Holding his son by the hand, the famous fashion designer Florin Dobre was captured by the Basilica.ro photographer joining the pilgrims for the annual procession with the relics of Saint Demetrios the New, Protector of Bucharest.
Being the only Romanian fashion designer with collections featured in Vogue and CQ magazines, Florin Dobre bore witness to the respecting the faith and traditions while still being in vogue.
Florin Dobre is known for his closeness to the Church and his respect for the values of Orthodoxy. He said that as a child he did not receive a very good education in this regard, but it was more an innate love of God.
“I didn’t receive any education. Being in the 80’s, our parents didn’t take us to church on Sunday. I never went to the church with my parents on Sundays,” said the fashion designer in a Trinitas TV show.
Dobre said that his parents were faithful Christians ‘like all people who say they believe in God but only go to Easter vigil to receive light.’
He remembered reading the Bible, prayers and even fasting from the age of five or six, although his parents told him that he should not fast because he was a child. However, after growing up, he abandoned that ‘initial faith’ and became a ‘prodigal son’ for ten years.
Conversion
He returned to the faith following a revelation in 2013 when he tried to enter the Stavropoleos Church in Bucharest and was barred from doing so by an unseen force.
Realizing his decadent state, he wanted to return to the church but could not immediately.
‘Lent was coming and I said that I must start to observe it. And during that Lent, I could not observe any fasting day. My power was very low.’
This was happening in a good period from a professional point of view. Florin Dobre thought he was on the verge of success. He had presented his creations in Paris and appeared on the front page of Le Figaro, and Le Monde made a documentary about him.
“Then God took me and brought me home,” said the designer, talking about returning to faith.
With the help of a friend from the theology school he found a spiritual father who changed his spiritual life for the better. This is Father Visarion Alexa from the St Nicholas Church in Bucharest’s Militari neighbourhood.
The return to a classic style followed with his return to the Church and even greater success came. He became the only Romanian fashion designer to appear in VOGUE and GQ magazines.
“I felt that everything I do from now on must be clothes I can go to church with.”
Florin Dobre acknowledged that he always goes to church on Sundays. When he leaves for delegations he goes to churches abroad or returns necessarily on Saturday night to Romania for the Divine Liturgy.
Photography courtesy of Basilica.ro / Raluca Ene
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