24HOURS ISABEL MAR ANT
The designer’s life by the numbers.
7AM I use the alarm of my husband [accessories designer Jérôme Dreyfuss], but we almost don’t need any clock to wake up – we have inner timers. The first thing I do is boil water for my tea. Right now I’m having chai with rice milk. Sometimes I’m into coffee, but my tastes are changing; I’m not very loyal. 7.10AM I wake up my 11-year-old son, Tal, and pick out his clothes. If I leave it to him, he’ll wear only joggings. He likes the sweatshirts and sweaters from my H&M collaboration, and if my husband’s sweaters shrink they go to Tal – he has a hundred Comme des Garçons sweaters with the little heart logo. 7.15AM I always wear the same thing because during the day I change 10 or 15 times, trying on the clothes for my collections. I have a fit model, but I like to try on the clothes first. I have flat shoes, a tight pair of jeans, a cashmere sweater, and a jacket. I carry a leather-and-suede bag from the old collection, with red lipstick inside – always Chanel – L’Oréal Million Lashes mascara, and samples of face cream and Chanel N˚19 perfume. 7.30AM During the week I drive my scooter to the swimming pool in St.-Germain every morning. I need this to breathe and to handle my stressful days. It’s a pool from the beginning of the last century. I love that you get your own cabine, so you don’t have to go into a locker room. I wear an Adidas one-piece, and I often use small fins and do about 35 laps. 8.30AM I almost never wash at home, always at the pool. I use Weleda lavender soap, and Moroccanoil shampoo and hair oil because the pool makes my hair dry. I always tie it up; I don’t have very nice hair – it’s quite thin – and I don’t feel comfortable having it in my face. I have a lot of grey hairs, and I just leave them. I don’t have time to go to the hairdresser, and I’m afraid I’m not going to be myself anymore if I do. 8.40AM I stop at a juice bar and get a carrot-and-ginger juice. You always have a good tan when you drink carrot juice. 8.45AM When I get to the office, I have a black coffee – American-style, not espresso. It’s more like a big mug of watery coffee. It’s not very French. Then I check my e-mail and letters, organise my schedule and interview requests, and answer questions from my team. 10AM I start to work on my designs and do fittings. My studio is a big, open space with high ceilings. We’ve all worked together for a long time, so it’s quite peaceful and cosy. 1PM Everyone goes out for lunch, but most of the time I’m doing interviews or appointments. If not, I stay in the office and have food delivered: yakitori or sandwiches or Chinese or Japanese food, sometimes a baguette with ham and butter, and more coffee. I think I drink four a day, all watery. I eat in about 15 minutes, then do things like research or choosing colours. I’m always surrounded by people, so I need to be alone and reset my mind, you know? 2PM My design team comes back, and we start again with fittings or prints. I always wear tight jeans or leather leggings because I’m on my knees pinning things a lot, so I’m not going to wear a nice
dress. I wear very normal, comfortable things. And I drink water, a lot of Perrier, I must