You're in a room with Isabel Marant, the queen of elegant-but-relaxed French fashion. Of course the first thing you ask her is how to dress.
Which is just what journalists did at the opening of her mammoth new boutique in Paris.

Unfortunately for us she could not give a foolproof formula. But at least she's not going to force you to wear something that doesn't suit you. ‘I won't say, “You must have a miniskirt,”' she said. 'If you don't have nice legs, it won't work out. It's not a question of must haves: it's more about finding yourself. Who you are, what fits you, what you feel confident in – it's more about feeling confident than having whatever look.’

According to the Fashionologie blog she could be more specific about her musical tastes: ‘The Lou Doillon album is really great. I think it was quite hard for her to release it because she comes from such a notable family [she's the daughter of director Jacques Dillion and actress Jane Birkin], but she really succeeds.’Her ritual for listening to music is to be ‘alone. I prefer to hear music when it's really loud, and when I need to speak with people it becomes too distracting. When I'm alone, I listen to a lot of rock because I love the energy of it; it gives me the attitude I want to have for my girls.’

So there you have it: confidence and attitude is all you need. And a wardrobe full of Marant might come in handy too