Have you ever wished for a glimpse inside the office of Carine Roitfeld at Vogue Paris? We simply must stop and take a look before our favorite editor-in-chief departs the sixth floor of 56 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré forever. I have read that Carine frequently holds Vogue Paris meetings in her home, but when she must go to the office at least she has a lovely commute. From the Place des Invalides, past the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, following the Seine to the Place de la Concorde, to one of the world's most fashionable streets, rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, the location of the headquarters for Vogue Paris as well as many top fashion labels. As Carine says, “So you see, every day I see the most beautiful place in the world. It is not too bad.” The Vogue Paris offices are adjacent to the Hôtel de Crillon where La Roitfeld has also been known to take meetings if her own office is "too mess" as she says in her adorable way.
When you open the door to Carine's office, you are immediately struck by the starkness. White walls, modern décor, minimal possessions, it is remarkable to see that one can occupy a space for a decade and yet keep it so free from the extraneous. It is also extremely difficult to believe that this chic space is ever "too mess" for a meeting. Carine explains, “It is the same as in my home. I like clean, clean, clean, clean. It’s my new Zen attitude, you know? The less you have, the more you enjoy.” Elegantly furnished with a desk and a conference table by Le Corbusier, both topped in glass, a black leather sofa, black leather chairs by Mies van der Rohe, and chrome lighting fixtures by Tom Dixon, Carine keeps her office clear for professional reasons: "[It's] very minimalist because it's better for my mind. When everything is clean and empty it cools me down; if someone brings in pictures or articles to show me, I can see them better."
Only a few works of art grace the walls of Carine's office. As the Guardian hilariously remarked, most of these portray partially nude women with their hands in their knickers; when asked about this Carine shrugged politely. The first is Mario Sorrenti's shot from the Vogue Paris 2008 calendar with Natasha Poly fingerpainted by Sorrenti and Tom Pecheux as a pregnant bride complete with fœtus for the month of June (this remains my favorite VP calendar). In another enlarged and framed editorial shot, a model wears nothing but a Minnie Mouse mask and red boxer shorts. [If you have this image, please let me know.] Another of her brilliant editorial shots is pictured below, a close shot of female thighs framed by a gorgeous fur. Finally we see the iconic Karl Lagerfeld portrait, the indelible black and white image looming large against one wall. "Very Big Brother, no? The cult of personality... very Russian." laughs Carine. It just occurred to me, I think all of the art in Carine's office is either of her or by her, c'est fantastique !
The possessions that Carine permits on her desk and shelves are her Blackberry, her reading glasses, a pen, a cup of tea or water, vases of flowers (preferably white), two masks, a diamanté skull (“I love skulls,” La Roitfeld exclaims), an orange blossom candle in a glass holder, a gumball machine, a few books including a signed Stanley Kubrick edition, Maison Martin Margiela (to which she contributed an essay), Raphael Mazzucco Collected Art (for which she wrote the foreword), and a dictionary of Chinese characters in three volumes, along with her personal letters and photographs such as this one of her father, her brother, and her son, Vladimir.
Carine expressed her thoughts about her position at Vogue Paris frequently during interviews over the last decade, here are a few of the juicier bits:
"I think I am a terrible business woman."
"I never had an office before, never had a chair with a table... Have never been a boss."
“No Hugg boots in the office, they are hugly.”
"I like to have something every month that is — how you say? — not politically correct. A little bit at the limit. Sex, nudity, a bit rock'n'roll, a sense of humour. That is very Vogue Paris."
“My best quality is to be stylist. I never think about this career, this big job. I never wanted to be what I am today, and I will not die in the position.”
"I only start to work really hard when they [Julia and Vladimir] grow up. Now I work every day, Saturday, Sunday — but the children are big, they study far away."
"Daytimes I am editor-in-chief; after eight and at weekends I am a stylist. It is great! There is no one to criticize my work other than me."
"I am very happy here [at Vogue Paris] but I am sure something new is going to happen in the next year."
"I would not be able to work in this business, with all these amazing young girls, if I did not truly believe that beauty can come in many forms. You can be beautiful with big breasts, you can be beautiful in your 40s. If you do not have perfect ankles, still you can move your legs in a certain way and look very sexy."
"I am good at what I do here and I am not sure if you put me in that world [Vogue US] I would be as good. I think it is much easier to talk to 100,000 women than millions of women across America."
"They [computers] are not my specialty." [Again she shrugs. Must develop my shrug...]
"I do not think I will do this for my entire life, though. Because I love a challenge."
"If you struggle to pay bills, working on advertising you do not like, on magazines you do not like, at the end of the day is difficult to still like fashion. You know, is like when you squeeze a lemon... whereas I still have some juice."
"I do not know what I will do next but I cannot do the same for the next 10 years. I love to change. I have been here eight years; I think maybe 10 years is good."
Watch Carine at work in her office, analyzing spreads and making editorial decisions in this interview with La Blonde et moi.
La Blonde et moi: Carine Roitfeld partie 1
La Blonde et moi: Carine Roitfeld partie 2
La Blonde et moi: Carine Roitfeld partie 3
Carine Roitfeld's Vogue Paris office photographs courtesy of youtube.com and La Blonde et moi, © 2009 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. and © 2009 Guardian News and Media Limited. All Rights Reserved. Map courtesy of google.com.
vendredi 26 août 2011 
