Uniqlo’s French Kiss-a-Thon

Two looks from the LifeWear collection by Inès de la Fressange. Courtesy of Uniqlo

While we’ve got to credit H&M for pioneering hi-lo collaborations, having convinced an army of major designers including Karl Lagerfeld, Stella McCartney, Lanvin’s Alber Elbaz, Isabel Marant and Alexander Wang to tango, those sneaky devils at Uniqlo have hit fall with their own volley of compelling hook-ups – with a focus on the French Touch.

The latest collection by the impossibly gorgeous (and time defying) Inès de la Fressange already hit Uniqlo stores in September – she’s been collaborating with the Japanese retailer since January 2014, under its LifeWear concept. With her startling beauty, boyish frame and masculine codes (think blazers, V-neck sweaters and Breton t-shirts), the Roger Vivier brand ambassador and one-time muse of Lagerfeld – who, in the early 1980s, became the first model to sign an exclusive contract with a fashion house: Chanel – has that innate Parisian style mothers and daughters alike want to emulate. (Her style guide, Parisian Chic, has sold more than a million copies in 17 languages and her eponymous new Left Bank bazaar-style boutique attracts bon-gout seekers in droves).

A look from the LifeWear collection by Christophe Lemaire. Courtesy of Uniqlo

Hitting stores Oct. 2, meanwhile, is the cashmere-loaded LifeWear collection by former Lacoste and Hermès designer Christophe Lemaire, plumped with super-elegant, cerebral-chic offerings in sober tones with pops of red. Standouts include graphic wool and cashmere knits, baby-soft belted lambswool cardies, wide-cut hooded raincoats in light water-repellant cotton, Frenchy boatneck sweaters, well-cut coats and long turtleneck sweaters that hang slightly loose (accessorize with geek-chic specs).

Injecting sex, rock’n’roll and after-dark glamour, the final act in the Frenchy LifeWear trilogy is the soon-to-be-launched (Oct. 29) collection from smoky-eyed Parisian style icon Carine Roitfeld, founder and editor-in-chief of CR Fashion Book and global fashion director of Harper’s Bazaar. The über stylist, who has Riccardo Tisci, Karl Lagerfeld and Tom Ford on speed-dial, has appeared in Givenchy and MAC campaigns, starred in her own documentary (Mademoiselle C) and released a book (Irreverent) since stepping down from the helm of Vogue Paris in 2011, after 10 years.

A look from the LifeWear collection by Carine Roitfeld. Courtesy of Uniqlo

Dressed in a faux-leather pencil skirt, black cashmere crewneck edged with grommets and a simple black cravat at a preview of her collection, Roitfeld was on hand to give a personal tour, turning up the cuffs on slim-cut faux furs to reveal printed silk linings (“The devil is in the detail”) and readjusting a mannish Chester coat on the shoulders of a Roitfeld-esque model rocking a gray wool three-piece suit, offset with black patterned tights.

Created with Uniqlo’s design director, Naoki Takizawa, Roitfeld’s line peaks at around $200, for the coats. All her style signatures are there: perfectly tailored pencil skirts, sexy blouses, leopard prints. Yahoo Style picks from the 40-piece collection include the wool blended pencil skirt, slim-cut faux-fur leopard-print coat (also available in black PVC), collarless leopard-print blouse, black sweater-body, fitted smoking jacket, and camo sweater with grommet-edged neckline. To crack the Roitfeld look layer sharp masculine outerwear over ultra feminine styles (think a silk blouse and tight skirt or a camisole slip dress, not forgetting the smudgy eye makeup and artfully mussed up hair).

So what does Roitfeld think of the French invasion of Uniqlo? “Inès opened the gate, I think she’s perfect, she’s a Parisian too. We’re very different, so I think it’s another idea, a bit more sophisticated,” she shrugs. “Inès is a bit more day; me, I’m more of an evening look. She’s more trousers, I’m more skirts, so it’s two ideas of the Parisian.” Is she not concerned about creating an army of Carine Roitfeld clones? “Ah, it makes me happy, you know, mini Carines everywhere. I take it in a fun way,” she laughs. “Everyone’s always asking, ‘What is a Parisian mood?’ And for me, this is kind of it: very simple, just a way of mixing pieces together. I think everyone is dreaming about the Parisian, we don’t know exactly who she is…” she purrs. “It’s a way of buttoning, it’s a way of crossing the legs, it’s something that we have inside us.”

Presenting some of the most compelling hi-lo mixes since truffle oil french fries, we’ve got to tip our hats – or should that be berets? – to Uniqlo.

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