"I’m just not into Cowboys"

article from "Sonntags Zeitung" - Zurich

Lou Doillon, privileged Bohemian – wild child, presents her first collection for Lee Cooper

On Thursday night, the first collection of Lou Doillon for the Denim label Lee Cooper, was launched at the London Club, MAYA.
The manufacturer, that has lost his coolness over the last decades, wants to revive its gloss times from the seventies.
The marketing team chose a simple strategy:
Replace the Muse of that era – Jane Birkin – with her daughter, the young and wild Lou Doillon. And invite the press for an interview with the actress, musician, fashion icon and daughter of two famous parents.
The “French Kate Moss” speaks nearly perfect English, thanks to her British mother, and starts a charming, almost unstoppable, torrent of words.

To lend your name and face to a self designed collection, being only 25, needs a lot of courage. Where do you get your Self-assurance from?
Lou Doillon: I am the daughter of an extremely famous mother and I was born at a time where she had just left her extremely famous husband (Serge Gainsbourg), a man, whom the French admired much.
When my mother met my father Jacques and the general public got to know about their relationship, they were all of a sudden hated by the whole country. My mother was even spat on, on the streets, after Serge complained about his great love leaving him for a horrible man, on TV.

What were the consequences?
LD: The whole land suffered with Serge, and as a consequence of that my parents hid me for a long time of my childhood. I had to be pretty though from the beginning because I felt this rejection – I was practically the child of Judas.
Furthermore, almost everyone in my family was famous: my mother, my father, Serge, my sister (actress Charlotte Gainsbourg), my uncle, my grandmother … I, literally, had to put on a top hat and wear strange clothes so that people would perceive me with all those stars around.

It is said that you have been a problematic teenager?
LD: I have been angry for a long time and I’ve been rebelling. Piercings, tattoos, embarrassing appearances on live TV shows, the whole range.
My parents prophesied to me that I would get pregnant with 14, but I had my son Marlowe-Tigger at only 19!
Anyways, they’ve been very patient with me and were very affectionate. Considering what I had done, they were incredibly nice to me.

Some weeks ago, the first Lee Cooper store in Zurich was launched. A lot of people were surprised, since the label doesn’t have the coolest image. Did you have, prior to working with them, an image of Lee Cooper as, well, an uncool Jeans label?
LD: I love stylish clothes and I love to go shopping, but I don’t care about brands.
When they approached me, I have dealt with the history of the brand and was pleased to read that they had worked with cool people and done great videos in the 60s and 70s – including my mom and Serge.
A lot of Denim brands, today, try to be cool, but Lee Cooper has a past which testifies from creativity and the courage to take risks.
This and the fact that it is a European company and that the collection is produced in France persuaded me. I’m just not into Cowboys.

The next interview is waiting. Lou puts on her top hat and says goodbye by dropping a cut that, in a strange way, reminds me of Ron Wood.
The enthusiasm with which Lou Doillon talks about her latest project is infectious. And the firmness with which she believes in the success of her collection confirms the image of a privileged Bohemian – wild child that does what she wants and is, how else should it be, very good at it.

source: leecooper.com
Translated by: Luca* at thefashionspot.com
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