√ Grew up in 3 different countries (Germany, Algeria and Madagascar). As a kid, we were often flying from a country to another. I grew up thinking that was normal.
√ Lived and worked on 4 continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, America).
√ I am completely fluent in 4 languages. Both Malagasy and French are my mother tongues since I learned both at an early age. I am bilingual in German and I’ve worked for ages in English.
√ I come from a Malagasy princely family that went bankrupt.
√ Because money was ill-managed in my family, I ended up in a business school instead of in a fashion school.
√ I took fashion design classes while working in the banking industry. And since I had homework to finish, I was coloring my silhouettes at the cafeteria of the bank during noon break.
√ We have 3 generations of garment makers in the family. My family embroiders 24 carat gold. They used to dress the French army.
√ I attended my first rooftop party at the age of 4, by the Mediterranean Sea in Algiers
√ To me, sewing is the equivalent of a day in a SPA. I just love it.
√ The first fashion show I attended was Givenchy menswear AW 2011/2012. It was at Bercy in Paris: there was a huge sound and light problem right at the beginning of the show.
√ The moment I really knew I wanted to work in the fashion industry, I was working backstage with a London brand during Berlin Fashion Week. Touching beautiful fabric, the pre-show hectic, interacting with the creative teams in different languages to reach the same final vision, checking that everything works well and is neat and ready. I just loved it.
√ I used to play the piano with the Malagasy philharmonic orchestra. I am actually really fond of classical music, especially Beethoven, Chopin, Dvorak and Brahms.
√ I am a true perfectionist…I love when work is well organized and when processes work smoothly. I read a lot about what other people, also in other industries, do to improve and work thoroughly on applying it to myself and to my business.