Fashion blogger Garance Doré talks Philly cheesesteaks and style
The blogger, who first visited the city with her beau Scott Schuman for his book signing in Fall 2012, was in town again last Friday to speak on a panel at Wharton.
She speaks impeccable English with a soft Parisian accent. Travels the world and takes photos of fascinating, stylish folk on city streets. And has an magnanimous base of devotees in the fashion blogosphere.
Garance Doré is the quintessential cool girl in the realm of style – she brings a refreshing splash of creative accessibility to an industry that prides itself upon exclusivity. But one of my favorite things about Doré is what the well-traveled blogger has to say about Philly. Simply put, "I like to go there," she says.
The blogger, who first visited the city with her beau Scott Schuman for his book signing in Fall 2012, was in town again last Friday to speak on a panel at Wharton. Doré tells me she spent her morning in town at the Navy Yard exploring Free People and Urban Outfitters. Brand awareness, after all, is in part what landed the blogger her latest corporate collaboration.
Doré's global fashion clout, however, mixed with her genuine, likable personality is largely what moved luxury conglomerate PPR (Pinault-Printemps-Redoute) to tap the stylish muse of the Sartorialist for its latest campaign – a tricky one – that involves a name change and seismic image shift.
PPR, the umbrella company of luxury and sporting lifestyle brands like Gucci, Bottega Veneta and Brioni, is changing its name to Kering, pronounced "caring," this summer. The "Ker" in "Kering" means "home" in the Breton language. The change is supposed to be part of a corporate realignment for the conglomerate as it looks to disassociate itself from brands it previously had ties to, CEO Francois-Henri Pinault told Luxury Daily in a piece published Monday. The group's decision has been questioned by many, even called "useless" by one luxury analyst.
Yet, in order to make the transition easier for all, the explanation behind the name change had to be conveyed in an organic manner - through an authoritative, yet accessible voice like Dore's. The personality explained how the collaboration - which involves a five-part video series that tells the story of the luxury group from her chic, Parisian perspective - came into fruition. "I've known some people at PPR for awhile," she said. "We were talking about my videos and they had an idea involving the changing of names." She was really excited to work with the conglomerate since it supports sustainability and protecting designers' creative rights - both of which are essential to a healthy fashion industry. The videos will be posted on Garance's blog leading up to PPR's name change on June 18.
And for Philly fans of the fashion blogger, Doré hints at an upcoming blog post dedicated to the land of "cool people" and cheesesteaks - adding that the one she devoured at Jim's was "very delicious!" On Thursday, she previewed her Philadelphia post with a photo taken at the Free People headquarters.
On whether or not she plans to return again to shoot photos of local fashionistas or to be inspired by the historic district, the blogger says this: "[Philly] is a cool city. I want to discover it. I'm very interested."
To watch Garance's first video, visit her blog, here.