So exciting to be part of the feature 'I read so I am' in the January issue of SELF China!!!
It was a fun interview to do!
1.Tell us a little bit about your job and career. How did you get your
start? What do you think it takes to become successful in your field?
I grew up
between France and Tunisia, developing a flair for style and a strong sense of
colors and texture.
After a degree in Fashion and Textile design from Duperré College of Art in
Paris, I sailed for London and completed my studies with a post-graduate degree
in Tailoring at Central St Martins.
A stint at Alexander McQueen reinforced my dream of one day running my own
label.
After working as a freelance
pattern cutter for various London Fashion Week designers, I felt ready to bring
my dream to life, as a result of my different experiences.
You need to be creative and
curious, determined, persistent, to not be afraid to make decisions, and
believe in yourself.
2. How did you become an avid reader or book lover?
I have always been reading a lot. My first souvenirs of my
childhood are with a pencil in one hand and a book in the other. Reading is a
way for me to “escape” in different world, and also getting to learn about life
and experiences.
It has definitely helped built my personality and my creative
sensibility. For me, Fashion is a way of creating different characters,
imagining their lives, what they look like, what they like to do and so on, and
then imagining clothes that express all that.
3. Please recommend three favorite books to our readers:
a. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
It’s a book I first read
when I was a child, but keep reading every year or so, so much I love it! I
never tire of it.
I love its wittiness,
its humor, nonsense, poems and imagination. It challenges the reader through
its complex language and world of never ending fantasy, but it is also a satire
of society.
b. Coco Chanel, by Justine Picardie
What an inspiring
woman! It was great to read about her life and how she reinvented herself. A
strong, independent and successful woman who revolutionized the way women
dressed and behaved. Whenever I feel down, I re-read a few pages of her
biography, and it gives me energy again and again.
c. The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde’s work is full of humor while addressing
society's absurdities, is still very relevant today. His dialogues are always
so well written, so sharp, and thoroughly modern.
d. The great
Gatsby by Scott Fitzgerald
I was firstly
attracted to this book because it is set in the 1920’s-1930’s, and this is a
period that has always fascinated and inspired me.
It is a novel much
deeper that what it appears. Despite the characters glamorous varnish, they are
utterly unhappy and dysfunctional. This is still applicable to our lives today,
especially in the world of Fashion. It is a novel about dreams and angst, which
mainly shape our lives.
5. What are
your favorite quotes from books?
*Lewis Carroll, Alice
in Wonderland:
“If I had a world of
my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because
everything would be what it isn't. And contrary wise, what is, it wouldn't be.
And what it wouldn't be, it would. You see?”
“Alice: Would you
tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?
The Cheshire Cat:
That depends a good deal on where you want to get to.
Alice: I don't much
care where.
The Cheshire Cat:
Then it doesn't much matter which way you go.
Alice: ...So long as
I get somewhere.
The Cheshire Cat: Oh,
you're sure to do that, if only you walk long enough.”
“Begin
at the beginning, ”the King said, very gravely, “and go on till you come to the
end: then stop.”
*Oscar Wilde, Lady
Windermere's Fan:
“I can resist
anything except temptation.”
“We are all in the
gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
“Life is far too important a thing ever to
talk seriously about.”
“It is absurd to divide
people into good and bad. People are either charming or tedious.”
*Oscar Wilde, An
Ideal Husband:
Ah! The strength of
women comes from the fact that psychology cannot explain us. Men can be
analyzed, women...merely adored.”
“To expect the
unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.”
*F. Scott Fitzgerald,
The Great Gatsby:
“There are only the
pursued, the pursuing, the busy and the tired.”
“Let us learn to show
our friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead.”
*Coco Chanel:
“The most courageous
act is still to think for yourself. Aloud.”
“A girl should be two
things: classy and fabulous.”
“Dress shabbily and
they remember the dress; dress impeccably and they remember the woman.”
“Don't spend time
beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door. ”
“A girl should be two
things: who and what she wants.”
“My life didn't
please me, so I created my life.”
“Success is most
often achieved by those who don't know that failure is inevitable.”
“You can be gorgeous
at thirty, charming at forty, and irresistible for the rest of your life.”
6. What do you like best about your current reading space?
How do you manage to organize your book collection? Do you have any tips for
maintaining a beautiful and comfortable reading space?
I keep all my favorite books in the bookcase next to my desk,
so I can search for inspiration whenever needed. I also like to take breaks
from work from time to time and to read a short story, to refresh my mind.
I organize my book collection mainly by topic, and then
within each section, I like to place books by size and colors (but to be
honest, it doesn’t stay so neat and tidy for long!)
7. Why do you think it’s important for women to read books?
For the same reasons that it’s important
for everyone:
Reading gives you an insight in new
cultures, different people and social backgrounds, different customs, different
opinions. It makes people more open-minded.
Reading about the diversity of life and
exposing yourself to new ideas and more information helps to develop your
creative side. It also helps forming new opinions and formulating them.
Even if you can’t travel, you can get to
learn about other countries just by reading.
