A discussion at Rue Amelot

Dive into the world of our second stopover! It was time to put away flowery dresses and summer sandals but we kept our baskets! We wen to rue Amelot in Paris to discover Léna's looks. Pauline was behind the camera and immortalized this moment! Decorated with antique furniture, exposed stone walls and hot coffee, we loved spending time with Léna at the café!

Can you introduce yourself?

My name is Lena, I'm 25 years old and I'm from Paris. I'm in communications and events! I am also a content creator on Instagram. I talk about my fashion, beauty and lifestyle favourites and I try to present a Parisian style that is a bit more authentic, realistic and diverse to show that you can have it without necessarily sticking to the Jane Birkin style and other Parisian icons.

How long has Instagram been around?

I've had Instagram since the beginning, but I've been using it as a microblog for a little over 3 years now. It's a platform to express my personality and develop my creativity and I love it!

How would you describe your style?

Oh that's complicated! I would say that my style is "effortless-chic" because I like to be chic without necessarily overdoing it and looking like I'm "all dressed up". For me, it's all about comfort! I would also say it's eclectic because I don't stick to one style, I like to mix styles and I would also say colourful because I like to add prints and colours to my looks in general.

Your favourite piece for this fall season?

One is hard! But I think it would be blazers, oversized men's jackets are my thing! I have a lot of them in my wardrobe! I especially love vintage jackets and I wear them all the time, with a dress, a skirt, jeans ... It's really the piece I'm going to wear for every occasion!

Your fashion icons?

I really like the style of American actresses from the 1950s. Lauren Bacall for example. She's so chic and high fashion, she's one of my idols. I also love Audrey Hepburn's style. I'm also inspired by the style of Jane Birkin, Françoise Hardy, Jeanne Damas and other ambassadors of French style... But it's true that I'm more attracted by the silhouettes of the 50s. It's a bit of a cliché to say that, but my mother and grandmother are also my fashion icons because I have a lot of my inspiration from their styles when they were my age and there are a lot of pieces I steal from my mother.

Like your boots that you stole from your mum?

Exactly! And the blazers are my mother’s too! I have one that she gave me, a Jean Paul Gauthier that I wear all the time.

What are your fashion must-have for this autumn/winter?

I want to be very comfortable this autumn and warm because I feel it's going to be (very) cold! I would like to invest in a nice knitted piece, a big jumper with a quality wool!

How did you discover the Soamé brand?

On Instagram, a lot of influencers and not necessarily influencers were wearing your brand's bags! And every time I said to myself! "Oh I love this bag!"

Your favourite Soamé bag and why?

The Grace one! I love it so much because it's easy wear. It's not a big bag but at the same time there's room for all my stuff (Laughs) You know I like to put my life in my bag and it fits well with a city life. And I love flowers, it's feminine!

Could you describe your looks today?

Look with Gavriel: This is my go-to look for fall/winter. I love this silhouette that is both feminine and a bit boyish. A pair of jeans with my mother's vintage boots that perfectly complete all my looks for this season. The shirt and jacket are vintage from the Other way shop that I discovered on Instagram. I love the prints on the shirt which are in the colours of the season and then the blazer which is my go-to piece. And finally my new Jimmy Fairly glasses that I love from the "Amour 1970" collection.

Look with Grace : The denim suit! It is so 70’s! I think it's a trend right now! I love this suit that I didn't wear very often and then I found it again and I thought it would go too well with a basket bag to break up the look and have this offbeat look! And I added a little bit of funkyness to the look as I also love prints: my Indira scarf which is too easy to wear! It's perfect when you don't know how to make turbans yourself!

And last question as you know at Soamé we try to do our best to reduce our negative impact on the environment and people (even if we are far from perfect!) because we think that these issues can no longer be hidden by fashion brands, so we wanted to know what is your opinion on this and how do you see the industry in 5 years?

It is obvious that the fashion world as we know it or as we knew it must change. It's starting to change, there are a lot of brands that are making efforts and I think that's good! I'm more into encouraging these changes rather than attacking them for not doing enough. Every action counts!

Brands are making more and more efforts and I think this is thanks to consumers who are becoming more and more educated on these subjects, especially with social networks which have made it possible to highlight the faux pas of brands but also their good actions. We no longer want the same things. For example, my consumption habits are not at all the same as they were 5 years ago! They have completely changed. I'm going to pay more attention to where the product comes from, to the quality... I'm also going to look at the brand's commitments.

With many brands I have noticed that you can't see where the garment comes from and I think that brands need to be more clear and transparent in the way they do things. Of course, I'm not perfect and even though I've considerably reduced my consumption of fast fashion products, I still have to turn to these brands for certain pieces... Especially for shoes and jeans! I'm a size 42 and I'm 1m83 tall and it's still quite difficult to find pieces in my size from ethical and eco-responsible brands.