffet, one of the only fashion designers in France, who has been based in Cannes for 39 years. Here, she gives tips and tricks to enthusiasts, professionals wishing to improve their skills and to her students, future great designers… She does everything for it! A former member of the Saint Laurent design office, a professional in the industry and in show business, she has dressed many stars: from Mariah Carey to Nicole Kidman and Uma Thurman. “Women like any other,” she says. A master craftswoman, she goes from easel to model every day with one leitmotiv: to pass on her know-how.

Aline BUFFET, THE Red Carpet retoucher!

CTB: How does one become the red carpet retoucher?

AB : When I arrived in Cannes, a fashion house contacted me. I was asked to take care of two or three stars together. I liked my work. From a brand, I now retouch 90 to 95% of the outfits seen on the red carpet, especially for the Cannes Festival. Today, fashion houses no longer make appointments, they knock directly on the door… This is the hub of the Festival. Moreover, I consider that stars are human beings like us, they do their job, we do ours and we all form a team. And when they understand that, everything goes very well.

CTB: Fashion is a difficult world…

AB : You know, during these frenetic times, you eat and sleep when you can. I’ve worked three days and three nights without sleep. To do this job, you have to be resilient. I was made for it, I like to work fast and get the adrenalin rush that comes with it… It’s a notion that I try to instil in my students. I remember always having teachers who worked. I really think that a teacher who has come out of school cannot teach a manual trade like a professional can. Why can’t he do that? Because we know all the tips, we can teach how to create a label, how to calculate the cost price, the selling price of a garment and know what is going on in the profession and what to learn. In fact, my school is a bit like the school of life!

CTB: What qualities are required to work on the Stars’ collections?

AB : Speed. Here, everything is done in a hurry. When I’m recruiting, I ask the candidates for their 100m time! Of course, you have to master all the techniques of Haute Couture, Costume Design and Industry. Three complementary techniques that allow us to master the difficulties of the Men’s and Women’s collections during this stressful period of the festival.

CTB: What are your current projects?

To write an autobiographical book… in which would necessarily appear anecdotes of the profession… and of the Cannes Festival!