How Isabel Marant Transcended French-Girl Style
Isabel Marant is sitting on the balcony of a suite at the Chateau Marmont, a rolled cigarette between her unmanicured fingers. She tilts her face, which is covered with a sheet mask, toward the hot California sun. Her tousled gray hair up is in that signature bun at the top of her head. “How do I look?” she asks me, laughing, as she is prepped for her portrait for this story. “I’m old, my skin is falling down, and it’s not going to change, but I don’t give a shit.”
Marant is in Los Angeles to celebrate her namesake brand’s 30th anniversary. Often credited as one of the progenitors of what has become known as “French-girl style”—an exhausted catch-all phrase to embody anything that appears effortless and artfully disheveled—Marant is quick to point out that “being cool is about not paying too much attention to ourselves, but, in reality, French girls spend a lot of time to look unpolished.” Her clothes, she says, “aren’t actually particularly that French.”
Born and raised in the Paris suburbs, Marant launched her label in 1994, but she really started in 1989 with a small accessories line of belts and jewelry. In 1990, she started a knitwear label called Twen with her mother, Christa Fielder, a former model who also ran the Elite modeling agency for a period of time. Marant’s goal has always been to design clothes that she would wear, to create unfussy, approachable wardrobe staples that are equal parts cool, hot, and comfortable. Throughout the late ’90s and especially in the 2000s and 2010s, Marant’s brand, which also includes men’s and secondary lines, came to define a nonchalant attitude of dress, typified by vintage-inspired micro-floral-print ruffled minidresses and skirts, cotton blouses with fringed jackets, and slouchy boots with a tiny heel and pointed toe.
The “boho chic” style that dominated the 2000s—picture Sienna Miller or Nicole Richie or Kate Moss in printed skinny pants and a butterfly-sleeve blouse or oversize blazer—owes much to Isabel Marant. She was also one of the pioneers of fashion’s move toward athleisure when she dropped her hugely influential wedge sneaker in the early 2010s (and which has made a comeback of late). Marant ultimately did the most powerful thing a designer can do in fashion: She created a look. That look, notes Steff Yotka, SSENSE’s head of content, is at the root of so many viral trends and memes that we see today, including “Christian girl autumn” and “cottagecore” and “coastal cowgirl.” While all of those visuals conjure similar sartorial codes—the skinny jeans, the boots, the dainty florals, flounce, and fringe—the Marant aesthetic is the OG, the North Star. And it still has mass appeal. One of my best friends, who lives in Chicago, has three kids, and works in PR, not anywhere near fashion, put it like this over text: “You absolutely know the clothes are hers without seeing a label.”
As Marant explains, “My brand was never a young-kid wardrobe. I’m also often asked if I do specific things for women in America versus Asia versus Europe, and I’ve just never thought that way. I’ve always looked at the silhouettes worn by contemporary women who raise kids and go to the office and want to look good but not too overdressed. And I have a very trusting clientele still. I don’t think the customer has changed over the years. I have the mother, the daughter, and the grandmother.” She adds, “It’s really this balance of giving pleasure and confidence to the people who wear your clothes. You just want to feel comfortable and not too shitty. That’s the goal.”
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Her approach, however naturally it may have come to her, has proven hugely successful, especially during the last couple of years when the fashion industry, particularly in the luxury space, is in a financial and existential limbo. In 2022, according to Business of Fashion, the brand made $323 million in sales, and it’s projected to reach $500 million in sales within the next four to five years. Where many brands have chased internet trends, Marant has steadfastly held tight to her point of view. She’s capitalized on a vibe and created aspirational clothes that make women want to buy into cool rather than a status-raising price tag or logo. In a way, as much as she would never admit it, she was one of the original influencers in the fashion space, utilizing her intuition and effortless style to attract hardcore fans. “You have to focus on what people are really wearing,” Marant says. “Otherwise, there’s not really a point, and it might be very difficult to succeed.… Either you do art or you’re in the ready-to-wear business. I always took that term [ready-to-wear] literally; I don’t have a huge pretension about fashion.”
Marant concedes that she does have moments where the demands of running a big business can be dispiriting. “It’s all still very organic and crafty, the way we process the creation of our collections,” she says. “I still enjoy doing, that but it’s true that we have a lot of demands: a capsule for this or another accessory for this. It’s never-ending. So I do feel a bit frustrated about having the feeling that I don’t have time to achieve things properly because we are always lacking time. It’s a bit disgusting, I must say, this machine that you have to feed all the time.” Marant is so deeply in love with what she does, though, and she’s also quick to note that this kind of tension between ambition and wanting to pull back is specific to women. “Women do so much more than men, they don’t even realize,” she says. “I really admire a woman specifically who is very discreet but very efficient at the same time.”
A new version of the wedge sneaker is selling out, and, thanks in large part to her stellar Fall 2024 runway show in Paris, there is a renewed excitement around the brand. That collection, Marant notes, is a return to her roots, with updated versions of her classics, including slouchy leather trousers that sit low and are belted at the hip, Western-style jackets and vests, oversize outerwear, pretty florals, and hints of animal prints. The collection was styled by French fashion editor and stylist Emmanuelle Alt, a woman who has also left an indelible mark on the fashion industry with, yes, a Parisian-specific style formula that has been emulated by the masses. Think black skinny jeans plus boots plus worn-in T-shirt and leather jacket. “Every cool girl in New York is wearing the Isabel Marant wedge sneaker right now, including several in our office,” said Yotka. Rickie De Sole, women’s designer fashion and editorial director at Nordstrom, explains that Marant’s continued appeal and longevity has to do with the fact that “commercially, you really have a full wardrobe to work with. That’s the way people shop today. Plus, what’s great with her collections is that you can take something from 10 years ago and mix it with something today. There’s always consistency.”
Earlier, we had lingered over an an easy, enjoyable lunch. We spoke about our families and Marant’s teenage son, who welds jewelry in their home in Paris, and her walks at their country home, which used to have no power or running water and which she retreats to every single weekend, shutting off from work completely. We also chatted about her love of craft and her passion for ceramics. She was recounting her recent finds from the flea market in Santa Monica when Kanye West walked by our table. “ISABEL MARANT!” he exclaimed at a giddy pitch.
Moments later, he returned, walking past our table again, but this time toward the building’s not-so-secret secret exit and this time with his wife, Bianca Censori, wearing what looked like a silk duvet cover. West and Censori smiled and said hello, and we nodded back. Marant, again, was unfazed. I mentioned to her that I remembered West referencing her work, in particular the wedge sneaker, when he first started Yeezy. She grinned and shrugged, popping a french fry into her mouth. West’s starstruck reaction says something about the long-term impact Marant has had on fashion and pop culture. I’m also reminded in that instance of the Coi Leray song “Isabel Marant,” which came out last year. Going further back, when she launched a collaboration with H&M in 2013, it sold out in minutes and made the website crash. Her influence runs deeper than most probably realize.
Back on the balcony, I ask Marant if she is on social media beyond the brand-led Instagram and TikTok. She has a Finsta account, but she really only uses it to watch instructional videos on ceramic art. Even the Isabel Marant brand accounts feel somewhat reserved. If you scroll through, you won’t find a lot of hashtags, GRWM content from ambassadors, or gimmicky campaigns featuring Marant front and center. It’s all pretty straightforward: beautiful fashion imagery spliced in with some runway videos and a couple of fun “what’s in my bag” shorts. “It’s not my generation, and I’m very bad with those skills,” Marant says. “It’s not really me, but I know I have to do it. And when I was coming up in fashion, it was an era where designers were much more discreet. If I could have been like Martin Margiela and not ever show my face, I would have. It’s always been about the clothes, not ourselves.”
Marant hosts the anniversary dinner party poolside at the Chateau later that evening. It is also two days before her birthday. She wears a transparent, tight Lurex top with no bra, a silver embellished jacket, and studded shorts. Her enchanting, toothy smile is on full display as she sips a margarita and chats with her guests, including model Ashley Graham, actress Kate Bosworth, and DJ Honey Dijon. Bekker and Alt are there too. At the end of the evening, I go over to Marant to say goodbye. I thank her for spending time with me, and she thanks me back. Without saying anything else, she hugs me tightly, looks me square in the eye, and smiles that uncanny smile again, holding my arms. I realizes then that she has the effect of a kind of guru; she doesn’t have to say much to make you feel like you never want to leave her orbit.
Photographs: Lorenz Schmidl; Makeup: Lisa Storey
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