Isabel Marant Fashion Isabel Marant Sneakers
Born in Paris in 1967 to a German fashion designer mother and French father, Isabel Marant began sewing aged 15. She wanted to make clothes that set her apart from her ‘girly’ peers, she wanted to wear more masculine clothes and escape the ‘froufrous’. She later enrolled at the design school Studio Ber?ot and upon graduation apprenticed at Michel Klein, soon launching her own line of accessories and jewellery.
Spotting a gap in the market between the elaborate and inaccessible clothes of the Paris catwalks and the super simple style of Agnès B and her contemporaries, Marant launched her own clothing line. Her designs are aimed at active young women like herself. Marant’s girl is feminine but not ‘super sexy’.
“A woman who wants to have a strong per?son?al?ity but with?out being totally dressed up, who wants to be dif?fer?ent but in a dis?creet way. And she’s usu?ally a rather active, entre?pre?neur?ial woman who needs to feel good in her clothes with?out try?ing too hard.”
Soon after launching her label Marant won the Designer of the Year Award and began to build up her now legions of fans. Her success lay in her pragmatic approach, she saw the effortless worn-in look of girls hanging out at tiny Parisian cafes and understood that this was a style that, if harnessed and sold, could sweep the fashion world. Her silhouettes, often feminine and fitted, are informed by women on the street. Colours are predominantly washed and lived in rather than box-fresh and bright.
“It's easy to make magic on a red carpet - except just how many of us live that life? But how do we make it happen every day on the sidewalk? That's why I love to design.”
Marant’s label is a ‘melting mode’, a trendsetter’s favourite with its mix of minimalist and bohemian. The obvious femininity of floating dresses is offset by louche minimalist masculinity and unlike many of her Parisian contemporaries Marant’s strain of chic has an almost affordable price tag.