March 24, 2008

denim designer collaborations

My Style

Lou Doillon

On the heels of designing an eponymous denim collection for Lee Cooper, Lou Doillon professes her own sartorial secrets. By Christene Barberich

Growing up with Jane Birkin as a mom, it's not a surprise that daughter Lou Doillon would inherit at least a little of the British beauty's indelible sense of chic. Fact is, she got more than just a little. But what's even more enduring (and appealing) about the 25-year-old Doillon is that she wears her top hats, baggy trousers, and cropped tux jackets with the kind of poise that tends to come with a lifetime of dressing up. "[Growing up], everyone was so beautiful and serious in our house—I was the funny one. I'd dress up in weird shoes and my dad's jacket to make them laugh," she says. "When I get dressed, I [still] like to make people smile."

Last year, Doillon's lighthearted fashion sense caught the eye of legendary British denim company, Lee Cooper, and she's since inked a 3-year deal to design her own capsule collection for the label. More than just jeans and jackets, Doillon's recent collection (titled "The Dodger") explores the balance between high fashion and functionality and delivers high-waisted hot pants and crisply cut jackets with tails that any budding fashion ingénue would want to mix into her repertoire. "It's my idea of 'different'," she says. "A little bit me, I suppose." Here, the burgeoning designer tells us what turns her on these days when it comes to getting dressed.

Spring/summer '08 Lou Doillon by Lee Cooper looks. At top: A campaign image of Lou Doillon in the Dodger shorts from her spring/summer '08 collection for Lee Cooper

Tell us the five elements that compose your own style?
Hats, all kinds, boots, men's shirts, jeans, and anything with a high waist—I don't know why they work for me, they just do!

You have a pretty unique look. Do you have any style inspirations we might not expect?
History is a big inspiration, and then literature, paintings, and films. I like hidden references; I'll be inspired to wear thigh-high green socks by an Egon Schiele painting. For the Lee Cooper collection, my style inspiration is the Artful Dodger—my favorite character ever [from Oliver Twist]. I love uniforms, and the collection has that military influence as seen in the style of buttons and on the trimmings.

Lou Doillon backstage at her spring/summer '08 show with Lee Cooper

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