Inside the life of the world's hottest fashion blogger Garance Doré

SHE started as a humble illustrator. Now Garance Doré is one of the world's most read bloggers and half of fashion's power couple. Read her story.

One of the unique illustrations featured on her blog. Picture: Scott Schuman.

"I JUST do things that I love. I am very bad at doing things that I don't love," admits Garance Doré, the charismatic, deathly stylish and surprisingly down-to-earth face behind the blog of the same name, Renegade Collective reports.

Garance Doré is a seamlessly blended collection of illustrations, honest musings, splashes of street-style photography and the occasional revealing video segment that can't help but charm her ever-growing global audience.

A fixture at New York and Paris Fashion Weeks, Garance has collaborated with luxe brands such as Net-a-Porter (for her video series Pardon My French), Christian Dior and Equipment. And French Vogue has labelled her one of the "40 Women of the Decade" alongside Angelina Jolie and Lady Gaga.

But you'd be mistaken in thinking this was simply a fashion blog. With career pieces detailing the achievements and challenges of successful individuals in the arts, Garance sees her blog as a collection of courageous and inspiring individuals.

Speaking English with an articulated elegance (a byproduct of her French roots) but at the breakneck speed of a habitualised New Yorker, her accent is indicative of the paradox that is Garance Doré. As the child of two seemingly similar but vastly different cultures - provincial France and the American dream - it took more than a little nudge to convince Garance to turn her sacred 'hobby' into a full-time business. It came in the form of dapper blogger and old-hat Scott Schuman of The Sartorialist fame, who probably knows a thing or two with his thousands of blog subscribers and 214,000 Facebook fans and counting.

Garance's blog contains a mix of fashion and illustration, with her unique personality. Picture: Scott Schuman

"It was difficult for me to have a vision of what the blog could become," says Garance.

"I think I was too caught in modesty or thinking that what I was doing was not important. [Scott] was the first to tell me that, 'You are doing something that is good, that is interesting and you should follow that road'."

"And it's crazy because at that time, even as just a passion project, I was putting so much love into it. But to me, as a French person, we are not encouraged to follow our dreams, and so I just thought it could never be a job. [Scott] is very American and told me, 'If you are having so much fun doing it, make it a job'."

Now nestled comfortably in a downtown New York office with her growing team of five, Garance is living the life she had dreamt of as a child, but always thought beyond her reach.

"If you have dreams that you want, you know America really gives you more power to do so," she says.

Growing up in "wild" Corsica, the French island in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Garance was fiercely independent. Wandering through uninhabited countryside and exploring the blue, crystal waters surrounding her home, she was free to come and go as she pleased - an upbringing, she says, that kept her grounded in the sometimes frivolous world of fashion.

"At the same time, [Corsica] attracted a lot of celebrities and politicians in the summer. My dad had a restaurant there, so I was in contact with people from all over the world, which really opened my mind. Corsican people are extremely proud - too proud - so we would never treat a celebrity any different than other people.

"And I think I am still the same today."

"Creatively isolated" in Corsica, Garance gave up on the image of herself as artist du jour and settled for a course in communication at Aix-en-Provence in the South of France, followed by a job as an assistant programmer in a Paris cinema.

But at the age of 25, she gave herself a 12 month deadline to become a professional illustrator. Jumping on the newfangled trend that was "blogging" in 2006, Garance resolved to draw and post at least one illustration per day, believing that if Louis Vuitton or French Vogue weren't yet commissioning her works, she would do it for them.

One of the unique illustrations featured on her blog. Picture: Scott Schuman.

"I just wanted it to be an illustration blog, but as soon as I started writing, the response was much bigger. [My audience] wanted to engage but didn't know how because illustration is not a very easy thing to engage with."

Not letting her lack of technical training hold her back, Garance slowly and organically taught herself the intricacies of HTML, Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator in order to evolve the blog and stave off any mounting monotony.

"It was just for me because I don't want to get bored," laughs Garance, with her characteristic French cheek.

"It's very easy to fall into a formula, 'Oh, it's Monday, we're doing this. It's Friday, we're doing that'. But it means a few months or a few weeks later your reader is going to be bored," she says.

A simple fashion blog was never her intention, so it was good news for Garance when she started to connect with her readers on the deeper issues of life, love and loss through the greater metaphor of fashion. Thus an essay on engagement rings becomes a cultural analysis on the rise of commercialism; stumbling her way through her first manicure experience is a symbol of assimilation in a new city; and finding the perfect bra is in fact a story about the shared female experience and importance of the 'sisterhood'.

"Fashion is a language with no barriers," Garance says.

"Everybody has to dress every day, so people always have something to say about it, and it's a great way to communicate about other stuff. You can actually tell a story about fashion, but be saying so much more. You can tell stories about acceptance and stories about personal things. But I never decided, 'OK, I'm going to be a fashion blog'.

"I want to keep that spirit of 'you don't need a lot to do something'; it's more about how you engage in things.

I want to show that you can love fashion and not have a huge budget," she continues, adding that seven years ago she was one of the first voices online to say, "I'm dreaming about that bag, I don't need to have it but I can make a beautiful picture of it instead".

Monetising the blog came in steps. First a little bit of advertising on the website, then the commissions began to pour in.

Everything Garance tried her (now well-manicured) hand at, particularly her illustrations and deft (ahem: self-taught) photography skills, had people wanting more.

"When I started publishing photos on the blog people started calling me to come shoot for them and their brand. That was the first source of revenue," she says.

Now, Garance Doré operates like a creative agency; proposing brand strategies to clients, consulting on projects, producing shoots and collaborating for a fixed fee where appropriate. But it has been a gradual process, and Garance attributes a lot of it to her team around her.

"I'm not the only one. I'm not driving the boat, I'm growing slowly and seeing what happens. I want things to grow pretty organically."

At the heart of the blog, and a must for Garance, is communication with her readers. Something that is no more evident than in her series of Google Hangouts. Connecting with her fans around the world, Garance takes the time to answer their queries face-to-face, with the sessions usually turning into instructional lectures on blogging, photography and life in general.

"I always try to push the experience. My dream is to share as much as I can with the reader. The blog is really about communicating and exchanging. Without comments we wouldn't be a blog," she says.

Although the hangouts are a new addition to the ever-evolving blog, Garance has already been experimenting with video via online interviews with designers such as Stella McCartney, Carol Lim and Humberto Leon of Kenzo. And her YouTube videos rack up 10,000 views each.

Casual and charming, the hangouts offer an intimate glimpse into the life of Garance herself. She's open and excited to share her experiences with her community, offering hard-earned wisdom from her days spent doubting herself and her talents.

"If you're not sure, take your time, see the world, try different jobs and don't be scared because all of these [experiences] will bring you somewhere," she advises.

This article was originally published on Renegade Collective and is reprinted here with their permission.