Ines de la Fressange — supermodel, one-time Karl Lagerfeld muse, French fashion icon and tall woman — is playfully insisting that one of the male journalists in my group try on a blouson from her third collaborative season with Uniqlo. We were part of an intimate session at UNIQLO’s Spring/Summer 2015 Presentation in the French capital. It should be noted, however, that while her breezy collection of shirts, sports jackets and knits in primarily linen and cotton is inspired by menswear, Ines de la Fressange does not actually make clothes for men.

“I told you it would fit!” beamed de la Fressange, as she and the happy journo laughed and posed for photographs in matching jackets.

(I smiled politely, silently hatching a plot to kidnap the young, skinny, sample-sized writer when night fell to force-feed him a stockpile of baguette and full-fat butter until he, like me, had problems buttoning up shirts actually made for my gender in the mornings.)

The model, author and now affordable fashion designer is the very definition of French joie de vivre. She’s playful, confident, debonair, thoroughly charming, relaxed yet refined, and never takes herself too seriously — just like the diffusion line she created with her friend and UNIQLO design director Naoki Takizawa. The two share an easy chemistry, an obsession with detail and a love of vintage styles.

“We can’t stand each other anymore. It has been a nightmare,” laughed de la Fressange. “The problem is he’s French and I’m Japanese! After three seasons, we understand that. I’m the serious one, the workaholic, I’m on time. He’s the crazy one … and we make babies. These are our babies who are half-Japanese and half-French.”

CLASSIC IS BORING

As with the previous seasons, this Spring/Summer collection — stained in a distinctly palette of caramel, grey, limestone and indigo — blends the picture of easy French charisma with the sensibilities of the former creative director for Issey Miyake. “We don’t know what is Japanese, what is French,” said de la Fressange of their design aesthetics. “Ok, maybe if you look at a certain dress, you may think it is typically French, like from the old French films of the ’40s. But I quite like playing with these cliches of France.”

It isn’t often that you hear a designer describe her work as “cliche”. “Classic” is the term more often tossed about.

“Classic is boring,” dismissed de la Fressange, slumped glamorously on the sofa, her handbag strewn carelessly next to her. “And classic doesn’t mean anything because ‘classic’ changes all the time. It’s an evolution. But cliche is a dream — and a dream can be plenty of things. Classic is quite sad.”

“But maybe I shouldn’t say that,” said the 57-year-old mother of two with a laugh. “Some people think I’m classic!

“Fashion should be made with spontaneity and desire — not words,” she continued. “Words are for businessmen. And businessmen, they don’t create anything. We’re doing exactly what we want. Then afterwards, we find the words.”

If de la Fressange finds her aesthetics difficult to verbalise, the design process is a far simpler, more straight-forward one. “It’s all things that I’m looking for, that I need, that I can’t find. It is totally selfish,” she smiled. “But I feel close to the customer. I feel close to women. Even if my life is very protected and very comfortable, I feel very close to all women. There’s a complicity.

“In the morning, I wake up just like everybody and think, ‘Oh, I have nothing to wear’,” she said, mock-yawning. “We want to bring a solution to the people. With not a lot of money, they can buy a few pieces — which is nice. Happiness and frivolity are possible. They can mix them up, they can wear them for different occasions and feel better with them. And that’s the purpose. (The collection) is not about a signature, it’s not that it’s recognisable. We think what is modern is when something is of good quality, has some style and is not expensive. And we show that it is possible. It is possible that big diffusion doesn’t mean bad quality or no taste.”

Tastefulness, the design duo said, applies even when money is no object. “I think today, people don’t want to shout ‘I’m rich’,” said Takizawa. “(Head to toe) Hermes, Louis Vuitton, gold Rolex, gold Cartier watches … It’s too much.”

“Thank God they’re not the Russian press,” laughed de la Fressange.

Speaking of press, male fashion journalists may no longer have to survive on a diet of dust and the occasional housefly to squeeze into her women’s designs — if de la Fressange has her way.

“I am expecting you to write in your article: Everything is nice, the decoration is good … but it’s a pity nothing was done for men. Mr Yanai should ask Ines to design a men’s collection,” she smiled, referring to UNIQLO founder and CEO Tadashi Yanai. “And a children’s collection! Just write that. I’d love to do that.”

Pausing for dramatic effect, de la Fressange motioned towards her partner-in-crime Takizawa. “But he’s a little bit lazy, this French guy. You know how French people are. He came late today.”

This trip was made possible by UNIQLO. The Ines de La Fressange Sping/Summer collection is in stores now.