Daily Style Phile: Garance Doré, Illustrator Turned Fashion Photographer And Blogger

French fashion blogger Garance Doré, 36, makes up one half of what could be called the most sartorially-savvy couple in Manhattan. While on her own, Doré certainly is a force in the fashion blogosphere, having Scott Schuman, 44, whose site The Sartorialist is one of the earliest and most well-known fashion photo blogs, solidifies their status as the power couple of street-style.

The beginnings of Doré's site stemmed from her boredom and frustration with her job as an illustrator in Paris, and because of the site's unambitious start, Doré was shocked by her overnight success. She started the blog in 2006 and began posting her drawings.

She explained her start in the About section of the blog:

I had just discovered blogs and decided it could be a great way to get feedback about my work. I opened my blog and published a few of my drawings, and soon after started adding text to them. I found joy in sharing snippets of my life – what got me thinking, inspired me, or just made me laugh.

[Garance Doré, photo via]

Doré was surprised by the positive feedback she was receiving, and after coming across her future boyfriend's site, she was inspired to pick up a camera and begin taking street-style shots. Doré's site grew and became somewhat of a Parisian version of New York's The Sartorialist, and before long, the two bloggers were introduced at Paris Fashion Week. Schuman had already been looking at Doré's blog before they met, and he felt that if she had a better camera, she could be a great photographer, so he gave her his backup camera. In an interview with the New York Times, Doré spoke of the gesture:

[Garance Doré, Scott Schuman, photo via]

“It’s either the most beautiful moment of my life,” she recalled, “or it’s just stupid, and he’s really trying to seduce me.”

After he gifted her the camera, they began a long-distance relationship that lasted for 3 years, arranging rendez-vous at various Fashion Weeks and other industry events before Doré moved from Paris, where she said she never felt at home, (she grew up in Ajaccio, Corsica), to Schuman's Greenwich Village apartment.

Doré's site has evolved since her arrival in New York in early 2011, but she began an English version back in 2008, far before she became a New Yorker. She uses twitter as another way to reach her fans (she has over 128,000 followers), most recently posting photos from some of the coolest Fashion Week events in Paris, Milan and New York.

Doré has used her New York experiences as material for her blog, too. She has opinions on all things American, from weight gain and a phenomenon she calls "New York Skinny" to the "playfulness" of American style, which she described to Vogue:

“It manages to be very chic and discreetly sexy without seeming boring,” she says. "French style is amazing, but sometimes can be a little repetitive or safe, and I love the playfulness of the American woman."

[Photo via]

Though Doré has made a career out of capturing the interesting styles of other people, she too has become a street-style star in her own right. Even the reigning Queen of street-style, Anna Dello Russo, has paid compliments to Doré's look:

"...she’s beautiful. She maybe takes less pictures, but she dresses very feminine, very elegant.”

[Photo via, via]

In September 2011, Elle & the Coveteur took a peek inside Doré's closet, sharing the French fashionista's favorite shoes, bags, and mementos.  Doré spoke about the thing she can't live without:

"...my iPad, my yoga, and my wonderful friends."

And said that her biggest sources of inspiration are her boyfriend's site, The Sartorialist, as well as Pinterest, the Self-Service iPad app, Mr. Porter, and WWD. She also shared a photo of some of her favorite bags, explaining:

“Bags are like little sculptures! And, of course, I always have so much stuff that I could never go without one. It’s a necessity, but I try to have fun wearing them.”

Doré's blog continues to grow, and in her most recent endeavor, along with producer Timothee Verrecchia, she  launched a video series called Pardon My French, and her videos prove that she is every bit as charming as her written blog posts suggest. Watch the third video below, in which Garcane has tea with Diane Von Furstenberg. (Spoiler alert: DVF speaks perfect French!!) Check out all of the videos HERE.

[Photo via]