If her wildly successful cult brand The Frankie Shop is all about elegance that works in real life, founder Gaëlle Drevet practises what she preaches. The entrance to her sixth-floor Marais apartment might include the mouldings of a classicParisian hallway, but it also features two neatly parked tricycles- both belonging to her five-year-old son. ‘My boyfriend always says this is a “no design” house,’ explains Drevet. ‘This is the way we like it. It’s no clutter, no decoration – it’s just about things that are interesting and functional.’
The main space fits this brief – a huge living room with herringbone parquet flooring is anchored by a Berber rug found in Marrakesh. The couple source vintage pieces from galleries, fleamarkets and auction houses to bring a Seventies feel. There’s a highly prized low-slung coffee table made by Italian designer Willy Rizzo, and an equally enviable – and very white – curved Tito Agnoli sofa.
The white theme continues in the shape of a modern design classic: an Eero Saarinen dining table and chairs. Evidence of family life is dotted around, too – from the miniature guitar lined up alongside several adult-sized ones, to the sweet baby slippers that Drevet can’t quite bring herself give away. Here, white isn’t about immaculate minimalism. It’s a backdrop to fun – see the bright neon-pink bowls balanced on a vintage hi-fi, or a bouquet of peacock feathers peeking out from behind a speaker.
Drevet – an energetic presence with a sheet of glossy raven hair and matching statement specs – says two factors attracted the couple to the space: the light, which streams in from windows on both sides, and the generous but elegant storage space –the walls are lined with discreet white cupboards. ‘There’s one I hadn’t even noticed – it’s like Louis XIV with his secret doors,’ she jokes. Her clothes are behind those doors, and stored on a rail in a spare room, although, she admits, ‘It’s not organised. I need Marie Kondo before she quits.’
If the clothing rails benefit from Drevet’s job, the walls here reflect that of her partner – he works at Galerie Hussenot in Paris, a gallery dedicated to contemporary artists. Art is every-where. Drevet particularly favours a portrait of a young woman by Japanese painter Yu Nishimura, and a piece by Moroccan artist Mounir Fatmi made using telephone wire. ‘It’s a verse of the Quran, so it’s about the connection between God and the new media and technology in today’s world,’ she says.
The couple first began living in the apartment around 10 years ago – although Drevet was, at this point, travelling a lot. She settled permanently in Paris in 2017 after living inNew York and working as an investigative journalist for two decades (at one point, she was trying to track down Osama bin Laden). The apartment was a good transition from life in the Big Apple, because it’s on a main boulevard: ‘As much as I could complain about the noise, I don’t think I could live in a very quiet neighbourhood. I’d be scared at night.’
Drevet had first had thoughts of becoming a designer while growing up in Saint-Etienne in central France, but pursued journalism as a less risky career path. She didn’t revisit her childhood dream until her mid-thirties, while staying in London waiting to resolve a visa issue for her work in the US. With her employers paying for her accommodation, she was able to save up enough money to begin producing clothes. And in 2014 The Frankie Shop – or, as Drevet calls it, ‘Frankie’ – was born.Now, nearly 10 years later, it’s a runaway success with over a million followers on Instagram and an instantly recognisable signature look: the oversized boyfriend blazer.
Aesthetically, Frankie was driven by the fact that Drevet couldn’t find anything to wear. ‘I wanted an everyday kind of look that wasn’t too contrived, dolled up,’ she remembers. ‘I wanted minimal, but I wanted to remain a little bit edgy also.’ London had a part to play. ‘We (French people) have tons of rules, and you guys just break them and it’s amazing,’ she says.‘I remember (being inspired by) my London friends and the way that they put things together in an edgier way. Otherwise I would just be wearing a stripe (a Breton top) and a jean.’ Jane Birkin – the ultimate Franco-Brit – remains a muse.
Drevet says a personality trait helped with a career switch. ‘I have no fear,’ she says. ‘That makes me jump – and really, you just have to jump.’ Her background in journalism meant she quickly embraced the power of social media. ‘I could do my own PR. I didn’t have to pay for a press person, (for) which I didn’t have the money. I was my art director and I knew exactly what kind of pictures (I wanted)... Thanks to social media, things picked up organically.’ That’s something of an under-statement: in December, The Business of Fashion called Frankie ‘Instagram’s Favourite Fashion Brand’, and revealed net sales of$40m in 2022. As well as its online business, there is a bricks-and-mortar shop in New York, with more planned there; plus two in Paris, one set to open in London and various pop-ups. Her previous career also means Drevet is vocal about the issues she feels passionately about. After the Roe vs Wade reversal stripped many women of their rights to an abortion in the US, she launched a T-shirt with the slogan ‘If You Are Not Angry You Are Not Paying Attention’, with all proceeds going to the National Network of Abortion Funds. ‘You can’t be a brand and be completely out of touch with what’s going on around you,’ she says. ‘That would mean I’m not human, really.'
While brands such as Celine and The Row are giants of minimalism, their price points mean they are inaccessible to many. By contrast, Frankie is relatively affordable, with a pair of jeans around £100 and blazers around £200. They are also designed to be somewhat trendless. ‘I want to make sure any girl who loves fashion like me can can afford to have elevated pieces (that) will hopefully last forever,’ says Drevet. A level of pragmatism – the same approach that is seen in her apartment’s interiors – is present here, too. ‘It’s offering tools to your life,’she says. ‘I am not trying to make things more complicated.’ The success of Frankie arguably did make her own life more complicated – because it coincided with the birth of her son. ‘At the time (I moved into this apartment), Frankie was taking off and I’d just had a baby at the same time,’ she says. ‘So I had two babies to take care of.’
These equally demanding concerns meant a shift in Drevet’s lifestyle – one that remains in her association with her space.‘I have to say, the memories of this apartment are around me having a child,’ she says. ‘I wish I could say it is always filled with friends, but it was mostly my mum (and) my family.’But with her son now school age, she feels that may change –the activity around that Rizzo table may soon feature wine and adult conversation rather than milk and play-date chat. And what is likely to be the next addition to the home? ‘We love music,’ she says. ‘I have been wanting to put a piano in here. We’ve had some very heated negotiations, (but) it hasn’t happened yet.’ But as someone with the determination to shelve a successful journalism career in order to launch an even more successful fashion brand, it’s a safe bet that Drevet will add some ivories to this most Parisian of spaces before long.
