Easy Conversation: Bérangère Claire

It's no secret that we are totally enamored with Bérangère Claire. A former stylist, the 31 years old, Paris-based  designer embodies the  'preppy chic'  of the French 'savoir faire'. Her approach to design is simple and we love it.

We had a chat her and it went a little something like this...

Tell us a bit about yourself, who is Bérangère Claire?

I am a 31 years old Parisian designer. I 'm originally from Lorraine in France but I've  lived in Paris for  the past 14 years - pretty much half of my life....
I feel now more Parisian then anything else. I have visit the US a lot as I am totally fascinated by this country. These 3 places, where I come from, where I live and where I love to go have greatly influenced my work and my life in general.

 

When did your first start designing clothes?

I really started in 2007 when I launched my brand and created the first collection.

But I studied fashion design in 2000 and I've been designing clothes for myself since back then.

Tell us about your creative process? Who / what inspires you?

Depending on the collection, I can be inspired by a place, by people, by some art or music movement. For the Spring Summer 2011 collection, I got inspired by Florida after a trip to Miami and the Florida Keys . So there is 3 themes in this collection : Miami with the beach clothes, bathing suits, sun dresses, pink flamingo t-shirts, seersucker shirts... Everglades with the causal clothes such as chinos and check shirts. And Key West with the chic summery clothes: the  Hawaiian shirts, Hawaiian dress and bathing suit, polka dots shirts, bermudas...

What's your work philosophy?

My philosophy is to design  clothes that I want to wear. I do not really care about being creative or designing clothes I will be the only one to do. I think designing clothes is not a question of who will be the most creative or what will be the next trend. The most important to me is to enjoy my collections and enjoy designing them.

Growing up what did you want to be / do?

To be honest, my wish was to be an actress but I have never done anything to fulfill  that wish.
It was kind of frustrating for a while until I started my clothing  my brand.
It is absolutely not the same job but I was somehow  able to earn the same kind of  recognition I  was wishing for, but  without the inconvenience of being too famous !

Who are some of the designers (or artists) who've influenced your work?

Isabel Marant is a fashion and business model for me. I would love to have such a career and success someday. I also totally admire the Ralph Lauren empire.
I don't know if I will be able to make it as big  but one can certainly hope so.

What can we expect from Bérangère Claire in 2011?
A summery and fresh collection that will be available in February. Also, both  the women and men collections are getting bigger with more clothes, new pieces like jacket for men and trench or bathing suits for women. I am very happy with the SS11 collection and I can't wait to get a some feedback from my customers...
Hopefully they will love it as much as I do !

What's playing on your IPod these days?

Elvis. Also, I am waiting for the new The Shoes album that will be out in March.

Merci Bérangère 

SS 2011 Photos by Rémi Ferrante

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