Isabel Marant

How fashion designer Isabel Marant effortlessly mixes bohemian handcrafts with French nonchalance

Fashion designer Isabel Marant is rebellious, French, bohemian, nonchalant and always classy. Find out the recipe of her well-known style and super successful label below.

Cover photo: © isabelmarant.com

Fashion designer Isabel Marant

Isabel Marant’s style is an ubiquitous mix of French je-ne-sais-quoi, rock-n-roll, boyish details and bohemian elements. Some things that you wouldn’t put together in first sense. However, Marant nails this style and knows how to sell it. Many women across the world own this French cool as well, since she has launched her labels Isabel Marant and Isabel Marant Étoile, the younger sister of the main brand.


As a kid, Marant hated fashion. Because her brother got all the attention, she started to be rebellious. She stole paisley-printed dressing gowns from her father’s wardrobe, together with cashmere sweater that she wore as dresses, to give a grungy look and feel to her appearance. Despite these fashion acts, she didn’t realize she was into fashion until friends started to compliment her with her outfits and her unique style. At only the age of 16, she started to sell her homemade clothing together with her former boyfriend, who happens to be a fashion designer as well.

The start of Isabel Marant

Since she liked to make and sell clothes, Marant went to Studio Bercot, after which she designed jewellery. Her mom suggested her to design a younger line for her own knitwear label and so Marant did. In 1994 Marant debuted with her own fashion label.


After having worked for a few brands, Marant felt she had to start with her own label, since she had a very specific style in mind. Namely, the clothes she wanted to wear herself. There wasn’t a brand that could satisfy her desires and made clothes she wanted to wear every day. Because that’s what Isabel Marant is about: fashion for daily life.

Marant’s view on fashion

As a fashion designer, Isabel Marant likes it when an outfit has something poetic. Furthermore she thinks it is important that you feel comfortable in her clothes wherever you go and with whomever you are.

Over the past 25 years, Marant has seen the fashion industry change. Because customers expect new collections every two months, she has to keep on reviving her brand. Despite this, her designs are still the same, except that they’ve become better over the years.


Craftsmanship

That Marant has a deeply rooted love for bohemian accents isn’t a secret: you find bohemian elements in every collection. She is font of lace and gets her materials from a local small company in France, runned by an old man who’s in the business for ages. “He uses techniques no one else does, that’s what makes him so special” she states.


With her no-fuzz mind-set and cool style, Marant is here to stay. There is no doubt she will hand over her designer job to a successor yet. On to the next 25 years!

www.isabelmarant.com

@isabelmarant

Quite impressive, don’t you think? We bet you’ll like the story behind Acne Studios’ Jonny Johansson and young designer Jacquemus as well. What are you waiting for?

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