Interviews

12 May 2022

Interview: Marion from Fringe&Frange and her feel good family

When she lives in Paris, Marion launches an inspiration and travel blog called Fringe & Frange. Very quickly, this nod to her emblematic fringe met with great success. In the process, she launched a brand of hats of the same name and then an Instagram account which now has more than 135K followers. Now settled in the southwest with her husband Guillaume and her three children (Romy 4.5 years old, James 2.5 years old, and Luna 4 months old), she lives from her passion. Between kids-friendly posts, family trips to Los Angeles, and fashion favorites, she tells us about her daily life as a bohemian mom.

What has the fact of no longer living in Paris changed in your daily life?

I would say that it aligned me with my rhythm of life. I have never been very urban, I have always dreamed of space, nature and the ocean. The Southwest ticks all of those boxes. Coming here put me in my place and it allowed me to flourish as a mother, I have the time and the immense chance to be able to take care of my children. In terms of aesthetics too, I have always aspired to be closer to a rhythm that could be defined as “slow”. It’s the same with fashion. It suits me more to be here, I like to wear summer and rather bohemian fashion.

What is the history of the name Fringe & Frange?

At the time, I worked in international marketing at ELLE and on the team, there was an American who called me “fringe” (Editor’s note: frange in French). She was the one who told me to start a blog. It wasn’t very common at that time. I liked Garance Doré, Coline, Géraldine Dormoy, etc but I had never thought of launching one. And then the idea hit me. It was more for my family initially because I was already traveling a lot, it allowed me to keep them informed of what I was doing. Then, very quickly, it took a lot of space in my life and I decided to devote myself to it. It has become my job, my whole life!

How did the idea of ​​launching a hat brand come about?

At the beginning, I wrote on my blog only in the evening and on weekends and I worked in parallel in the marketing department in an international ready-to-wear brand. I quickly realized that blogging took up as much of my time as work. I then decided to launch myself full-time in entrepreneurship but I wanted to bring something more. I had the idea of ​​relying on an object that is dear to me, that was emblematic for me. I have always been looking for hats when traveling, a specific form of fedora and it is especially in the United States that I find them. Of the few hat makers that exist in France, one of them had the mold for the model I was looking for. The planets aligned, I decided to create the hat of my dreams.

How do you organize your daily life between freelance work and life as a mother?

I need to cut to better juggle between my two hats so I took an office outside the house. I am breastfeeding my youngest daughter so she is everywhere with me, everyone knows her and knows that she will always be nearby. It suits me very well. Otherwise, obviously, I work better when I know the kids aren’t around. So I often work in the evening when they are in bed or in the morning before they wake up. I organize myself in waves of an hour or two and I have found my balance like that. Let’s say I always have a baby on my hip and the computer in front of me.

What are your image rules? Are there things that you absolutely do not want to show?

The rules do not exist in the sense that nothing has been established or considered, we do everything on instinct. Nevertheless, we still have some that are implicit. I don’t like to show moments that are too intimate and personal. I annoy the children as little as possible and our content does not interfere with our daily lives. We take time to create content that looks like us but we protect ourselves as much as we can by showing what we want.

For example, has showing children's faces been discussed?

Since the beginning, everything that happens on my Instagram account is what makes me happy. I never wanted to hide them otherwise I would have less pleasure in taking photos and imagining content. With my husband Guillaume, we have always considered my Instagram account as a way to create memories. So it’s us 100%, with the children.

Precisely, you work together with Guillaume. How is your collaboration going?

Here too, we work on instinct. He makes a lot of images that I use, and he has a great talent as a photographer. From time to time, we love to work with other artists to have another point of view and it’s also the only way for us to be 5 in the photo!

What relationship do you have with your 135K followers?

I’m lucky because I have a very caring and super friendly community. I never have a conflict to manage, I never had. I have the impression that our relationship is very healthy and positive, the dialogue is always open. As I consider my Instagram profile as a source of inspiration and I like to share moments that make me happy, people talk to me to share positive things. I love getting feedback on posts, exchanging addresses etc.

Can you define your style?

It’s funny because I realized that it had evolved with each maternity. Every time I’ve had a baby, I’ve felt like throwing it all away and reinventing it all. I love knitting so much so I have a lot of stitches in my closet. I like to mix designer pieces with basics, I think that’s my style: not sophisticated, always comfortable but with attention to detail, all with a bohemian touch!

What do you think are the 5 essential pieces of a wardrobe?

I’m really going to stay with the ultra basic but for me, the 5 essentials are a well-cut blazer, jeans in which you feel good, a white t-shirt, a pair of boots and of course a hat!

Will one day Fringe&Frange let her bangs grow back?

No never! (laughs) I can’t take it off. When I post a photo without bangs, no one recognizes me. She’s too much of a part of me.

instagram fringe and frange

@fringeandfrange

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