The insider’s guide to French girl style
To really understand the look you need a Parisian pal like Camille Razat, the actress who plays one of Emily’s chic best friends in the hit Netflix show Emily in Paris
Who doesn’t want to look like a French girl? Understated, chic and maddeningly effortless. It’s a look I have been trying — and failing — to master my whole adult life. So I sought the advice of none other than the glamorous Emily in Paris actress Camille Razat.
Razat, 29, was born and raised in Toulouse, and began modelling in Paris when she was just two years old. She enrolled in acting school as a teenager, with her break coming at the age of 26 when she was cast in Emily in Paris as Camille, the new Parisian friend of the leading character, played by Lily Collins. Her character’s breezy sophistication is in contrast to Emily’s more laboured attempts at looking fashionable.
Today, the hashtag “French girl style” has over 100 million views on TikTok. Razat suggests that the look is about more than clothes. “It’s hard to capture the simplicity of it,” she says. “French girls wear less make-up. They want to be [true] to who they are. They’re not trying to obey, to be perfect or to fit into beauty standards.”
Razat’s strong sense of personal style (Kate Moss is one of her inspirations) has fed into Camille’s look on the programme. Razat and the Emily in Paris costume designer Marylin Fitoussi have collaborated on her character’s aesthetic, weaving Razat’s “edgy and timeless” style with television Camille’s girlier, simpler looks. For Fitoussi and Razat, highlighting lesser known brands was an important part of the character’s style development. “We try to search for upcoming designers so they can get a spotlight.”
According to the actress, the key staples of French style are a pair of flattering jeans; comfortable, chic shoes; and, most importantly, the perfect handbag. Razat’s pick? Roger Vivier’s Viv’ Choc bag. She is brand ambassador for Roger Vivier, a French accessories label launched in the 1930s. Monsieur Vivier had a passion for theatre and music, and his frequent visits to the Moulin Rouge, Casino de Paris and Folies Bergère, as well as his friendship with Joséphine Baker, one of his first clients, inspired his designs. His shoes were worn by everyone from Queen Elizabeth II on her coronation day to Brigitte Bardot and Catherine Deneuve on the red carpet. “It’s an iconic brand,” Razat says. “They don’t follow trends, they’re timeless.”
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Inside her Viv’ Choc, Razat keeps everything from AirPods, perfume and make-up to a few snacks for days when she’s on the go. “It’s a versatile bag. You can wear it with anything, it will complement your whole outfit. It’s also a bag that you can actually put stuff in. Nowadays bags are tinier and tinier, but I need a working bag.”
The fourth season of Emily in Paris is only one of the new projects Razat is working on at the moment. She appears in two forthcoming movies: a French film, The Prodigies, about pianist sisters struggling with illness, and an American indie, Waltzing with Brando, which follows the actor Marlon Brando’s efforts to build the world’s first eco-friendly retreat in Tahiti. “I also created my own production company Tazar last year. I’ve already produced three short films that I sent to festivals, and two music videos for the group Gennre.”
Razat insists that the most important element to true French girl style is authenticity. “Feeling comfortable and powerful in what you’re wearing. Not trying to look like someone else but being your true self.” And while Emily in Paris was met with some contempt from critics, Razat considers the show a sort of fantasy version of Paris. “Emily is all about heightened reality. We celebrate Paris’s beauty. It’s a light show. French people either love it or love to hate it — which is very French.”
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