Lolita Jacobs is a little bit different

The word ‘French’ comes up a lot in relation to Lolita Jacobs. French style, French nonchalance, that particular way of dressing that seems effortless precisely because it has been considered. It’s a description that fits her – and one that she even uses herself – although her own version is less about following a certain idea of French style than knowing when it’s time to stop. ‘I try not to look like I did too much in the morning. It’s probably not true, but it has to look like I didn’t. I don’t want to look too polished’, she says.

That doesn’t mean leaving things to chance. Her approach is about seeing familiar clothes in a slightly different way, adding something that brings out more of the person wearing them.
‘It’s often the small details that make something feel special: colours, materials, jewellery, a brooch here or a scarf around the waist there. For me, with a hint of red somewhere, my outfit is done. I don’t wear a lot of make-up, so I consider red my make-up. It’s so joyful, and it says something about you. Layers are important in what I do, too. I find it quite sexy that you can somehow un-layer throughout the day.’

’Where do you think your sense of eccentricity comes from?

‘It definitely comes from my parents, especially my mother. She made her own clothes and loved going to flea markets. She was very original. She was always dressing us sisters up for school photos – leopard tights, a pink dress, Minnie Mouse, dungarees. She was very daring in her sense of style. And my father was always dressed in denim. He got married in denim and had this uniform of denim trousers and a denim shirt. They were this very singular couple. I get that from them.’

Where do you find inspiration today?

‘I love cinema and get a lot of inspiration from there. And fashion imagery from the ’90s is a big inspiration. I’ve always been interested in images. I used to make my sister learn all the names of models by heart, ’90s models, and I would quiz her. I was always obsessed with models and with their style, specifically the style they had outside the runway. I remember one book that inspired me a lot, Go-Sees by Juergen Teller. There was something about the simplicity of how everyone looked, this effortless style. I think my love of images comes from an appreciation of fashion from a very early age.’

For winter 2026, we invited Lolita Jacobs to work with ARKET's collection in the same way she does a fashion story. The campaign follows Lolita through Paris. Narrated by her sister, writer and director Java Jacobs, the film moves between her office and neighbourhood, offering a personal portrait shaped by Java's humour and observations.

‘The film is a story about me, but also about us in a way, and how my style has evolved through the years, as seen through her eyes. It’s a bit of a journey back in time, going back to when I went to Saint Martins in London. It was a time of experimentation, of changing my hair all the time. But you know what? When I look at it now, there’s definitely a link through all these years. I was always doing something a little bit different, adding a twist to what was going on in London at that time, which, for me, was very much about Hedi Slimane, Pete Doherty and Kate Moss. Although I’m French and I like simplicity, there’s always some eccentricity to the way I dress’, says Lolita.

‘And it’s not so different from what I am today: a working mother who still has those references and is still passionate about clothes.’