Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Latest Issue
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Style

    Is this the secret to dressing like a Parisian?

    Sézane founder Morgane Sézalory on how to dress French

    Penny Goldstone's avatar
    By Penny Goldstone
    Published 14 July 2017 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    (Image credit: Rex Features (Shutterstock))
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Sézane founder Morgane Sézalory on how to dress French

    If you're not already aware of online-first Parisian clothing label Sézane, then quite frankly, you're missing out. Especially if you're as obsessed with French style as we are.

    Behind the cult brand is the effortlessly stylish genius that is Morgane Sézalory, who we like to think of as the French Girlboss. Why the comparison? Bear with us.

    Although she launched the concept of Sézane in 2013, she entered the fashion world earlier, in the way of hunting for vintage treasures, and selling them off to great success.

    'My sister and I loved to hunt for vintage bargains,' Morgane told us when met her at the Sézane Appartement in Paris.

    You may like
    • models wearing new Sézane Sézane Just Launched the Most French Rebrand of All Time—Here's What We'll Shop
    • Personality Dressing Bored of Beige? Personality Dressing Is the One Thing All the Most Stylish Women Have in Common
    • voranida outfits Everyone Sophisticated Is Wearing This Lesser-Known, Up-and-Coming Brand Right Now

    Morgane Sézalory. Credit @AlphaSmoot

    'She then went to live in London and left bags of some vintage cool pieces. At first I kept things for myself, but then I thought I could make some pocket money by selling them on eBay. The first products I put up sold out for 300 euros or 500 euros. What made the difference were that my pictures were bright, all the others were dark, or you couldn't see the products,' she added.

    How to set up your own fashion business

    Morgane was soon making 6,000 euros a month, and decided take things to the next level by selling her vintage finds on her own site. Demand was so high that creating her own designs was the next logical step.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    'I could only put up 100 pieces for sale a month, so I curated the pieces, took styled pictures, and would give my customers one rendez-vous a month at a specific time and day to buy them - everything would sell out after five minutes. Sometimes they would be so frustrated, so I realised I should start to create my own pieces to sell alongside the vintage ones,' she says.

    The summer collection is available online now at Sézane.

    Except Morgane's designs were so popular, she decided to focus on those by creating a new label and store: Sézane (a combination of her last and first names) was born and just kept on growing.

    It's fair to say it has since amassed a cult following, no doubt thanks to its monthly curated collections that are the epitome in French fashion: trendy yet wearable pieces, always with a dose of chic.

    What to read next
    • woman wears black blazer green silk dress A Great Blazer is the Go-To Item of all the Best-Dressed Women in Paris
    • Chanel shirts How Much is Too Much to Spend on a Shirt? And Where to Find the Best Ones
    • Cara My Life in London Cara Delevingne on Designing Her First Collection for Topshop and London's Best-Kept Secrets

    So we have the clothes, but is that all it takes to dress like a Parisian? We grilled Morgane on what makes French style so special.

    The newly refurbished Sézane Appartement

    Is there a secret to dressing like a Parisian?

    'I think there is a culture to not show that you take your time to look good; so that’s a big thing about French people. We have iconic French women who are very natural, and so people try to emulate this. To me, the true beauty of being French, is being beautiful and smart, and to be beautiful and smart you have to look like you didn’t spend too much time looking beautiful, you know?'

    What fashion items do most Parisian women own?

    'A white shirt in silk or cotton, a perfect pair of jeans, and then a natural bag, like Jane Birkin in the 70s. I think that's the perfect, ideal iconic look.'

    A new capsule collection launches online at Sézane every month, and you can also shop the collection in store at the newly refurbished Sézane Apparetement 1 rue saint Fiacre 75002 Paris. 

    Penny Goldstone
    Penny Goldstone
    Social Links Navigation
    Contributing Fashion Editor

    Penny Goldstone is the Contributing Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK. She writes about catwalk trends and the latest high street and Instagram sartorial must-haves. She also helms the Women Who Win franchise.

    She has worked in fashion for over 10 years, contributing to publications such as Cosmopolitan, Red, Good Housekeeping, and Stylist.

    Read more
    models wearing new Sézane
    Fashion Sézane Just Launched the Most French Rebrand of All Time—Here's What We'll Shop
    Personality Dressing
    Fashion Bored of Beige? Personality Dressing Is the One Thing All the Most Stylish Women Have in Common
     
     
    voranida outfits
    Fashion Everyone Sophisticated Is Wearing This Lesser-Known, Up-and-Coming Brand Right Now
    woman wears black blazer green silk dress
    Shopping A Great Blazer is the Go-To Item of all the Best-Dressed Women in Paris
     
     
    Latest in Style
    Coach Gifting
    Shopping The Ultimate Christmas Gift? The Coach Tabby Bag Is the Handbag Everyone Wants to Unwrap
    olivia colman on the miu miu runway
    Fashion ‘Older’ Women on the Catwalks is Great, But Do Fashion and Beauty Brands Really Know Who We Are?
     
     
    Party jewellery
    Shopping 5 Jewellery Trends That Will Transform Even the Most Low-Effort Party Look
    Chanel shirts
    Fashion How Much is Too Much to Spend on a Shirt? And Where to Find the Best Ones
     
     
    Latest in Features
    Senior Health Editor Ally Head running the 50th iteration of the New York Marathon
    Fitness In Defence of Good Enough When It Comes to Exercise—and the Radical Joy in Not Improving
    Is Skincare Really Backed by Science? What Clinical Trials Prove
    Skincare The Evidence Revolution: Is Skincare Finally Taking Testing Seriously?
     
     
    Conceptual shot of woman having bad condition from broken heart, sadness or feeling loneliness etc.
    Life I Didn’t Know What Happened to Me Was Rape—How Religion Warped My Understanding of Consent
    How much should you spend on shampoo
    Hair Do You Really Need to Spend £50 on Shampoo?
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.