Marie-Anna

Marie-Anna’s outfit is a treasure trove of precious and pre-loved pieces, each with a backstory as rich as the next. Her trousers, a Lazy Oaf collab with the illustrator Laura Callaghan, epitomise her style. Marie-Anna’s fashion sense flourished when she moved to London for uni; liberated from the parochial confines of her hometown in rural France she could finally indulge her individuality. She explained to us “I did my high school and middle school in a really small town, I would always dress weird. Little did people know that that was the tip of the iceberg of my fashion potential. I remember when I moved to London, everyone was wearing all of these crazy things. I remember the first time I went to Carnaby Street and I went into the Lazy Oaf shop and I was like “WOW, this is it!” The sellers looked so stylish and I remember saving up to buy one lazy oaf bag, it was such a big deal. Fast forward to the end of my studies and Lazy Oaf sent me a DM on Instagram and I cried, it’s stupid but it meant so much to me, I had really made it! I love Laura Callaghan, I have a few of her prints. So that was the peak of my existence. These pants are the result of that and I love them so much.”  

The story behind Marie-Anne’s bomber jacket is similarly joyful and expressive of her individuality and iconic style. She discovered it in her local ‘crummy’ vintage shop, the only second-hand shop in her hometown. Essentially, it was a woman’s attic in her house where she had collected donations, more of a hoarder situation than a thrift shop. She can remember the day when she found this jacket, now a staple, “I brought it home and my mum was like “You're crazy!” and everyone said, “that's such a weird jacket.”  Fast forward a year later and these were all the rage, it was the bomber jacket hoorah, and I was there first.” 

She styles her trusted tank top with an oversized white shirt, a hand-me-down from her dad. She told us “I had this phase in middle school where I would steal everything that my dad would give away, and I would hold onto it or I would cut it up and make something new. That was not my calling but I did keep this white shirt forever.” Her accessories map a trail of thrift shopping all over the city: she spotted her beret at a collection of military memorabilia in Greenwich Market; she found her belt at a boutique in Brick Lane; her ring from a thrift shop bin elsewhere. Marie-Anna always prioritizes comfort in her wardrobe: her shoes are from the Converse Comfort range, with an extra layer of padding at the bottom to maximize support, sticking to her philosophy that she won’t wear something unless she can be comfortable in it all day. “I am a lover of fashion but I would rather something be comfortable than fashionable. I always try to blend the two but I am a lover of comfort, if I can’t spend the whole day in it, I won’t wear it. This is the most authentic version of me ever, it’s colourful, it’s fun and it’s comfy.”