Lou Doillon (actress) for Lee Cooper Jeans

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IN Her Jeans

Sharon Forrester chats to Lou Doillon about fashion, family and knee-socks...

Speaking to Glamour.com about her new collaboration with denim brand Lee Cooper, Lou Doillon was a testament to her English mother, actress and singer Jane Birkin and French father, director Jacques Doillon, as she effortlessly combined Parisian beauty and style, with the warmth and openness of a down-to-earth, English girl.

Do you have any favourite shops in London?
"Most of the places I know are based around the family house we had in Kensington. I did have one that I always visited, but I hear that it's closed - Steinberg and Tolkein, it was my favourite shop. Otherwise there is this little Japanese place that I love on the Kings Road that import socks, and I also like Urban Outfitters, especially their vintage section. Also Agent Provacateur - I found it when I was 16 and instantly really liked it. More than anything I just love looking at what people are wearing as they walk around, it makes me laugh because its very different from French girls and French fashion."

Which do you prefer - French or English style?
"I love the humour here but I also love the class in France so I'm always trying to mix the two. For me they are the two most stylish countries in the world. I mean Japan is wonderfully stylish and beautiful, but to me it's just too extreme and only really suits the Japanese girls."

You are quite a free spirit, how do you feel about being commited to Lee Cooper for three years?
"It's true, I hate to plan and I love being spontaneous, that's why I do modelling and movies. Working with Lee Cooper is the first time I have had to plan everything six months in advance, but it's a lovely change because being without a plan can be quite frightening sometimes. In order to work with them, I had to create my own company, and I'm actually finding that I am quite a good businesswoman - my mother and sisters are especially shocked! But it is great because I get to produce my own music and art, and that of my friends, without having to be commercial or change my vision."

Why did you decide to work with Lee Cooper over another brand?
"Throughout their history Lee Cooper have given the most freedom to those with whom they worked, whereas other brands don't really. I did a lot of research and found out they were the first European jean company and made jeans for workers not cowboys, which I love because I'm really inspired by building workers and uniforms. Lee Cooper is going to be 100 next year and it has such a great history and attitude - I YouTube-d their adverts from the '70s and they are so hysterical and full of humour! It makes a refreshing change from a lot of the brands around now, and they are really open to my universe and the things that I'm inspired by."

So what are the ideas and influences behind this first collection?
"I'm very inspired by tomboys and films and paintings; this collection in particular was inspired by the Artful Dodger (from Oliver Twist) who is one of my favourite characters. I'm a woman and I like to look good in jeans, so the two things I wanted for the collection was to create a great butt and great legs. So we did this high-waist, which shows everything without being too revealing, and the flared style with the orange stripe at the side gives the impression of super-long legs without you even doing anything. A big theme in my paintings is dressing and undressing, so I added lots of buttons and zips to the jeans because I wanted people to find pleasure in the process of putting on the clothes and taking them off."

What can we expect to see for next season?
"Well for winter I love super-size or tiny, mini size - I love the designers Martin Margiela and Yohji Yamamoto because they play around with scale in the way I like to. Again I was inspired by a child, the kid in Charlie Chaplin's film The Kid - so you'll see enormous trousers but too short, high-waists, tiny T-shirts or super-long ones with holes in the sleeves for the thumbs; three-quarter length, or five-quarter which is a length I invented for Lee Cooper. As well as The Kid, I was inspired by a film with Jeanne Moreau, called Jules et Jim, where it is one girl who doesn't know how to deal with two boys, so she becomes a tomboy but still extremely sexy. But the collection is still very English, so there is going to be Liberty fabrics, corduroy and tweed all mixed in with denim."

Do you go to fashion shows?
"Yes I always go, usually to Paris and New York. But this time around, designing the collection for Lee Cooper, I didn't go to any shows, and I don't read magazines anyway, so I think not having a clue what was going on in the fashion world really helped the collection to come just from my own inspirations. I love fashion because it is the first, universal code, that when you meet people it's the first thing you see, so I have enormous respect for designers. But I think that not coming from a fashion background, in the sense that I haven't studied it, was a breathe of fresh air for Lee Cooper."

Do you have a favourite fashion designer or label?
"Actually no. I love certain pieces, but I could never in my life buy a whole collection from one brand, and actually I think this is why I've managed to maintain a good relationship with everyone. There is however one designer where I really adore nearly everything she does and that is Isabel Marant - I could literally buy the whole shop! If I do go shopping it is Ann Demeulemeester, Vivienne Westwood, Margiela, Dries Van Noten, Dior a bit and Sonia Rykiel sometimes. The designers I find the most inspiring are Dior and Jean Paul Gaultier."

Are there any items that you always buy?
I'm very much shoes and hats. I have a huge collection of leggings and socks; I love high socks - I'm so happy that it's trendy now! I'm going to make some super-nice cashmere ones for Lee Cooper. When I'm in Paris I buy French brands, and there are also some great vintage stores just outside of the city.

What inspires you when it comes to your personal dressing?
"I love English rock and English writers - I'm very inspired by England. One of the things I enjoy the most when it comes to clothing is that I have a great group of friends I met whilst doing movies, who design and make period costumes, and I love costumes. So I ask them to make shoes and clothes for me. For me it's all about balance - in the mirror I look for balance: adding a hat, hair on this side etc. I went shopping with Chloe Sevigny in New York, and she shops in exactly the same way as me. We were both in complete silence, just picking up things automatically, it was almost neurotic! I can't say why I like something and why I don't; I go into shops and people say "that would look really nice on you", but no, no one has ever been able to dress me up."

Don't you find it difficult to be a model then?
"Yes! It's completely frustrating and the more I do it the more I hate it. For Lee Cooper, it was great and I just basically dressed myself."

What is your definition of glamour?
"It's knowing yourself. I really think the most glamorous people really know themselves and I'm always turned off by people who are eager to be something they are not."

And finally, what would you like for Christmas?
"I think a new acoustic guitar which I'm going to buy for myself, a wonderful picture from my favourite photographer...and maybe a country house! Hmm, who will I find to buy me a country house?! Besides that, I don't know what more I would want, I'm so lucky already."

The spring/summer Lou Doillon collection will be available at 250 stores worldwide early next year. Check outwww.leecooper.comfor your nearest stockist

glamourmagazine.co.uk

 

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJFFJnaOzVE&feature=related

part french and part english...
good stuff

 

[Scott]

very alice temperley,non?

 

[softgrey]

i don't see that scott...
alice temperly is beaded and flowery floaty flapper style party dresses to me...

this is way more everyday/casual...

it puts me in mind of kate moss for topshop actually...
their styles are uncannily similar...
even though they achieve them via different designers etc...
the end result is almost the same...imo...

**doillon says she is very inspired by london style...
probably the same inspirations as kate moss actually...
but with doillon there is a 'french twist'...

i tend to prefer it this way...with that 'je nes se quois'.. (sp?)



i also find it interesting that doillon cites isabel marant as one of her fave designers...
she is a veritable poster child for IM style it seems...

 

[Bidwell]

Yes, Isabel Marant certainly has cornered the market for "babacool" and "bohobabes"...
Still I don't mind fashion icons like Doillon, Sevigny, Jovavich or even Moss working on lines if it expresses their inner style: they're all fabulous young women.
Other celebutards need not apply.

 

[Scott]

isn't that funny too because wasn't charlotte in some marant campaigns a few years ago? btw,scratch that,temperely(perhaps it was the mood of those looks)....but isabel is so on the money....very close to her aesthetics,i think. i actually see a bit of emma cook as well.

anyway,i agree bidwell. i'd rather much,as much as i am anti,see real,true style icons like a doillon or her sister charlotte doing a collection under their names than some poseur like jessica simpson.

 

[disco54]

any pix

i heard a lot of good reviews about , mischa barton , milla and some other big designers were there. any pix of the show ???

 

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ny times article

LOU DOILLON , actress, model, daughter of Jane Birkin, designer of a collection for Lee Cooper.

WHAT I'M WEARING NOW Lee Cooper trousers and a T-shirt from the Row. I'm at home in Paris, at the desk where I draw my designs. I'm in a working mood.

STYLE CREDO What attracts me is something broken, something a bit off. I never comb my hair or make anything pretty. When people look too beautiful, it's too easy. I know I'm dressed wrong if the businessman turns his head. But I like to think that after an hour of sitting next to me on the train, he'd look. I'd have grown on him.

ON HATS I come from a very mad, very classic family that all wore hats. I have a vintage pop-up top hat that I wear a lot. I'm like the Houdini of nightclubs, pulling an enormous hat out of a tiny bag. My favorite hat was stolen. It was a classic black moche hat, which means "ugly" in French. The people at Chanel told me I should go to Maison Michel, the house that makes all their hats, and have it replicated.

RECENT ACQUISITIONS A Chanel jacket and bag. I'm very proud of them. You can dress up like a tramp and have a little Chanel bag, and look so chic.

CURRENT PROJECTS I just finished a three-month tour of a show called "Lettres Intimes," and during it, designed the winter Lee Cooper collection. I was drawing clothes for runaway girls, but like Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid": high-waisted tweed trousers with high hems and tiny jackets. It's very moving to have little ankles and wrists showing — they're such a fragile part of a woman. Someone suggested I design men's wear. I should. I have such trouble dressing up as a girl.

 

[adorefaith]

i love this philosophy of hers...."i'd have grown on him"...that's beautiful...

STYLE CREDO What attracts me is something broken, something a bit off. I never comb my hair or make anything pretty. When people look too beautiful, it's too easy. I know I'm dressed wrong if the businessman turns his head. But I like to think that after an hour of sitting next to me on the train, he'd look. I'd have grown on him.

thanks for posting soft.

 

[lucy92]

We are always enamored with the ensembles that Lou Doillon wears, so it's no shock that we're drawn to her latest designs for Lee Cooper. The swell collaboration started last year, when the storied denim company (they've been producing sturdy work wear, like overalls and jeans, for 100 years!), sought out a muse who would add an element of effortless cool to their worldwide brand. They found what they were looking for in Doillon, in fact, they hit the nail on the head, if we do say so ourselves. She is a marvel, with a notable sense of personal style (think: bohemian meets sexy tomboy). Not only are we smitten with Doillon's current offerings, but we are elated to know she's on board to design sixteen pieces every season for the next three years. That's right, dear readers, there is much more to come!
Unlike many celebrity-endorsed collections, Doillon assumes a very hands-on approach when constructing pieces for Lee Cooper. In fact, the free rein Lee Cooper offered is what appealed to Doillon in the first place (she also liked that the brand was originally made for workers, before it was something fashionable). For her fall compilation, she aimed to create clothes for girls with reckless abandon and derived inspiration from Charlie Chaplin's, The Kid, as well as the French film, Jules et Jim. Doillon accomplished her vision by constructing oversized trousers, tiny t-shirts, denim vests, and more. She also resolved that each garment be straightforward enough so as to leave room for the wearer to add whatever they want on top of it. (The perfect ode to her own individual panache!) In other words, she wants you to wear the clothes, rather than the other way around. Doillon succeeded in her intentions, so we chose a few favorites for you to get your hands on!—Jessica Amento, additional reporting by Roxanna Khamneipur

1. Skull Shirt ($80)
A 3/4 length button-up top is a great piece to use for fall's layered looks and we are particularly fond of this one. The top hat-wearing skull in the corner adds a very Doillon touch to a traditional piece. Wear this with a white pocket tank, a pair of black tapered jeans, and a fedora.

2. Linda Oversize V Neck Knitwear ($130)
Finding a v-neck sweater that is just right (not too short, not too long) is not as easy a task as one might think, but we are very pleased with the shape and shade of this one. Plus, it is made with a hint of cashmere, so it's pleasing to the touch! We picture Doillon throwing it on with a pair of leather pants and leopard flats—plus her signature bright red lipstick and unkempt hair, too, of course!

3. Catherine Long Knit Coat ($360)
This knit sweater jacket is very inviting and the ideal piece of outerwear to get cozy in all winter. Style it with Cheap Monday Jeans

($65), black wedge boots, and an of-the-moment bag.

4. Johnny Denim Biker Jacket ($360)
This asymmetrical coat is an awesome denim interpretation of the season's must-have motorcycle jackets. Try wearing the denim piece over a simple white or gray fitted dress and over-the-knee boots.

5. Jules Oversized Boyfriend Shirt ($120)
We come across a fair amount of boyfriend shirts in our workplace and this one is currently in our top five. We'd like to see this multi-colored plaid top worn somewhat unexpectedly, like with the sleeves rolled up and buttons undone over a black tank, and paired with a black fitted miniskirt, Wolford tights

($50), and chic ankle booties.

6. Cocos Oxford Baggy Pants ($180)
We can see how Charlie Chaplin could have served as inspiration for these tentlike pants. Our advice? Go for a full-on Little Tramp ensemble by tucking a white top into the trousers and finish the look with suspenders.

7. Denim Waistcoat ($90)
A denim vest is a simple way to add a little warmth and a lot of style to an otherwise basic fall outfit. We would like to see this over a thin turtleneck with a flowy skirt, and a plethora of thoughtfully-chosen bangles.

Photo of Lou Doillon, WENN.
http://www.whowhatwear.com/

 

[Meg]

I karma'd you for it, but I agree adore - that's such a beautiful sentiment and I think one that a lot of 'quirky' (for lack of a better word) identify with. ie me Did anyone else notice that she uses that egg holder things from Ikea for all her pens and stuff?! Yeah - I'm really paying attention to the important stuff over here. Of her designs, the ones I like the most are the idea of re-working this old denim image (ie the plaid shirt and the other jacket). There is such a wealth in the archives of these sorts of companies, so glad to see they are inspiring her at least a little bit

 

[Joyeux]

Her collection for Lee Cooper is on sale :-)
I'm thinking about buying some items, but I can't find any information about the sizing. For example, I'm a Dutch size 36/38, should I buy the size 10 or 12 or S or M???
Has anyone bought her clothing? I could use some advice.....