Can you imagine? Can you imagine calling Johnny Depp “my boyfriend”?
F*ck!
An interview with Vanessa Paradis a few weeks ago on style and fashion… Hate her! Love her! And she loves Feist!
How I get dressed
Singer and actress Vanessa Paradis, 35, on individual style, Johnny Depp and vintage
Interview by Neil Norman
Sunday February 10, 2008
The Observer
I don"t think that much about fashion. I suppose I like putting together outfits without too much thought and seeing what the outcome is. My parents were interior designers in Paris so I suppose it"s in my genes; we spent a lot of time seeing what went with what.
When I had the hit "Joe le Taxi" I was 14 and the only bit of style I had was a big floppy vintage hat that I wore to everything. In those days, I also loved wearing miniskirts and leather jackets. As I became more in the public eye, I became more aware of what I wore. Being asked to model for Coco Chanel also helped me develop my style and I started working out what suited me. As a mother of two children I tend to look for clothes that are comfortable to wear on a day-to-day basis, which is why I now love the bohemian style. The red carpet scares me - it"s like being an animal in a zoo. I find the whole experience quite frightening, therefore I save my more eccentric outfits for situations I feel more comfortable with - I don"t want to stand out too much.
I grew up in this business between the ages of 14 to 20, a time that embraces the most radical changes a woman can have. I had an amazing childhood with very, very beautiful parents. I started my career with a big success and half the people in my country would love me and the other half wanted to hate me. People got fed up with me. Every time they turned on the radio "Joe le Taxi" would be playing. I was very young to be so over-exposed. People would literally spit on me in the street. I travelled around the world and lived in New Jersey for a while and made a record there. All of this experience as a young girl forged my character. I have been nourished by more beauty than anyone could dream of. Now I would love to be thought of as a good artist, a good person; someone who doesn"t show off too much and get on people"s nerves.
I am a complete sentimentalist when it comes to clothes. I have so many memories attached to outfits that I can"t throw them out - I don"t know where to put everything. I tend to go shopping but now instead of clothes for me I buy for the children. I like to wear clothes by people who have the same values and attitude to me - I like them to be inventive, altogether exciting, but at the same time add a sense of surprise and allure to the outfit. From glamorous over-the-top to bohemian ... whatever takes my fancy. About designers, it has to be Karl Lagerfeld - I met him at a show in 2003 and have stayed friends since. What I love about him, apart from being the fantastic designer, is he smells gorgeous all the time! Among my personal favourite designers are Vanessa Bruno and Antik Batik for my hippie side, and I also admire Marc Jacobs who makes small sizes, which is great for me.
Johnny [Depp], my boyfriend, is an individual. He loves different-coloured glasses and wild hats, but both of us prefer vintage clothes. I wear a lot of vintage Chanel. He dresses as he feels. He likes Dolce & Gabbana and Armani. I suppose I have some influence but not much. I love his style. It is very individual, I suppose even unique. That is what I love about him. I have spent so much of my life being dressed by others as a model or an actress that I can never do as good a job as these people do. They do better make-up than I can. I love clothes but I have spent so much of my professional life creating an image of one kind or another that it is nice not to care about it in life and let your skin breathe.
People don"t get through to the essence of you right away - it"s always the famous "girl" or the famous "girlfriend". I"d rather be known for myself. My role models are Romy Schneider, Annie Girardot, Béatrice Dalle and Marilyn Monroe. In music I love Feist, Yael Naim and Tom Waits - he just drives me off the roof. But I"m a very bad musician and a very bad technician. I play a bit of guitar and I"ll record things in a small Dictaphone and put the melody in. I"d rather sing a good lyric written by someone else than one of my own that is terrible. I wrote the last track on the album, Jackadi, about six years ago. It was the first thing I tried to write. It has gone through several changes. Johnny pushed me towards the waltz and it was perfect. It suddenly became right.
• Divinidylle is out now on Wrasse Records
source TFS
