Daniel Magnussen: When did you find out you wanted to work in fashion?
Ludivine Poiblanc: Not right away, my story is a bit different. I was 17, I didn’t know what I wanted to do and since both my parents were lawyers, I ended up in law school in Paris. I graduated after 5 years and started to work as an assistant in a law firm – and I quickly realized I didn’t want to do that. So I went to New York for a few months and when I came back, Franceline Prat – my father’s mother in law, who was a big fashion editor at French Vogue for years, working with Guy Bourdin, Helmut Newton and so on – proposed that I take an internship at Vogue. So, I ended up being a fashion assistant there. But I had never even thought of working in the industry even though I had always been obsessed with fashion, because my grandfather was a tailor, and I was always looking at all the fashion campaigns and tearing pages out of the magazines and collecting them.
DM: Which year did you intern there?
LP: I think it was 1999 and when I left around 2007 I was a fashion editor there.
DM: Then you went to Interview right away?
LP: I first decided to work freelance, and I moved back to New York. I needed a change of perspective especially after being an editor at French Vogue for more than eight years. It was a big change and a new challenge. After two years of freelancing for different magazines, I started working with Fabien (Baron) at Interview – I don’t remember which year it was, 2008 or 2009 – Otherwise, I worked for Japanese Vogue, Elle, Chinese Vogue, a lot of different magazines but I still tried to keep it within Conde Nast.
DM: Do you shoot exclusively for Interview now?
LP: No no no, I do other magazines. I do Italian Vogue and Love Magazine. I like to do different things and to be able to work with different photographers.
DM: So you are still working with Conde Nast…
LP: Yes.
DM: Which spring/summer collections in Paris and New York did you like for the upcoming season?
LP: In Paris I really liked Vuitton and Valentino. They were both very feminine collections. This season went back to femininity and softness, which I really like.
DM: Which other stylists working today do you admire?
LP: I love Karl (Templer) and I still love Carine, I was always a big fan of Carine.
DM: Do you still keep in touch as much as when you were at Vogue?
LP: We are still in contact and I like the woman, and I like what she does with fashion. It talks to me.
DM: Besides work and family, what do you spend your time on?
LP: Not so much more than that, being a mother and a stylist at the same time is sometimes a bigger production than a photo shoot.
DM: (Laughing), ok.
LP: I used to read a lot, but not anymore…
DM: Which magazines do you like to read?
LP: I like Self Service, and I always look at Italian Vogue.
DM: For Interview, you’ve worked a lot with Mert and Marcus – when was the first time you shot together?
LP: I think it was Diane Kruger.
DM: How was that?
LP: It was a lot of fun – a lot of surprises… you don’t really know what to expect with them. There was also a lot of freedom… everything is really open, which I like.
DM: Which photographers would you have loved to work with?
LP: Avedon and Helmut Newton. Once, I assisted Franceline on a shoot with Helmut Newton – what an experience. An amazing artist – but not an easy man.
DM: Do you collect things?
LP: No, that’s not my personality. I don’t keep things. I love to give – I just get rid of things.
DM: Which designers feature most in your own wardrobe?
LP: Céline. And I have a lot of Balenciaga and some Givenchy. And Helmut Lang when he was still there.
DM: Do you have one shoot from your past that holds the most memories, with a particular photographer, model, or actor?
LP: Let me think… ah yes, I know. It was Madonna with Mert and Marcus, for the cover of Interview. Madonna is such a strong personality that of course you expect something – it’s Madonna. But she can really surprise you – she’s very smart, with strong opinions, and a strong point of view – you’re blown away by her vision. She knows everything, about culture especially. Between her and Mert and Marcus, it’s challenging because all of them have very strong opinions. They all have a vision of the picture, and that feels good to be part of, because honestly sometimes you work with people and they don’t know what they’re doing, or they’re just referencing someone else. But this was really different – you’re on set and you’re just in awe. With Madonna, you understand why she is Madonna, and has been for so many years – it’s not for nothing. That doesn’t mean she doesn’t want to hear your opinions – she asks questions, but she’s testing you at the same time. I just did another job with her 2 weeks ago, and when you look at her it makes you want to do a good job.
DM: Do you think it’s harder to work with celebrities than models, because they have stronger opinions?
LP: Definitely. Sometimes actors, for example, say more because they are insecure – having their picture taken is not necessarily something they like. Because it’s a very different experience to being in front of a film or television camera, which means sometimes they just say no. There’s a lot of psychology involved – but with someone like Madonna it was different. All she wants is to make the best picture. She is really really really good with the camera. She knows.
DM: Which clients do you work with on campaigns?
LP: It’s different every season – I don’t have clients that follow me.
DM: You’ve worked on some shoots for H&M?
LP: Yeah yeah yeah, I do H&M quite often – next week actually.
DM: Which designers would you love to collaborate with?
LP: Oh, I have a lot of respect for Miuccia Prada. She impresses me a lot because she’s an example of a woman with a strong vision. She’s not going with the flow – she’s directing it.
DM: She’s been around much longer than Phoebe at Céline…
LP: Well, I would love to work with Phoebe of course. She’s doing such an impressive job over
there.
DM: When do you enjoy your work the most?
LP: During the shoot, making the picture. I love fashion, but more than that I love to be a part of a
creative team, to be creating an image. That’s what I love.
DM: Thinking about the future, do you have any goals that you haven’t reached yet?
LP: No, I don’t put any pressure on myself. I just like to enjoy what I’m doing – I don’t have a career goal, like being editor-in-chief of a magazine. Tomorrow I might want to do something else… I love fashion but I would never rule out doing something else.
DM: As a fashion editor at Interview, how do you collaborate with Fabien and Karl on content and fashion pages – who’s making the decisions?
LP: We are such a small team that it’s easy. It’s not the kind of hierarchy you might expect; with politics and so on… also I’m the only woman on the team…
DM: (Laughing), that’s true.
LP: So it’s quite easy for me. Sometimes working for a magazine you’re aware of being part of a big machine – but working for Conde Nast, even when I was freelance, it’s different. There’s so much more freedom and it’s very open. It’s really just about being as creative as possible and making a magazine that’s different.
DM: What work do you have coming up – or is that a secret?
LP: I stopped for a couple of months, because I just had a baby. I just did a really nice cover story for the December issue of Interview with Scarlett Johansson, It’s a nice story and with a really nice photographer that I like a lot, Sølve Sundsbo.
DM: If you weren’t working in fashion today, are there other areas you would like to pursue?
LP: I could be interested in everything. I love cooking – so for example, I could perhaps open a
small restaurant in Brazil… that could be a nice life…
DM: Which kind of food would you make?
LP: French food of course.
