Natacha Ramsay-Levy. “There was a moment when I was inconsistent with the pace of the fashion industry, consumption.”

“ECCO exudes a quiet confidence that I love. They know who they are, what they do, and control how they do it. And because they have that confidence and awareness and knowledge, they can take risks.” These are Natacha Ramsay-Levy’s first words in a press release announcing her role as “creative partner” for Danish shoe brand ECCO, with whom she’s signing a dynamic and colorful capsule collection. The family business, founded in 1963 by businessman Carl Tosbey, has since its inception offered shoes that “help you live well. Live better. Live the best.” Values ​​that correspond to the new life of the woman who was the artistic director of the house of Chloé from 2017 to 2020. Met in Copenhagen on February 1, the designer, who is now working independently, talks about his new project and his daily life. away from the catwalks, the glitz and the frenetic pace of Fashion Week.

Madame Figaro: What does this project represent for you as a creator?

Natacha Ramsay-Levy. For me, it corresponds to a meeting, a new family. I have a pretty linear career, while I was at Chloé I also started my own family. What is important for me is to be in agreement with values, humanity, that we are in a zone where the conversation goes beyond the product, in a zone that acts humanely. I have always worked for houses, that is my way of working. The question here is not about signing my name. I just like to put myself at the service of the subject. This meeting with ECCO seems very equal and modest to me. It’s the idea of ​​building something together that works for everyone.

You are not interested in signing your name under the collection. there is something very humbling about it…

My name became famous with Chloe’s artistic direction, but I am not known to the general public, I don’t have a brand. I am me.

ECCO’s press release has this sentence: “ECCO shoes aim to be designed for the many, not the few.” Is this a saying you develop in your creative process?

The important thing is to do everything with great authenticity and sincerity. I think most honestly about what’s around me, instinctively and intuitively, and I hope it works. The ECCO platform allows this. When you work in a company that is already so developed, so big, you do what you think is right. Building success by thinking that you will succeed, I don’t believe it for a second and I believe that all fashion designers will tell you that.

ECCO is a shoe brand with a very distinct, graphic design. After all, is there something for everyone?

There was nothing at stake for me, I had the opportunity to go in the direction I wanted. If I wanted to have a child, we could have a child. More than a graphic brand, it is a brand that works on functionality. All the basics of the collection shoes are already in ECCO, they are all appreciated by customers, so I already have fifty percent of the work done. I can’t make a product that doesn’t make sense, the important thing for me is to serve the purpose.

You’re devoting yourself to shoes rather than ready-to-wear, a movement that evokes “slow fashion.” Conversely, what do you think of this fast-paced fashion?

On a very personal level, there was a time when, in the industry as it was, I had nothing to do with the pace, the consumption. It did not correspond to what I wanted to leave as a mark on my children, on my surroundings. So yes, I left this system to do something else, but I’m still doing ready-to-wear, I have other projects. I did not become a shoe designer. On the other hand, shoes have always been at the center of my concerns, I have always loved making them, I think they are one of my biggest successes at Chloé. When you’re freelancing like I am now, making ready-to-wear is complicated because it requires a narrative.

It must be nice to focus on something you deeply love…

Absolutely. I made a radical choice by withdrawing from this competition, and I take full responsibility for it, because my idea was to find a different way of working. I needed to find another work energy and I think I succeeded, I’m happy with the balance I found.

The context is also special. We are located in Copenhagen, a city that has its own fashion week that differs from other big cities. We are completely outside the “star system” here. What do you think about this “popularization” of fashion?

It is impossible to make generalizations. The complicated thing is that the fashion has been “in” for quite a long time, and it has grown so much that today it causes dizziness. The point is that everyone can find their own way and their own identity. The brands I love and appreciate do this very well. Staying true to yourself is the most important thing. True, there is humility, kindness, gentleness in Copenhagen. Paris is a messy city that asks women to be damn “masculine” because there is a certain degree of aggression… But I love it, it has fueled me all my life.

You were the fashion jury at the 34th Hyères Festival in 2019. From your perspective as a designer, what is in store for the future generation of young designers? What challenges will they face?

Everyone should have their own experience. I love this job, the most important thing for me was learning, starting at the bottom of the ladder and spending hours in the workshop with the model makers. Today he does this work, studies, listens, goes to the factory. It is a team effort that cannot be done alone. Having this generosity to share, this desire to learn, I don’t think that will ever change. Today there are many offers, but twenty years ago it was just as difficult on another scale. Today’s ambitions are crazy, but if I had to start a project tomorrow, which I don’t, I think I’d do something pretty intimate. And that goes for everything.

We know that you are close to Nicolas Ghesquière, the artistic director of Louis Vuitton’s women’s collections, with whom you have worked since 2002. You discovered 2019 Set free that you want to “become Ghesquière’s wife”, that is, a “completely free, powerful” woman. Have you become this woman?

I hope ! (is laughing): I come from a world where fashion wears. I dress myself, I create an appearance, it’s a part of me. It is a job that I do with heart. I want to walk away with all the shoes from this ECCO collection. So yes, from the day I started working with Nicola, that was my first job because I wanted these clothes. I wanted to be a part of this story. What his clothes, shoes, silhouettes said to me were very much in line with my values.