The New Generation Of French Style Icons

Forget Bardot, Birkin and even Roitfeld – these are the seven seriously fabulous women showing us how to wear it à la française in 2014...

Cécile Cassel

Actress-turned-singer Cécile is big news across the Channel right now, thanks to the success of her band, HollySiz, which has gained a massive following in recent months. Cécile is known for her platinum blonde midi cut and hails from a French fame dynasty (her dad Jean-Pierre is a well-known comedian). She started out young, and die-hard Sex And The City fans may recognise her face – she played Chloé Petrovsky in the series' Parisian finale. 

Adèle Exarchopoulos

Adèle has been everywhere since her break-out performance in last year's controversial erotic love story Blue Is The Warmest Color, for which she won the prestigious Palme d'Or award at Cannes. She's now the darling of the French fash pack, was all over the FROW at the Haute Couture shows, and was named the face of Miu Miu's 2014 Resort collection alongside co-star Léa Seydoux. Watch this space. 

Caroline de Maigret

The model and music producer has the Parisian look down to an absolute fault, in the same style vein as the likes of Lou Doillon – think messy hair and plenty of black. She's even penned a book on the subject, How to be Parisian Wherever You Are. Love, Style and Bad Habits. Oh là là. 

Mademoiselle Agnès

The fashion TV presenter has serious style influence in France, always hitting the perfect note with her signature insouciance. She heads up the fashion week coverage on Canal Plus (one of France's biggest channels), and works on videos for brands, including a recent recreation of Wham's Wake Me Up Before You Go Go, starring none other than French Vogue editor Emmanuelle Alt. 

Léa Seydoux

The 28-year-old's particularly poised brand of French cool has seen her make the transition to Hollywood, starring in Woody Allen's Midnight In Paris and Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds. Her fashion credentials are just as stellar: she's the face of Prada's Candy fragrance, for which she appeared in a short film directed by dream duo Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, and has modelled for the likes of American Apparel, while also joining Blue Is The Warmest Color co-star Adèle in Miu Miu's 2014 Resort campaign. Too chic for words. 

Elisa Sednaoui

The Egyptian-Italian-French model grew up in Paris, and always embodies the city's laissez-faire cool in her outfits, whether she's rocking a pinstriped suit or a more casual midi dress. Elisa has some serious fashion credentials: her godfather is none other than Christian Louboutin. The young mum showed us all how to do understated bridal beauty in May at her wedding to Charlotte Casiraghi's ex, Alex Dellal, whose sisters are model Alice and shoe designer Charlotte. Talk about a fashion dynasty. 

Constance Jablonski

Constance exploded onto the catwalk after being discovered in France's Elite Model Contest. She has walked the runway for pretty much everyone, and even received the honour of shooting a Dolce&Gabbana campaign with Mario Testino the very year she was discovered. French Vogue named her one of their up-and-coming icons in 2009 with a shoot by Patrick Demarchelier, and she cemented her place as one of France's biggest names when she was chosen as the face of Estée Lauder in 2010. The Lille-born It-girl is now living it up in New York, showing the Americans how it's done.