Laura Brown, former editor in chief of InStyle, got herself a design gig.
She is collaborating with B Corp-certified Parisian brand Sézane on a new collection called “French Enough.” The line will be introduced on Sunday.
Sézane founder Morgane Sezalory and Brown connected on Instagram right before the pandemic. Both shared a similar sense of style — playful, but easy and effortless — and Brown wanted to bring that elusive Parisian girl style to her fan base.
“When we were discussing the collection, I talked about the cliche of the elusive French girl style and how the rest of us envy it. ‘But why can’t we just be French enough?’ I said. We burst out laughing, and French Enough was born,” Brown said.
Brown said she and Sezalory had been “plotting and laughing and drinking wine” — since 2020. “Sézane has an innate and accessible style, but more importantly — for me anyway — a great sense of humor. Not only did they encourage me to nod to French chic, they let me mess with it a little too. What other French brand would put “French Enough” on a sweatshirt?” asked Brown, whose previous fashion design experience included a sweatshirt collection for Être Cécile in 2014.
Infused with a vintage vibe, with flares and leopard prints, the 25-piece collection will be available at Sézane stores globally and on sezane.com on Nov. 19.
The collection features a leopard print coat, a corduroy jacket, a sweater with the collection’s name, “French Enough,” a velvet suit, a jacket/pant set, silk and cotton blouses, an argyle sweater vest, an orange jumper, dresses, skirts and scarves. Prints are a blossom print and a small color print and key colors are brown, orange, blue and red.
Retail prices range from $35 for a scarf to $445 for a leopard jacket. The sizes go from 0 to 16, and the collection is manufactured in Europe. The capsule is for one season only.
Asked what else she’s been up to in her post-InStyle life, Brown replied, “Spinning many overfilled plates. chairing (RED)’s Creative Council, producing a film, plotting a book, fashion and nonprofit advising. Generally, opening the gates to fashion and entertainment more widely to let a broader world in.”
