Interview

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Garance Doré is possibly the fashion world’s most closely followed blogger. Her site, Une Fille Comme Moi (“A girl like me,” which can be found at garancedore.fr) clocks an average of 50,000 hits per day. A recent uploaded picture of a pair of tawny Vivienne Westwood multistrap pirate boots generated more than 225 comments; if they weren’t a cult item before, they certainly are now. “Garance is our daily bread,” remarked one French fashion editor who preferred to remain anonymous. Doré’s mix of portrait photography, illustrations, collages, and stream-of-consciousness writing—whether she’s waxing on the conflicting pull of “simplicity and flats” versus “dizzying thigh-high boots” (the latter worn in the manner of French Vogue’s Emmanuelle Alt) or the pleasure of eating two cupcakes after a day of greens—has given the fashion world en masse a girl crush.

Take a look at Doré's most recent blog entries:

Doré originally hails from Corsica. She launched her blog while she was living in Marseille, a perpetually sunny town on France’s Mediterranean coast, which she hated because, she says, “There’s no creative outlet and everybody leaves.” Originally an illustrator, Doré posted her drawings every day on the blog to no response. But when she finally added her own text, the comments miraculously started to roll in. The transformation from art diary tofull-on style blog came when she realized the bulk of her most successful posts were about fashion. So she moved to Paris, where she continued to write and post personal monologues accompanied by her own illustrations and photographs.

Her blog is, if nothing else, a rare inside look at the musings of one cool Parisian woman, and as her posts suggest, although French girls do seem effortlessly chic, they also have a lot to say about clothes. I met up with Doré at a local café in the 11th arrondissement.

REBECCA VOIGHT: The spring collections just ended in Paris. Did you attend all the fashion weeks?

GARANCE DORÉ: Yes, I was in New York, London, Milan, and Paris. It’s a marathon. I’ve been going to all the shows for the past three or four seasons. And I’m sending myself. When I tell editors that, they say, “That’s crazy. We go because we’re obliged.” But the shows are where I find the inspirations for my blog. It’s great because people get the impression they’re following me on an adventure.

VOIGHT: There are so many portraits of fashion people on your blog, like Italian Vogue’s Giovanna Battaglia, Alexa Chung, and the Misshapes’ Leigh Lezark, but you’re known for your street-style shots as well. Did you initially aim to cover fashion from an insider’s perspective?

DORÉ: Not really. As a photographer, you’re not so shy at the shows, because people know they’re going to have their picture taken. I still find people on the street, but I’ve kind of had it with street photography. At first, it was great to see fashion on someone going to work, but now there are so many pictures like that that the magic has been lost a bit. I want to take pictures that tell more of a story. There are still some very talented people who succeed in giving the sensation that each street photo is a story. But I photograph less on the street now.

VOIGHT: You’re still doing real people; they just happen to be real fashion people, and you’re shooting them more in their homes, right?

DORÉ: Yes, that’s it. But I want to do it in my own way, not like the magazines. My blog is in fact my own story that unfolds for people. I tend to control things more. For example, I’ve always posed people. I’ll say, “Oh, that’s too perfect,” or “Can you put your jacket on like this?” or “Take off your bag.” My pictures have always been a bit elaborate in spite of everything. They’re not really snapshots.

VOIGHT: Now you’re doing shoots for French Vogue.

DORÉ: My work has gotten a bit strange. I do consulting, and people ask, “Could you give me your opinion on this, and could you take a picture?” And I’ve been approached by a lot of magazines, but I’m trying to take it slowly. In fact, I’m part of the first generation of photographers who don’t have to depend on magazines because we have our own media and everyone sees our photos.

VOIGHT: How many posts do you do per week?

DORÉ: I do about five, and that’s a lot. And today I didn’t post because yesterday I was tired and not inspired. When I don’t have anything to say, I don’t publish. Rather than posting something that’s not very interesting, it’s best to wait until you have something that really inspires you and makes you laugh. If I show Scott a picture and he says, “Oh, I don’t know,” then I wait. Since neither of us has an editor, we look at each other’s work.