"I'm in heaven, literally," exults Camille Charrière looking at the richly painted ceiling of the Hôtel de la Monnaie, during the presentation of her collection for Mango, this Thursday, November 3.
The slender blonde with a million subscribers on Instagram, who usually embodies the collections of luxury brands and puts her talents at the service of brands and magazines, does not hide her excitement.
It must be said that the Catalan brand pulled out all the stops to launch this capsule collection: a presentation at the heart of a masterpiece of 18th century architecture, followed by a dinner and an evening, as it should be.
Because the party is at the heart of this line which mixes feather bolero, leopard miniskirt, velvet suit and, of course, transparent dress,
like the one signed Harris Reed that the designer of the day sported for her wedding.
Through this first creative experience concocted in the middle of Covid, Camille Charrière wants to convey a form of lightness that is dear to her.
And pleads for a liberating and sincere locker room.
Meet.
Miss Figaro.
- This is your first creative experience.
How did you approach it?
Camille Charrière. -
The Mango team came to see me right after my wedding.
It was special, the world was still confined with the Omicron variant, there was a bit of a depressing atmosphere in the air.
We were wondering: are we going to be able to go out one day?
It made me want to make a collection that really makes you dream.
I find that since the pandemic, we really take advantage of going out.
We are no longer content to put on heels, a touch of make-up.
No, I take out the dress, I take out the feathers, I take out the sequins.
I am very happy to see this phenomenon everywhere.
There is a contagion of this joy of being rediscovered together.
This lightness is so important.
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"A beautiful velvet suit that can be worn in all circumstances, at work, a brunch, an evening..." Camille Charrière poses for her Mango collection.
Mango
What creative wind did you want to breathe?
I wanted it not to be a trendy collection.
I wanted it to be a balance between pieces that I wear very often, and pieces that I dream of wearing.
To come to this collection, I looked at a lot of old photos, especially from the 1990s and 2000s. It's probably my favorite period because, at the time, I was very wise and I didn't go out.
People say to me, "Wow, you're 35 and you're wearing a see-through dress?"
When I was 25, I didn't have enough self-confidence, I didn't have the money, I didn't dare.
And then, it was another era, there was no body positive.
I know I'm tall and thin, you could say it's easy, but I was just complexed because I had no curves.
So I'm happy to have come to this and that people like it.
What appeals to you in the aesthetics of the 1990s-2000s?
I think the nostalgia for that era comes from the fact that back then, celebrities didn't have stylists.
They dressed much more sincerely.
Already, it seems silly to say, but they didn't dress for Instagram, not for the cameras.
One or two photos appeared from their evening, that's all.
I have the impression that these shots really represented moments of life.
It's something that we don't have too much now: we are polluted by billions of visuals and we stage ourselves all the time.
And then the women of that day didn't have tons and tons of business.
You could feel that they were putting on their clothes, you can see that they are not new, not borrowed.
I really hope that will be the case with my collection, that people will keep it,
The idea of the collection was for everything to come together and fit together
Camille Charrière
This is a collection of parties but also of essentials. What is your wardrobe of essentials made up of?
I obviously put on jeans, the most important element of any dressing room, whether for the day or the evening.
A long black coat: the basis of any wardrobe.
I think that even when you dress in a very nice dress, you always have to think about what you're going to put on top of it.
A black coat you can wrap yourself in and, once it's buttoned, you can't see anything happening underneath, it's guaranteed to arrive with elegance, and even a little mystery.
And then I assume that living in big cities, you have to be careful at night.
So if we decided to wear a mini dress, maybe in the street, taking a big coat is safer.
There is also a beautiful velvet suit that can be worn in all circumstances, at work, a brunch, an evening...
With a bra if you want to be sexy, more elegant with brogues.
These are really easy pieces.
That was the idea of the collection: for everything to come together and fit together.
For me, that's the real style: matching pieces together in a surprising way.
But easy, without taking the lead.
And what does this collection say about you?
I think you can see that I'm someone who doesn't take themselves too seriously, who has a lightness.
For me, clothes bring confidence on a daily basis, especially on days when you are less well.
Especially during the pandemic.
I hope people will see that I put a lot of heart into it.
What makes you feel good about clothes?
It's so personal.
For me, there is no misstep, already.
It's all a question of attitude and circumstance: you always have to think about who you're going to meet, where you're going.
It's important to think about that, because an outfit is the first thing people see about you.
I always say, “a good outfit is a conversation starter”.
When someone likes your outfit in England they come up to you and say 'wow I love your look' and hopefully that's what the collection will bring about.
Clothes bring confidence in everyday life, especially on days when you are less well
Camille Charrière
Will this wardrobe appeal as much to Paris as to London?
Things have changed a lot in Paris.
Admittedly, there is less of this culture of dressed up parties.
We French people are resistant.
We like to say “no” before saying “yes”.
But we always say "yes" at the end because we're bon vivants, we like beautiful things, and it's always a pleasure to dress up!
And I know that the French like it too, they pretend not, but they like it.
(laughs)
In this collection there is obviously a transparent dress, highly symbolic. What does she represent for you
?
For my generation, it's reclaiming this stigma of the bimbo in force in the past.
This is not necessarily the case for the youngest, but my generation had great difficulty in breaking free from these codes.
We were told: “My boyfriend doesn't want me to dress like that” or “I would never dare to wear that”.
I have the impression that finally, we say to ourselves: "I do what I want and I will not accept being told: it is because you are dressed like that that this is happening to you ".
And even, feeling extremely sexy.
We want to say: "yes I can be smart and have a very serious job during the day, and in the evening want to be a little crazy and wear something 'olé olé' and that's OK".
There is no need to choose between the two anymore.
We no longer have to say to ourselves: for people to respect me, I have to dress like that.
This does
nor is it because one wears a bare dress that one is a feminist.
In fact, it has no relation, they are two different things: I can be a feminist and wear this dress and, also, I can not want to wear one if it does not suit me.
We are finally separating things that should be separated and understanding that we are complex, multidimensional women.
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“We no longer have to say to ourselves: for people to respect me, I have to dress like that”, Camille Charrière poses for her Mango collection.
Mango
Mango x Camille Charrière collection, available online and in selected stores.