Emmanuelle Alt - Fashion Director, Vogue Paris

I have developed a serious crush on this woman. Emmanuelle Alt is a weathered fashion veteran with an impossible resume including her direction at Paris Vogue and styling for Balmain. Her husband, Franck Durand, is also the Artistic Director at Isabel Marant, a fashion line that is the epitome of Parisienne rock n' roll chic. That means she has substantial influence over 3 French fashion bibles, which means she is the embodiment of French fashion. She has also styled Michael Jackson and was blogged about by Kanye West, which is pretty damn cool too.

And now a very brief history of my new crush:

Alt was styling editorials for Mixte and 20 Ans, where she spent 5 years as Editor-in-Chief, before breathing life back in to Paris Vogue in 2001 with Carine Roitfeld. Before commencing her career in fashion she was educated at Lubeck School, which is reportedly a stylish private Catholic academy located in Paris. The agency that currently represents her freelance styling is Art Partner.

I love her personal style for so many reasons. It's very androgynous, almost borderline masculine. You will almost never see this woman in a dress. She has a serious allergy to color, remaining monochromatic for the most part. Her quiet confidence that seems an impenetrable force adds to her nuanced wardrobe. It's all very elusive and edgy with an untouchable air of sophistication (fashion editors all appear to have untouchable airs). What draws me in the most about her is her unerring eye for fit and proportion, which she shares with fashion greats like Coco Chanel. She understands the architecture of clothing and is very uncompromising in her own wardrobe about it. She is definitely a bit of a mastermind. I'd love to pick her petite French brains.

(photos credited to stockholm streetstyle & TFS)