DIANE: How are you? I mean, how are you, pour de vrai?
YASMINA: Hello my love, I’m good, I’m really good. But I’m also — and I hate to admit this — probably slightly overwhelmed? Right now I don’t understand if I’m hot or I’m cold, cause I think I’m getting sick, and I think I hate everything about fall weather. I might not even like fall fashion after all, but yeah, this is it! I think I’m very happy and excited, I just need to understand how to slow down and how not to let all the excitement become detrimental to my mental health because it’s crazy and it’s scary how fast it can, like, backfire.
DIANE: How would you describe your current style?
YASMINA: I have been evolving with my style so much over the past, I think, six months. I went to Bangkok last December for Christmas, and I was in a dark place, and you know, I was in one of those moments where I was thinking, when I come back to Paris, I want to feel different. And for me, one of the first things that I thought of was style.
It’s evolved so much also this year when I changed jobs from YSL to Balenciaga, and I think a lot of people noticed that, and keep on noticing that.
I’d say there’s been a lot of, like, ripped jeans, colour, neon, pastel — of course, that’s how we met. But currently I’m leaning into darker things, maybe also because winter is coming. But maybe also because I’ve been influenced again by themes and figures that I think I was very attached to a couple of years ago, and it’s everything related to the underground, the 2010s, indie sleaze, Tumblr, kind of Alexa Chung. That’s what I’m trying to channel. I still don’t know if I have all the pieces in my wardrobe, but I’m banning myself from buying stuff because voilà.
DIANE: What’s your favourite color?
YASMINA: Black. I know it’s weird, but it just says so much.
But I’m also very attached to blue. One of my favourite books is Bluets by Maggie Nelson. She wrote a whole book on the colour. A love letter to blue. I really recommend it to everyone. Especially people going through, uhm, gruesome heartbreak.
DIANE: What are your biggest sources of inspiration?
YASMINA: Fashion-wise, I really love Hedi Slimane. I know I don’t rock the style, but I just love his eye, and his cuts. I love him so much. That’s all I’m going to say.
DIANE: What do you think about clothing in terms of its relationship to the body, weight, and silhouette?
YASMINA: Oh, we talked about this. Today I think I’m not in the best mood to reply to this because I’m not in the best headspace, but let’s go. Clothes are, I think, the biggest indicator of how I’m feeling in my body in the moment. When I want to expose myself, I let clothes do that. When I want to hide myself, I also let clothes do that. It’s a very intimate and delicate kind of vision and I’m scared to share this… but I still need to work on it.
DIANE: What are your hobbies and interests? Is there one that stands out more than the others? What was your favourite one when you were a kid?
YASMINA: Definitely writing. And brainstorming my writing. And editing my writing. And noting things down. For me, writing is my biggest hobby. I used to write plays for my friends. I had terrible directing skills — because I think I really wanted things to be exactly the way I wanted them to be and sometimes would act like this big bitch and sometimes I made my friends lose it. But definitely writing.
I also love reading. I run a lot. I run without a schedule. I run without a method. My friend Viktor says that I run like a bird. I ADORE playing my piano and singing at night and then posting on my Close Friends and then feeling cringe and deleting it. As much as I would like to, I’m not really a cinephile, although I’ve had my cinema phases, but mostly I like watching movies at cinemas or at festivals, never alone at home. I’m not the kind of person who’s going to watch movies on her laptop. I have a MUBI subscription and never use it.
I write so much, all the fricking time, and I take snapshots of everything through my writing. I talk to myself all the time. That’s a hobby, a full-time job.
DIANE: What’s your favourite dish?
YASMINA: I’m a sucker for Indian food. Favourite dish is gonna be garlic naan and lentil dal.
DIANE: Are you more into savoury or sweet?
YASMINA: Savoury.
DIANE: What’s your favourite souvenir with me?
YASMINA: The first we met. Just coming into your home, you welcoming me, your energy. The way I was excited about the pants, to meet you. I remember going back home and sending voice notes to my friend Benedetta and being like, “Oh my God, this girl, like, you need to meet her, we have to hang out with her.” And I remember thinking, “I hope I made a good impression.”
DIANE: How do you see yourself in 5 years?
YASMINA: Interviewing Paloma Wool.
Joking. I mean, not that much — I named my dog after her.
Jokes aside, I want to have my own brand, and I don’t know what that is. Hopefully I’m going to have an assistant because I’m starting to lose my shit, and I’m not sleeping.
No, but for real, I want to keep on doing what I’m doing. I think I’m happy and I want to stay happy. I feel vibrant, I hope this stays. I’m not gonna say something like, “I hope in 5 years I will rid myself of the ghosts I have right now,” because the ghosts are part of me and I carry them with me.
I think I want to stay like this, maybe wiser and more free financially.
And I’m not gonna say stuff about kids and having a partner because I have conflicted opinions about that.
BISOUS LOVE YOU SO MUCH!
My interview with Diane, Wuna is here.
fully my fav publication!!!!! up there with brendahashtag