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As evidenced by the beyond-chic woman in the beyond-chic outfit above, there's a serious wallop of French chic coming soon to a Uniqlo near you—in the form of legendary fashion icon Ines de la Fressange's spring 2014 LifeWear collaboration with the Japanese fast-fashion retailer.
Fressange, the daughter of a marquise and an Argentine model, was the first model to sign an exclusive contract (with Chanel, no less) and soon thereafter become Karl Lagerfeld's muse. Since her modeling days, she's consulted with Jean Paul Gaultier, owned her own line of clothing stores, designed, and continued to model well into her 50s.
We caught up with de la Fressange to talk about her work with Uniqlo—and how we too can capture some of her signature French-chic in our wardrobes.
Glamour: From haute couture to mass market—what inspired your LifeWear collaboration with Uniqlo, and how was working with a mainstream retailer different from working with Chanel?
Ines de la Fressange: In fact, at first I thought it would be different—but working with Naoki Takizawa, who also comes from the luxury world having been the assistant of Issey Miyake, I was happily surprised by the quality of the fabrics, the preciseness of the fittings, and the general ethic of the brand.
Glamour: Tell us, what are your head-to-toe go-to everyday wardrobe pieces?
Ines de la Fressange: White jeans, linen jackets, blouses, cotton shirts, and khaki pants. Customers will find these kind of pieces in the Uniqlo collection, with nice little details. Everything can be mixed in an easy way and worn at the office and on the weekend.
Glamour: For the longest time, women have been obsessed with the idea of French-chic—can you describe what it means to you and what it means or how it feels to be considered, by many, to be the epitome of chic?
Ines de la Fressange: (Laughs) Thank God, I don't think about myself in this way! After many years in the fashion business I learned a few things, and my wish is to give back a part of my experience in order to help women, such as the trick of mixing casual and sophisticated for instance.
Glamour: When you were a little girl, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you love fashion, even as a child?
Ines de la Fressange: I always loved clothes and fashion. It took me a while to understand I liked it more than other things and that I could do it for work.
Glamour: You're famous for being a muse to so many creative geniuses—but who inspires you? Who are your style icons?
Ines de la Fressange: I feel like I will be a megalomaniac after this interview! Indeed there are a lot of people I admire —designers such as Rei Kawakubo and Yohji Yamamoto (both Japanese!), famous muses like Fran�oise Hardy and Jane Birkin, but also many anonymous people. Today it's the way you wear clothes, mix them, and your general attitude that is important. For instance, I love 45 RPM and the way they show their clothes in stores (another Japanese brand!). I had to work with Japanese people...
Check out some more of Ines de la Fressange's designs for Uniqlo, right here. What do you think?
