The FiFi Report 359

To honour Bastille Day The FiFi Report is celebrating all things French!

Karl Lagerfeld once said that if you close your eyes and imagine the ideal French woman, it would be Carine Roitfeld….

“With French women you first see the woman and then you see the clothes. Imagine countries like Russia or China, even Eastern Europe. They don’t have the culture of clothes so they want to show that they can afford to buy a Dolce & Gabbana bag, they want to show labels. In France you cannot see what labels we are wearing. It is very snobby.”

“From a very early age, French women learn not to exaggerate. Yves Saint Laurent once said that the purpose of clothes is to make women more beautiful but that a coat must never attract more attention than the woman wearing it.”

“I don’t change my handbag every season. I believe in the Yves Saint Laurent woman who either has her hands in the pockets of her pantsuit or is holding her lover’s hand. She doesn’t need a bag.”

” If people ask me to describe my look I always say: quite classic with an edge. Look at my [Balenciaga] dress. It doesn’t look like I have on anything special, it’s more the way you mix the clothes and how you move, how you open your bag, how you cross your legs - just little things that make a difference. ”

“In France we drink wine and eat cheese and bread and finally we stay slim. I am skinny, and all my girls are skinny. People think I weight my girls in the office but I do not. It’s just to weigh my luggage, not to weigh my editors. Still, you know it’s easier to look great in a dress when you are skinny.”

“We take pleasure in making a wonderful lunch, with the appetizers, the main course, a bit of alcohol, dessert, and coffee. Everything is there to make you have a great lunch.”