Camille Rowe On The Truth About French

By Emma Spedding

French-girl style has been mythologised to the point where popular culture, it seems, will never tire of it – Emily in Paris (now extended to a fourth season) is just the latest testament to our fascination with how the French live (and dress), and the allure of Parisian style remains a powerful sales tool for brands. Model Camille Rowe, who was spotted in Paris at the age of 18, will admit her career has been amplified by the “French girl thing”. “I’m not going to hate on it too much, because it has become my bread and butter,” she laughs.

Born to an American mother and a French father, Rowe grew up in Paris before moving to New York as an adult, where the tiny Reformation store on Ludlow Street quickly became one of her favourite places to shop. So the fact she has now joined forces with the LA-based brand to create a capsule collection of 18 pieces – all inspired by her own vintage wardrobe, and the je ne sais quoi unique to Parisian It-girls – feels like something of a full circle moment.

Camille Rowe X Reformation.

By Daniel Rodgers

By Joy Montgomery

By Ellie Pithers

“The stereotype has become even bigger than what it actually is, and [the way] French people actually dress,” explains Rowe, who insists the oft-regurgitated rules around what French girls will and will not wear are not all rooted in reality. However, there is one trope she believes actually holds up – our Gallic counterparts’ alleged aversion to leggings and tracksuits. “I ran into a French girlfriend on the street in Paris last week, and she said, ‘Don’t look at me, I’m coming back from Pilates! I was hoping I wouldn’t run into anyone.’” While the likes of Hailey Bieber and Kendall Jenner proudly accessorise their gym fits with luxe totes and haute jewellery, French girls don’t wear leggings says Rowe. “And when they do, they feel embarrassed by it.” Moving to LA has prompted Rowe to very occasionally wear tracksuit bottoms, which she says, “as a French person I find awful”.

Camille Rowe X Reformation.

For her part, Rowe is “ready for people to dress up a little more”, especially as we all “got very comfortable in the pandemic”. When describing clothes, Rowe uses the same words again and again: “sexy”, “powerful”, “elegant” and “uncomplicated”. This relaxed attitude to glamour is reflected in her capsule collection of throw-on dresses and slinky separates for Reformation, which is being released on 23 October.

By Daniel Rodgers

By Joy Montgomery

By Ellie Pithers

Camille Rowe X Reformation.

Rowe was inspired by items in her own wardrobe, and reimagined two dresses in particular that she bought from Reformation in 2014 (an LBD called the Laurien and a silk maxi called the Beyla) when she first moved to the US, in addition to referencing her extensive vintage collection. “In Los Angeles there is such a trend for the ‘clean girl’, so I just wanted something to look a little more decadent and sexy.” She collects Tom Ford for Gucci, so it’s not surprising that his legendary Noughties runway collections influenced her overall mood for the capsule: “Tom Ford has made women feel so incredibly sexy… It’s fun to feel powerful.”

Camille Rowe X Reformation.

The other French girl stereotype that rings true, according to Rowe? Their nonchalant attitude, and the goal of always appearing effortless, when in fact “it takes a lot of time to look like you’ve done nothing”.