Coucou Chloe Will Melt Your Face

July 23, 2018

London based artist Coucou Chloe makes hard-hitting, underground sounds ready for the runway, so much so that Rihanna tapped the producer's electronic elegies for her Fenty x Puma runway shows.

But with a look so piercing and elusive (those white contacts really do the trick), Coucou Chloe is more than runway-ready herself, standing at the position to pivot any which way she wants, really—fashion muse, video girl, business woman, even.

Having released her most recent EP Erika Jane (her real name) last year, she also comprises 1/4 of radical club collective and record label Nuxxe with fellow face melters Oklou, Sega Bodega and Shygirl. Their collective mission? To make an impact on the underground scene by defying genre categorization.

We sat down with Coucou Chloe to chat all things mouth jewelry, sound versus sight and BoJack Horseman.

Photos by Lars Brønseth
Interview by Will Carr Halper
Styling by Jeff Ihatsu
Hair by Kirstine Engell @ Scoop Artists
Makeup by Marie Bruce @ Eighteen Management
Production by Mr. Kingfisher

Shearling fur by Marques Almeida

When you don’t have anything to do, what are you wearing to be cozy?

I have to say that being comfy is actually the main focus on the way I dress, I don’t want to feel limited by my clothes.

Osiris D3’s?

Talking about comfort, those are an absolute dream. My everyday shoes, I love them. I remembered about it something like 3/4 years ago and tried in vain to find my size, and one day it just happened. They’re like my pet.

Jersey and top by Oloapitreps, boots by Marques Almeida; Jacket and trousers by Ashish

What is pretty?

When someone I don’t know smiles at me in the street without trying to talk to me.

How does clubbing in London affect your clothing?

I don’t think the club night in London affects the way I dress as I’m not a crazy clubber anyway. I’d talk about the general vibe of London. I just feel like you can dress as you want, nobody will judge you which was the opposite of when I was living in France.

How did you start making music?

I was playing piano when I was a child then I stopped when I was something like 13. I started to experiment with sounds, make experimentations when I was in art school.. I did this installation where an electric fan is playing electric guitar. I started to imagine a kind of DIY autonomous machine band, but I obviously never did it (would take too much space and time). So I was recording a lot of different noises and trying to do a kind of puzzle of samples. That's how I started, and I realized that I just wanted to make music. I dropped out of art school then, moved to London and learned how to use software to make music.

What's your weirdest piece of mouth jewelry?

I really like this mouth piece from Alan Crocetti, it looks like I have two shiny stalactites on my lips. I’m waiting on my two new pieces from Juanita Grillz, he is a grillz creator and he’s actually making some mad stuff. One of those pieces is a grill with plastic coloured viruses on it. Not sure how speaking will be with it, but I’ll let you know.

Online or in-person shopper?

Definitely online.

Does sound have the same beauty to you as sight?

I would like to say that I can feel stronger things through sound, but I am actually not sure how to dissociate both. Whenever I listen to music, I do picture a lot of things in my mind.

Dress by Stella McCartney, boots by Marques Almeida

What's your favorite American TV show?

Hmm, I can’t wait for the new BoJack Horseman seasons.

What did you listen to as a tween?

I actually grew up listening to a lot of different things, mostly hip-hop and electronic music.

What things were you into in high school?

I always loved discovering new music and playing video games. Video games have really been a thing for me, I used to play a lot when I was very young. I literally grew up with a controller in my hands, and all those different singular universes might influence a lot my music. I think I always wanted to make music even though it came to me way later.

Beauty

Hawthorne's Desert Runway

Shot amidst the landscape of the Koko Volcano Crater by photographer Asato Iida, the visuals resonate with the boundless potential of the fragrance itself. Just as the desert holds an air of stillness amidst its vastness, Desert Runway embodies that same calm in the midst of life's chaos.

Desert Runway is now available at hawthorne.co, ESSX, and Nordstrom stores.

Photos from the launch party below, shot by Huy Luong.

Beauty

More Than Just a Scent

When speaking with Pink Essay's founder, David Eardley regarding the collab, he shared that the intention was to "create a candle that more than just smells nice, but with a specific purpose: to stimulate the mind and spark creativity through scent. Since Pink Essay is dedicated to the world of design, we wanted a tool that creatives could use to start their design process.” Eardley went on to share his admiration for friend and collaborator Asia Grant, the founder of Redoux.

Mood boards courtesy of Pink Essay

With a base of White Tea, Mandarin and Sandalwood, middle notes of library accord, moss and green leaves, and top notes of ozone, jasmine and fig, MIND/BEAM is a three-layered journey that awakens your senses, transporting you to a creative ambiance whether that be a mossy forest or muggy library filled with the aroma of leather bound books. It makes getting into the zone easier and hopefully enough to inspire moments that Eardley refers to as "beautifully ritualistic."