French Girls Do it Better
By Denise Grayson March 26, 2010
Lou Doillon. Photo: Lee Cooper
Effortless chic. Haven’t we all heard that phrase about 1,000 times too many by now? It may be grossly overused and bordering on cringe territory, but there’s a reason it has become part of the vernacular and collective conscious of the fashion die-hards; for to achieve ‘chic’ while appearing as if you put no thought whatsoever into your outfit because you are so inherently stylish and cool that you simply can’t help but look it, is what we all so desperately seek to master.
Nobody does it better than French women. There is something in the DNA of French blood that imbues its people, especially the Parisians (let’s leave Saint-Tropez out of this), with the ability to resist all things gauche, eliminating the urge to over-dress and over-accessorize, two of the most common styling mistakes. And being naturally as thin as a cigarette doesn’t hurt, either. No matter what the French do, it works. In New York, a well-dressed, pretty, young girl smoking on the street is tragic; in Paris, where ‘cancer’ refers only to an astrological sign, she is irresistible.
So it’s little wonder that many of our style icons come from France, two of the most emulated being Lou Doillon and Clémence Poésy, both actresses whose knack for looking amazing has lead to modeling in fashion house campaigns.
Clémence Poésy
Families don’t come much cooler than Doillon’s. The 27 year-old is the daughter of English-born actress, model and singer Jane Birkin – as in that most coveted Hermès Birkin bag which was made for her and bears her name – and film director Jacques Doillon. Her maternal half-sister is Charlotte Gainsbourg, the singer-songwriter and actress who followed in the footsteps of her father Serge Gainsbourg. She became famous overnight outside of Europe when she won the award for Best Actress at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival for the film Antichrist and has since become a style icon herself, currently as muse for the legendary French fashion house Balenciaga as the face of their first fragrance.
Doillon herself had a clothing line with heritage denim brand Lee Cooper who in the 1970s did ads featuring Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. The collection was well received but was discontinued after a year when the company went bankrupt. She has arrived to many fashion events with former Nina Ricci creative director Olivier Theyskens, her close friend, but don’t dare call her chic. Doillon told NYTimes.com “I hate everything that’s chic. For me, that’s about doing things to be noticed. I can be aristocratic, sophisticated, or kooky — but I’m not chic. I guess that’s because I was raised by an English girl.”
Speaking of the English, they have something Clémence Poésy wants. The face of French fashion house Chloé’s newest fragrance revealed to British Vogue that she thinks “English people have much more fun with their clothes than we do. They don’t look at each other in the slightly judgemental way Parisians do, so they seem freer. (A Londoner may say otherwise but it’s sweet that Clémence believes the super-cliquey city to be so open-minded.)
So we’ve got two French girls whose style we want and both of them like to deny the influence that Paris has on the way they dress. As fashion enigmas they’re not making it easy to follow their lead. So what to do to get their look? That’s where Isabel Marant saves the day. Hers is one of the most sought after labels thanks to her knack for creating clothes that embody the cool Parisian girl. The French designer has been doing womenswear since 1984 but it’s our obsession with easy Paris chic that has propelled her to become the name on all of the stylesetters’ and fashion editors’ lips. Her collections are packed with boyish trophy jackets, slouchy pants and mini dresses that are never too sweet but rather sexy in that ‘I’m hot but whatever’ kind of way. In other words, to do her alouf brand of sexy justice, leave it at the skirt and forget about the accessories.
The key to pulling off the cool Parisian girl look is to avoid appearing too ‘try hard’ – which for most of us requires quite a bit of effort!
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Submitted on March 26, 2010 in Celebrity Fashion, Who's Who.
Denise is a Canadian living in England who is fascinated by the fusing of fashion and art. Her obsession with the details and an insatiable urge to share beautiful discoveries drives her Paris-loving blog, www.TheSwelleLife.com, and recently she opened Swelle Boutique at www.swelleboutique.com which offers exclusive one-off and limited edition dresses and accessories.
Denise Grayson has contributed 59 articles to Models & Moguls.
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