Real People Who Really Influence Me:
Lawyer/vintage collector Chaimaa Hainoune's Fashion Proust Questionnaire
Breaking: not all of my friends work in fashion. Actually, believe it or not, some of my most uniquely stylish pals work fashion-adjacent, or nowhere near the industry at all.
Chaimaa Hainoune is one of them. An M&A lawyer at one of France’s leading firms, Chaimaa moonlights as a voracious reader, passionate art-lover and shrewd vintage collector. We met in the most wholesome organic way ever: she’s my neighbour.
Lucky me. Chaimaa is the kind of person that can speak confidently on a head-spinning variety of registers. She’s so cultured she’ll be rolling of proustian references pre-coffee, before, in the same breath, bringing it all back to obscure (yet always helpful) skincare advice.
I have never seen Chaimaa looking anything other than marvellously put together in the sort of way most professional fashion girlies can only dream of. This, I would argue, is because she doesn’t spend her time trudging through the trend cycle bog or the weekly tension-packed voyeurism of who’s wearing what where and why. She’s got other things on her mind. Fashion is pure pleasure for her. Plus, Chaimaa has to dress up for work everyday— like up up, in a professional way. To select from, she’s got a closet full of some of the most covetable vintage pieces I’ve ever come across (you may remember her surprise wardrobe reveal from my second-ever Substack post.) A true collector, marching to the beat of her own drum (exclusively in heels.)
Here’s Chaimaa’s Fashion Proust Questionnaire:
What is your idea of a perfect outfit?
The key principle is that the outfit needs to fit the occasion.
Second, the perfect outfit is the one I like to call the “Deus Ex Machina”; it is that perfect idea that suddenly bursts into my mind and materializes comme un miracle in the form of clothes I already own.
What is your greatest fashion fear?
Having to submit to an assignment and end up losing myself to become a premier degré frame (un porte-manteau)for the current trends.
What, in hindsight, is the worst outfit you’ve ever worn?
An outfit I wore to a Gucci summer party. I was convinced that I needed to resemble a vibrant Gucci girl. The assignment proved to be a resounding failure.
What is the worst outfit you’ve ever seen on someone else?
I feel compelled to say this on behalf of a few of us: Iman’s Harris Reed dress at the Met Gala. The most beautiful, gracious and perfect woman was dressed horrendously for one of the most important events of the year…
Which living person’s style do you most admire?
Marie Blanchet’s (founder of Mon Vintage by Marie Blanchet) – an Yves Saint Laurent woman to the core. She knows that having a style is knowing who you are.
What is your greatest extravagance?
For my daily work attire, my extravagances are my tailor-made, bespoke suits and shirts. One particular luxury I have been indulging in is handmade fans.
A common misconception is that handmade is overpriced. Highly-skilled artisans would never consider indecent margins; they have a duty to their craft and would never deliver work that does not meet their exacting standards and those of their clients. The price is reasonable considering the hours they personally put in and the high-quality materials. Also, you have the opportunity to develop a personal relationship with the artisan. Many of them prefer the struggle of a small business to preserve their family savoir-faire.
I would define elegance as poetry in motion. Watching elegant fingers idly grasping a beautifully made fan, with feathers gently touching a woman’s face like an extension of her lashes, is a beautiful sight to behold. The movement must be gentle, bordering on lazy. It is as seductive as it is melancholic. Spanish women do it best!
What is your current state of mind with regards to the fashion industry?
A prevalent state of ennui, but also of expectation.
What do you consider the most overrated style virtue?
Overthought nonchalance.
On what occasion do you lie about someone’s outfit?
Never. I generally try to avoid making superficial compliments or non-solicited criticism. When asked, I always say what I think.
What is the quality you like most in a man’s outfit?
La Sprezzatura (an Italian term coined by Baldassare Castiglione in the 16th century. It could be translated to distant elegance or the art of making something difficult look easy).
I appreciate a certain Sprezzatura in a man’s outfit, particularly in tailoring. It is a testament to a man’s confidence.
What is the quality you like most in a woman’s outfit?
When it reflects who she is, deeply and unapologetically. The discomfort of a woman wearing a “performative” outfit is hard to miss.
Which fashion trend do you most despise?
Most trends. But especially, the fake Parisian style as well as the core trends (Barbie core, Ballerina core, etc.).
Which words or phrases do you most overuse when describing fashion?
Elégance or Gênance (the latter is a made-up word from the French “Gêne”, which means discomforting or embarrassing).
Which runway collection in history was your greatest love?
Yohji Yamamoto Spring/ Summer 1999. I like to think that Yohji is very much Pyrrhonian. He challenges men and women’s judgment, by making garments that appear very simple at first glance, but are always meticulously crafted with intricate layers that reveal depth and complexity – a seemingly simple skirt can, in fact, contain far more complex and dark nuances.
In his S/S 1999 collection, he presented wedding ceremonials and nuptial dresses in a subtle way, so they are not understood quite so easily.
When were you happiest with your own look?
I was having dinner at Le Petit Nice Passédat in Marseille and the Macrons were a table behind; it was a total coincidence. Can you imagine being underdressed under such circumstances? Luckily, I was wearing a 1930s-inspired Comme des Garçons evening dress. The flattering bias-cut silhouette is always reliable.
Which designer’s talent would you most like to have?
Yohji’s natural simplicity and refusal of compromise, and Gae Aulenti’s ingenuity and subtlety.
If you could change one thing about your wardrobe, what would it be?
Wardrobe detox is well overdue.
What do you consider your greatest achievement, career-wise (so far!)
Advising and becoming a board member of Mon Vintage By Marie Blanchet – the first fashion brand that makes fashion but doesn’t make clothes.
If you were to die and come back as a fashion item, what would it be?
Marcello Mastroianni’s outfit in Fellini’s 8 ½ - everything from the glasses, the hat, the tie, to the shoes is Sprezzatura perfection.
Where on earth do you get the most style inspiration?
Cinema.
What is your most treasured possession?
A Romeo Gigli 1993 coat with silk jacquard collar and belt that I acquired from Mon Vintage a couple of years ago, and my Dorothea Tanning “Mademoiselle Pieuvre” brooch from Atelier Hugo.
What do you consider the lowest depth of fashion rock-bottom (ie. Karl’s sweatpants)
Birkenstocks and Maria Grazia’s Dior “We should all be feminists” t-shirt.
What is your favourite fashion-related occupation?
Late-night deep conversations about fashion history and cinema with my friend Marie Blanchet.
What is your most marked style characteristic?
Never in flats.
Who are your favourite fashion writers?
Marcel Proust – on Albertine, Oriane de Guermantes and Odette; on the dresses of Poiret and Paquin, and his unrivalled pages on Fortuny. « La robe de Fortuny me semblait comme l’ombre tentatrice de cette invisible Venise » (Fortuny’s dress seemed to me like the tempting shadow of that invisible Venice) stays with you forever.
Who is your style hero in fiction?
The stunning Faye Dunaway in the 1968 Thomas Crown Affair.
Which historical figure’s style do you most identify with?
Lord Byron’s and Tina Chow’s.
Which individual that you know (or have known) personally most influenced your style?
Hard to say really. My influences come mostly from fictional old movie characters, books and old photographs.
What would you like to wear to your own funeral?
I usually wear black. So, in this case, I will go for the second white look of Yohji’s S/S 1999 collection.
What is your style motto?
My life’s motto – Avanti! (en avant !). The way is always forward. I am never afraid of change. As they say, l’Homme c’est le style, so it’s only fair to change your style over time.
Your Wom(en) in Paris
Bonus treat: see below for Chaimaa’s favourite places to see art, buy books, find vintage treasures, eat, drink and be merry in Paris…