Caroline de Maigret: "It's much more fun when you accept yourself, because in the end perfection doesn't exist"

In London and New York, where she lived, Caroline de Maigret is considered the quintessence of the Parisienne, the symbol of

rock and non-conformist chic: a fashion icon combining black leather and Chanel chains, skilfully disheveled hair, dyed pale and smoky eyes of a muse of the sixties.

Sexy, cerebral, funny and cosmopolitan, she is the co-author of a humorous bestseller,

‎(Éd. Ebury Press), translated into thirty languages.

Her way of circumventing obstacles – including that of age for a woman – and talking about it without taboos, as she does in her second book,

(Ed. Doubleday), is delightful.

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A model, she has paraded for the great designers and has forged a special relationship with the house of Chanel, of which she has been the ambassador since 2016. At 47, she has an indefinable allure and charm and has known how to make her own way, unique , at the crossroads of several arts.

At the head of her company CDM Production, she makes behind-the-scenes fashion videos.

Passionate about music, she has also produced albums and signed clips – notably for Yarol Poupaud, with whom she had a son.

Since September 30, she has also launched Radio Caroline, on Spotify Radio.

The concept ?

In her recording studio, in the heart of Pigalle, she interviews artists (Feu! Chatterton, Ibeyi, Sébastien Tellier, etc.) about the music that rocked their lives.

Model, music producer, director, author, committed woman…: she connects all her lives with a smile, which has become her signature.

It is part of its elegance.

He is full of charm, frank, and, this morning, in the sun of a café terrace in his Parisian district, the 9th arrondissement, he is also terribly contagious.

Caroline de Maigret is one of the few celebrities who display it: after a decade of sulky faces, she brought back a burst of life to the catwalks, that of laughing eyes and radiant expressions that we hadn't seen since the era of Linda Evangelista and Claudia Schiffer.

It was therefore natural, for our special issue dedicated to the smile, to ask him to decipher this emotion which transforms the face, through the

(the spirit of the times) that she knows how to pick, as in her personal life.

In video, eight cult laughs of women in the cinema

Miss Figaro.

– How would you describe this mysterious manifestation of the soul, the smile?

Like a language, because the body and the small imperceptible movements of our face are a vocabulary in themselves.

For some people, smiling can be perceived as a weakness, something a little sugary, silly.

For me, it's the opposite: smiling is daring.

It's a way of being welcoming, of recognizing the other face to face and bringing them into one's life.

Smiling at a stranger is a way of being in the present.

I really liked the

by sociologist and anthropologist David Le Breton, who tells how it varies from country to country.

I was thus struck that, out of politeness, the Japanese announce death with a smile.

And then, he explains the different smiles: embarrassed, obsequious, vulnerable… My favorite is that of Jane Birkin, so mischievous, and which suits her so well.

And I love the one that English humor provokes in me, like that of Mr Bean!

I like the absurd, burlesque situations, awkwardness, mine in particular.

I am very awkward with my body.

I still haven't realized how tall I am: I bump into everything.

Smiling at a stranger is a way of being in the present

Caroline de Maigret

What makes you smile the most about yourself?

My vulnerability, because it is the foundation of who I am and what I reveal about myself to others.

In the videos I make, for example, I like to show my clumsiness, my faults, my anxieties and my fears.

I accept them and I find it very reassuring not to hide them, because I like that we can perceive the failings in a person.

There is a nudity in the smile, because it is when we forget ourselves and reveal ourselves that it appears.

We are no longer in control.

We can blush.

The whole body awakens.

It's much more fun when we accept each other.

And then, in the end, we have no choice, because perfection does not exist.

Even in the case of Karl Lagerfeld?

Karl took his job terribly seriously, but he was the king of self-mockery.

He had made his person a work of art and, at the same time, he knew how to desacralize it through his extreme sense of humor.

You are the friend of Virginie Viard, her heiress at Chanel.

Is vulnerability, as a driving force, one of the keys she offers in her ideal woman?

Yes !

Besides, it's funny, because when she told me about one of her latest collections, she told me that she was inspired by the relationship between actresses and the red carpet... not by the moment when they photograph, sublime and flawless.

She wanted to capture the next moment, when eyes fall and they catch their breath.

There is an exquisite grace in these moments, something intense, poetic and touching.

This is where the woman becomes truly beautiful.

Caroline de Maigret, the Cover Story

In images, in pictures

See the slideshow06 photos

See the slideshow06 photos

What do you think of the new generation of women?

This generation finally grants itself the freedom to be itself, to think what it wants and to impose its truth.

Mentalities are changing enormously.

I see it in fashion, which is more and more free and fluid, but also in pop stars.

I attended Billie Eilish's last concert, in Bercy, and she fascinated me: she not only manages to transform a gigantic room into an intimate theater with her presence and her power of empathy, but she also smiles all the time. time, in a sincere way, and reveals its flaws.

She spent the concert reassuring the audience, saying, "It's OK to be fragile."

She does not do what is expected of her: she is one of those rare icons who is not afraid of losing people along the way because, deep down,

she finds it interesting to see those who remain.

For millions of young women, it's nice to be able to identify with such an artist and to tell themselves that they have the right, depending on the moment, to be at the same time activist, over-sexy, carnal, shy , hypersensitive… This generation opens the way for us.

Her claimed freedom to exist outside the framework also has an emancipating effect on women my age.

I like that we can perceive the flaws in a person

Caroline de Maigret

Why is it so rare to see a model smile on a fashion photo or on a catwalk?

Me, I smile a lot in fashion photos, it's my trademark, but it's true that it's rare.

There is a reason: a painter's model does not start to smile or laugh, because she is focused and aware of being a vector between the artist and the work.

In fashion, it's the same: as a model, you become a link between the couturier and his creation.

Our role is to bring life to the garment, to sublimate it.

During a shoot, the model must therefore take her work seriously: if you start smiling too much, you generate a distraction.

In addition, the image can then look like a made-to-sell advertisement, instead of reflecting an artistic vision.

I'm not very sensitive to the smile in art, I prefer that it takes me to a melancholy,

not necessarily dark, sad.

Melancholy can be cheerful, like a serigraph of Marilyn's smile by Warhol.

Melancholy, just tame it, like the blues, and it makes you happy.

It's funny by the way, because at the beginning of the photo, the smile was not in the norms.

He was banned.

For family portraits, you had to have a certain capacity.

It was Kodak that popularized the smile in the 1920s to better sell its cameras to Americans.

The idea was to unite a larger audience and encourage people to celebrate the moment.

because at the beginning of the photo, the smile was not in the standards.

He was banned.

For family portraits, you had to have a certain capacity.

It was Kodak that popularized the smile in the 1920s to better sell its cameras to Americans.

The idea was to unite a larger audience and encourage people to celebrate the moment.

because at the beginning of the photo, the smile was not in the standards.

He was banned.

For family portraits, you had to have a certain capacity.

It was Kodak that popularized the smile in the 1920s to better sell its cameras to Americans.

The idea was to unite a larger audience and encourage people to celebrate the moment.

Melancholy, just tame it, like the blues, and it makes you happy

Caroline de Maigret

Can music make us smile?

Music can transport us to places where everything is sweet and where we smile without even wanting to.

There is a whole Brazilian current that has this effect: I am thinking of voices like those of singer Tim Maia.

On Instagram, I also post playlists with songs that trigger smiles while being melancholy, such as

of pop duo Alessi Brothers.

Or the singers of the Papooz group.

Of all the arts, music is the one that touches me the most.

I'm starting a band with a friend: I play bass, we write soul songs in English.

I like French music, but I prefer the sound of the English language, its musicality, its languor.

In recent years, I produced several albums with the company I created with Yarol, Bonus Tracks Records, which allowed me to learn a lot.

In the future, I would like to record my own album.

It's a nice dream.

I don't sing, but who knows, maybe one day.

I forbid myself nothing.

Full screen

Velvet jumpsuit and bracelets, Chanel.

Original First Edition watch, Coco Crush bracelets and rings, Chanel Joaillerie.

Rudy Marmet hairstyle.

Chanel makeup by Khela.

Manicure Huberte Cesarion.

Luc Braquet

How did music come into your life?

Music was my first emancipation, the first thing that belonged only to me.

I spent hours in my room enjoying this freedom, outside of family and school rules.

And I started going out at night to go to concerts… Most often, it was punk and hard-core bands!

I loved Courtney Love.

For me, she was the most wonderful girl in the world: she seemed free.

And then, I liked grunge which, for my generation, was like rock in the 1950s. The music expresses emotions that cannot be put into words.

Did you want to look like a particular artist?

To a singer?

No never.

But growing up, I developed an adoration for Keith Richards.

I thought he managed to combine this English elegance with a sexy rock star glamour.

He has always inspired me in my looks.

I imagine him thus deconstructing an outfit in a rock style: collecting necklaces with feathers, adding a low-waisted belt… He plays on very graphic elements.

Her outfits are almost art.

Music was my first emancipation, the first thing that belonged only to me

Caroline de Maigret

What are your three must-have Chanel pieces, and how do you reinterpret them?

A black jacket, perfect for day and evening, which I wear like a biker jacket;

bag 22, the chains of which I wrap around my wrist;

and long earrings in mono version.

You have made music videos (including one for Yarol Poupaud), and many videos for Chanel.

What fascinates you about this medium?

I'm not sure I have enough talent to make music videos.

My real domain is fashion, the feminine universe.

Being a Chanel ambassador, I had the chance to film Angèle and the South Korean rapper G-Dragon.

I myself have been filmed a lot for fashion videos and I know what a muse wants to show.

For example, I made a film behind the scenes before a fashion show: I tried to capture very personal, fun, graceful moments, full of little quirks.

What makes you smile today?

All.

My son Anton, especially.

What type of mother are you?

I am very protective.

A friend too, and a very demanding interlocutor on important rules, such as respect for others.

I try not to abuse my power: Anton doesn't necessarily have to have the same ideas as his father and me.

My parents have evolved a lot from the education they received and I try to do the same.

I am part of a generation of parents who are more attentive.

I also have the time to do it, a luxury in itself.

I protect my son, I assume my role as a mother by setting rules, because I know that having limits is very reassuring.

I watch him grow and it makes me feel a little older sometimes.

But his impulses also give me immense strength, and I always feel supported by him in my projects.

And then, I follow this thought from Luis Buñuel: