Lolo x MM6

February 01, 2022

“THE OUTFITS, THE DRIP, THE SASS,” comments a fan on Lolo Zouai’s “Scooter” music video on Youtube. In the video, Zouai, the 26-year-old eccentric R&B pop artist, zips around Paris on a fuzzy pink, pimped-out scooter, flashing her grills and flipping off the camera. Known for her defiant and brazen lyrics, Zouai infuses her music with a flippant attitude that fluctuates between indifference and insurgency. And it is virtually impossible to separate her music from THE OUTFITS, THE DRIP and THE SASS. At first listen, the mischievous song is an indiscriminate ode to grit and glamour, but the mesmeric pop song’s playfulness marks a distinct tone shift from her earlier body of work, High Highs to Low Lows. Collaborating with a new producer, Nömak, she recorded nearly the entire song using her mouth (picture ASMR meets musique concrète) and tells me this is just a taste of what’s to come.

Between Zouai’s upcoming tour with Dua Lipa, a nomination for best international pop video at the UK MVA’s for her single “Galipette,” starring in adidas France’s Superstar campaign, and laboring over an upcoming project that she avows is a “solid body of work,” Zouai has been busy. It’s been three years since she released her moody and diaristic album, High Highs to Low Lows, and she’s itching to share her new sound with her “lo-riders.” While she doesn’t have a release date for us yet, she teases me with conversations of growth, rebranding, and honest-to-God hard work that she assures me is evident in the new chapter of her music. Zouai has the energy of a just shaken Mountain Dew. Her unorthodox approach to fashion, lyricism, and music production is what distinguishes Zouai as a style-icon and fastascending pop artist who’s proven that her experiments in music and sound pay off. Her body of work reads like an emotional blueprint to her personal life—showing the capricious, curious, and lovably kooky temperament of Zouai’s artistic psyche.

Photography by SAM NIXON — Jones MGMT
Styling by CAITLAN HICKEY
Model LOLO ZOUAÏ
Makeup by JANESSA PARE — The Together Company
Hair by TAKAYOSHI TSWUKIAWA — Streeters
Manicure by LEANNE WOODLEY — She Likes Cutie
Set Design by HANS MAHARAWAL
Photo Assistants MARCUS MCDONALD and TAYLOR SCHANTZ

ALESSANDRA SCHADE —Tell me about your most recent song, “Scooter.” I love how playful it is, and yet biting at the same time.

LOLO ZOUAÏ — “Scooter” is one of the first songs I’ve put out with a different producer, Nömak, who I met in France. I was in France during the lockdown and it’s super strict, so there wasn’t really much to do other than ride around on an electric scooter. The subway system was a mess and nobody could get around. So, I rode this scooter to the studio. Nömak, who’s worked with Charli XCX, does a lot of futuristic music. And he was just like, ‘Why don’t we make something with your voice?’ The beat started out with me just like, making noises on a mic. And so [my voice] is pretty much everything you hear other than the bass. Then at the end my voice gets distorted—his specialty. It just came out really cool. And then the flow, I was like, ‘Let me do a full rap song with no melodies.’ I wasn’t thinking anything of it really, I was just having fun. I wasn’t thinking like, ‘This is going to be my new sound’—it was just like, ‘This is one song I want to make.’

AS — The “Scooter” music video is epic. I feel like it taps into everyone’s fantasy alter- ego of being in the public sphere and just really owning your body and space. Speaking of music videos, congratulations on your nomination for best international pop video at the UK MVA’s for your song “Galipette!”

LZ — Thank you!

AS — When you wrote that song, and during the recording process, did you have a vision for the music video, or did that come later?

LZ — It came later. I knew I wanted to show a few different sides of myself. The video shows those different versions of myself—there’s, like, the French bombshell. There’s the badass, which is the verses, and that’s the athletic me, you know, boxing underwater. There’s the play - ful one, the young girl, and you see that in the gym with the gymnast. And then there’s like the evil mastermind with all these men that I ended up like, tricking to be on my side. I think the video really represents all the characters that I’m bringing into my new music.

AS — Yes, we love a new chapter. You’re about to go on tour with Dua Lipa... How are you feel - ing? Is there one aspect of the tour that you’re most excited about?

LZ — I’m really excited to set up my visual for the stage and start something new. I feel like it’s not a rebrand, but something fresh. I haven’t toured since 2019. In 2019, I did all my visuals myself, and I think it’s just time to grow and expand my team. I’m so grateful to be able to play in front of her audience—she has such great fans, loyal and really sweet—and I think they’re going to connect to my music, as well. I think that’s why she brought me on, because she knew they would. And then there’s also Caroline Polachek, who’s so sick. It’s just this badass trio of women on stage. And people are waiting so hard to see this—it’s been so long! She announced [the tour] in 2020. So, two years later... Everyone is just going to be so happy.

Denim, bag worn as top, bracelet, necklace and earrings worn in hair, earrings, rings MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

Shirt, denim, shoes, socks, earrings, rings MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

Jacket, earrings, bag MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

AS — So, my mom thinks you’re really cool— yes, her words—just your style and swag and everything.

LZ —I love your mom! Tell your mom I love her!

AS — What’s the most authentic part of your style?

LZ — I’m not really following any trends. I got my fashion sense from just growing up in San Francisco. I didn’t have a lot of money; I shopped at Ross. And I went to this private school—a French elementary school because my mom wanted to make sure that I learned French— and there was a scholarship thing because I was French. All my friends were rich and I could sense that there was a difference, but they were always like, ‘I love your outfit!’ I was always managing to make my own style with not a lot of money. And I still feel like I do that. I still shop at Goodwill even though, like, brands send me clothes and I could spend more money. But I have so much joy in finding pieces that are unique and that nobody else has that remind me of myself in high school. Whenever I think, ‘This is very me,’ it’s like, ‘How did I dress in high school?’ And then also just experimenting with color and short skirts and sports jackets. But I’m still evolving and I feel like my style is getting more mature as I’m getting older.

AS — Do you have one piece that’s, like, your most cherished?

LZ — I think a good leather jacket is really important. I have an issue with clothes where I have such sentimental value. So, when I wore something and I had a bad day, I don’t ever want to wear it again. It sucks. I’m like, ‘I hated myself that day,’ or like, I have my vinyl right here and this jacket that I have, I could never get rid of it. I bought it on eBay for $10.

AS — One day you can sell it for a million!

LZ — Yeah! I mean, I don’t even want to sell it. I’m a big jacket girl. Like, I have a specific jacket closet and there’s a window in it and I like to air it out to give them fresh air every so often.

AS — I feel like everyone has a revenge fantasy when they blow up. Is there anyone out there where you’re like, ‘Look at me, suck it?’

LZ — Oh man... I’ve already done things like that. I got bullied in middle school because I wore the same pink Southpole parka every day from Mervyn’s. It was my favorite jacket. I love pink. This one chick was like, ‘Why do you wear that every day?’ And I was like, ‘Why do you care?’ Yeah... That was my comeback. A few years ago, I followed her on Instagram and then, like, unfollowed her. So petty! So petty. I’m like, ‘I’m popping, you’re not, bye!’ I don’t really hold grudges, but when you’re a kid, that kind of thing really affects you. And there’s no better revenge than success. I really don’t wish harm on anybody, I just want to keep doing my thing. And I feel like if I pop off it’s because I’ve worked towards it for a really long time.

AS — You seem to have forged a career based in authenticity and definitely also, eccentricity. What do you think about autonomy of thought? How are you channeling your creativity in different and novel ways?

LZ — I think the biggest thing for me is studio time and music. Like, obviously, I’m a singer, but when I’m logged out [of social media] for three weeks and not really on Instagram, not really on anything, that’s the time when I feel the most confident. When I trust my thoughts and my vision. I don’t question it at all. I don’t let anybody’s opinion get in my way. And I really trust my lyricism and my ability to make music. I think that’s my most unique trait: seeing every - thing come together. I feel like I’m truly being myself when I’m recording, when I’m writing my music, when I’m visualizing the whole thing.

shirt, earrings, MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

Jacket, skirt, shoes, bag, necklace and earrings worn in hair, earrings, rings MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

Shirt, denim, shoes, socks, earrings, rings MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

Vest, top, skirt, socks, shoes, earrings, rings MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

AS — What’s that recording process like for you? Can you tell me about the progression from the conception of a song to its release?

LZ — I have a special place in New York where I make all my music—it’s a studio called Flux that I absolutely love—and that’s where I started High Highs to Low Lows, but it was in the basement. Now, I work on every floor. It starts with me and Stelios. We start a beat together, and then I start with the song title. I find that song titles are the most fun. So, for instance, “Caffeine” on my last album, I was like, ‘Okay, I want to write a song called caffeine. What does that mean?’ So, yeah... Start with a song title and then the production. We record melodies, try to find the best flows and melodies and cut it together. And then the hardest and the longest part is lyrics. Making sure everything fits. Once I’ve written the song, I go upstairs and I record them with my engineer and we spend probably, like, 10 hour days just record - ing and comping. I have a whole system—it’s very organized. I am not organized at all, but for my music, I’m very organized.

AS — When you’re writing your lyrics, who are you writing them for?

LZ — I’m writing it completely from how I want to express it. If it doesn’t feel like something I could say, I’m not going to say it. Like sometimes I’ve written a lyric and then I don’t want to record it. My engineer is like, ‘What’s the lyric?’ And I’m like, ‘No, nope.’ So, that means it’s not right. But then when I step out and listen to the song in its final form, I’m like, ‘Oh shit, this can mean so many things. Anyone can interpret it however.’ My song “Desert Rose” is about my family, but on TikToK recently, it’s kind of gone viral and people are like, ‘Imagine fucking to this song.’ I’m like, ‘Hmm... I don’t want to, but you sure can!’

AS — I know for a lot of artists, the past two COVID-filled years have either been really helpful for creativity or have really hindered it. How has your productivity been during these periods of social isolation or social strange - ness?

LZ — At the beginning it was really bad. I was not creative at all. I was just like, ‘What is the world anymore?’ It felt stupid to focus on my career; it just didn’t feel right to work on music. I was dealing with my own mental health and it was not good. I didn’t really make any music in 2020. The only music that I made was really, really dark. And I didn’t want to release it. It felt negative. You know, there can be sad, dark music that feels uplifting. But the music I was making felt like a burden. I just stopped work - ing on that and was just working on myself. I was in therapy. I was trying to better myself. And then I was like, ‘Alright, I’m good. I’m good off that.’ [My therapist] didn’t know what to talk about anymore. And I was like, ‘I think I’m better.’ Then I decided to go back to New York—I was quarantining in LA—and I dove back into my album process. I switched my approach completely and had a more positive outlook. Being back in New York really helped me with that. 2021 was extremely productive.

AS — You’ve lived in Brooklyn, you grew up in San Francisco, now you’re in LA. Where is home for you?

LZ — It actually feels like New York, strangely. I just moved to LA this year. I was trying to expand my social circle and my musical circle. But I just find myself going back to New York to make music and to see my best friends and to feel at home. I’m not afraid to try new places, but I don’t know if LA will ever feel like home. San Francisco, when I go there and walk around, I feel like I have a memory on every single street... But there’s not really anything for me there at the moment. Yeah, New York is my home.

Jacket, top, headband MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

Coat, necklace and earrings worn in hair, earrings, rings MM6 MAISON MARGIELA

AS — I’ve been listening to your music a lot this week, and there seems to be a noticeable tone shift between High Highs to Low Lows, which is very sensual and dark, and your newer songs like “Scooter” and “Galipette,” which are faster, more cheerful and lighthearted. Tell me about that evolution... How has your sound trans - formed in the two years since you released High Highs?

LZ — Yeah... I think when I was making High Highs to Low Lows, I was pretty down and wanted to make something really moody and close to how I was feeling. With “Gali - pette” and “Scooter,” I just wanted to switch it up completely and do something that nobody expected from me. When an artist keeps doing the same thing over and over again, your fans might like it, but you’re not opening yourself up to new fans. You’re not opening yourself to critique. It’s taking risks, you know? And I think that’s important to do as an artist—change and switch it up and do things people aren’t expecting, even if at first it might be shock - ing. There’s definitely still a lot of that moodi - ness in my new music that I don’t think can ever go because that’s just the base of my music making—deep emotion and feeling. But I think I’ve gotten so much better at writing music... I’m so ready for everybody to hear it. ‘Cause it’s good. “Galipette” and “Scooter” were just little extremes of what I’m doing.

AS — So, what can we expect from you next year?

LZ — I don’t have a date for anything yet, but you know, it’s been three years since my last album. So, I think that’s, like, a good time period to put out something new. I’m just really into making a solid body of work. I’ve been focus - ing this whole year on being able to release something next year. A bunch of new music, new videos, campaigns. There’s so much you have to do that’s unseen for it to be seen.

AS — Is there a specific feeling or emotion that you want people to take away from your music?

LZ — I want them to feel every - thing. I think a good album should make you feel everything. It should make you feel sexy. It should make you feel sad. It should make you question life. It should make you want to dance. I think I have kind of figured all that out.

Fashion

After 30 years and over 100 cult fragrances, COMME DES GARÇONS PARFUMS 1994–2025 BY SIMONETT & BAER launches this month

December 17, 2024

“I have to add that the topic is, of course, an irrational one, because it's not art and it's not fashion. It has to do with scent, which is something in the air,” explains Dino Simonett, renowned art-book maker and designer/publisher of the new COMME des GARÇONS x SIMONETT & BAER book, which details 30 years of CDG perfumes.

“The moment you smell something is irrational,” he continues. “This book transports you and brings you to the idea behind the perfumes. People have gotten thousands of art catalogues from me, but this fucking perfume thing really drives people a little bit crazy, you know? Because everybody has this bottle; and that bottle smells like this on them; and this bottle I need; and all the memories and everything. I like it a lot that we made this.”

As fans and family of the world’s coolest brand prepared to gather at Dover Street Parfums Market in Paris to celebrate the launch of the book, our Editor-At-Large Paige Silveria shared some coffee and cigarettes with Simonett to discuss his wild trajectory, making books with Joseph Beuys and Tilda Swinton early on, and the importance of nonconformal thinking.

By Paige Silveria

This fucking perfume thing really drives people a little bit crazy.

Paige Silveria: Tell me about yourself. You make books.

Dino Simonett: My books are my art. Each book might be a painting or sculpture. And you should not do the same sculpture all the time. When you hike somewhere, you never should go the same way back home — this is something my mother taught me when I was young. In the same way, it's boring to make the same stuff all the time. So I try to find a way to invent my own language.

PS: This book you’ve made is really beautiful.

DS: It’s hyperrealistic larger-than-life images of boxes and flacons in an endless row presented on paper the thickness of a children’s book.

PS: I loved how it said in the press release that you woke up one Sunday morning and the idea for the book suddenly came to you.

DS: The backstory is that Remo Hallauer [COO of COMME des GARÇONS International] is a true book lover. We met at the Offprint book fair in Paris. And one day, shortly after peak COVID, this email came from him asking if I’d think about a possible collaboration with one of the young stars here — and no hard feelings, but it didn’t work out. So then, as it is in life, which is the essential thing, you have to have an idea. And most of the time, they’re not good enough. You have to have another and another and then you go, Ah ha! Perfume.

PS: And you’d already been pretty familiar with their fragrances?

DS: I’ve known this stuff since the beginning. I wore the first perfume they created. It was part of my life all the time, and I thought, It's so funny. There’s a connection with how I make the books: like two, three books a year, all collaborations and each is different. Just like their perfumes. So I immediately texted Remo.

PS: And what perfect timing, with the 30-year anniversary.

DS: Yes, but this was two years ago or so. I hadn’t had the jubilee in mind. It might not look like much, but there was a lot of work to do.

PS: Many of the advertisements and images weren’t archived, physically or digitally, right? You had to search all over for a good portion of the material?

DS: Well we also had to wait for the official deal to go through in the beginning. Adrian Joffe [President of COMME des GARÇONS International and Dover Street Market International] wanted to do it but he didn’t have the mind space at the time; they were about to open the Dover Street Market here in Paris. So we were on our own for a bit, developing the project from zero. We looked all over the Internet and tried to create the chronology. I had a young guy helping me. He kept reminding me to be patient and to continue to work on growing the book. The door was open, but we had to wait in front of the next room. So we took little steps to prepare ourselves. And stuff slowly worked out.

PS: And thank God for the Internet.

DS: Yes, because as you mentioned, there was no archive. We thought surely they’d have something in the basement. But no, that didn’t exist. At one point they sent us a list of all the perfumes so we had a clear checklist to manage. I had to become an expert.

PS: There are so many, over 100?

DS: Yeah, and at one point the CDG team was activated. It was like a machine and in the spring suddenly a load of stuff was coming. First we had to grow the grapes, then make the wine and then the grappa. And at the end, it's a really strong grappa. And so things came together, and then one day Adrian said, “All is fine, but Rei [Kawakubo] must now also approve it. This is how the system works.” But nobody had told me! So Remo met with Rei to show her the book.

PS: That’s a bit of pressure!

DS: She could have said no and we’d have to throw everything in the garbage, two years of work. There was indeed a little bit of pressure. But it was fine. She liked the book. Then at the end of this summer we met again and they asked if they could have some of the finished copies on 20 November in Tokyo. I said, “I’m sorry, what?” He was thinking that the book was finished, you know? I told him we still needed a lot of material to finish it. Sometimes it's nice though to have this pressure. It's motivating and thrilling when you finally accomplish it all.

PS: Let’s go back. How did your upbringing inform who you are?

DS: It has to do with nonconformal thinking. Most people think the same. And we’re constantly pressured as well, by everything around us to conform. You have to really fight to keep your head and so I had this upbringing with this rather eccentric mother who was absolutely nonconformistic in every way. She was resolute. Why should we follow the path of the masses? It was never my thing. Voilà.

PS: How were you in school?

DS: I was not so good at school. I was only skateboarding at that time. I was on the Swiss National Team. I even was here in Paris at a European championship when I was 15 at the Trocadero. And my mother said, “You are not going to school anymore. You need an apprenticeship. It makes no sense to send you to school any longer.” I was independent and had my first salary at 16.

PS: What were you doing?

DS: I was a carpenter making tables, chairs, all that stuff. All my friends went to high school with like 16-week holidays, while I had only four. And so it was really, really tough shit for a 16 year old. But I learned two important things. The first one was discipline; seven o'clock each day it started and lasted nine hours. And the second thing was precision; you have to do things right. People always said to me that the apprenticeship was good as I’d really use it for the rest of my life. And I always thought that was such bullshit. But actually, it's kind of true. And so anyways, the moment I finished my apprenticeship, the very last day of the last test, I went on the Interrail for one month and never went back to a carpenter shop.

PS: What’d you do after?

DS: I wrote a letter to this very super famous music guy, Claude Nobs who was organizing the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, telling him I’d like to work there that summer. I mentioned that I’d just finished my apprenticeship for carpentry. He phoned me back immediately after getting the letter. He said, “Oh you’re a carpenter? You can come right now.” He was renovating his apartment in Montreux. So I stayed and worked there alone while he was up at his chalet. I felt like Kevin McCallister from Home Alone in this completely furnished apartment. And then the festival started, and there was this guy from New York doing a large mural painting. It was Keith Haring. I had no idea who he was. We became friends. Then I met George Benson and Herbie Hancock. It started from nothing and then one thing comes, another thing comes, another thing comes. This is how I started, which is maybe not the natural way. But I was following my intuition and taking chances and putting myself out there.

PS: And you're going after what you have a passion for.

DS: I think that’s the best way to live one's life. It was like my own private art school. I met all the guys I was totally hot about. I met Joseph Beuys and told him I wanted to do an art project with him. I got his number and he told me to ask for his assistant. But I took everything for granted, what people said to me. So I had this phone number in Berlin. And I called the guy 20 times until this fucking meeting with Beuys finally happened. And we met and made a small collaboration art magazine called “Quer.” You just have to stick to the stuff.

PS: Wow. You don't still have one of those copies around, do you?

DS: I had one and I brought it to Remo at one of our meetings. Adrian saw it and immediately took it … I hope he gave it back to Remo. Adrian has a pile of my stuff that he wanted to see, so that’s good.

PS: Yeah, of any coffee table in the world for it to be displayed, his is probably in the top 10.

DS: So then I decided my dream was to be a film director. There was a film school in Berlin that I applied to. They only took about 18 people from 600. We waited all week to see this list on the wall for the final call back meeting. And my name wasn’t there. I was like, “Shit!” And then a week later, I received a letter saying I’d been accepted. Later the director told me it was clear enough with my application and the art magazine I’d sent that I’d be accepted. I don’t say this to brag. I say this to tell you that every young person that wants to go somewhere, all they have to do is fight. You have to get out of your house and your small town and your comfort zone and all that shit.

PS: I agree. So you’ve made films?

DS: I made a feature movie and went to the film festival. It was really amazing and everything, but I was not Tarantino, you know? So it’s the last semester and Tilda Swinton is supposed to teach a seminar. I really wanted to attend it. It would be the cherry on top of the cake. Then she postponed it once, then twice. The third time, I’m on the tube and there’s a woman in front of me with a newspaper that says that Tilda’s super mentor, Derek Jarman, had passed away. It’s the very Monday morning that her seminar is set to begin. And I thought, Oh shit. She’s not going to be there. But then she was there after all and it was a fantastic week. There were only five of us students and we all fell in love with her. And she fell in love with us. I’ve known her since.

PS: I can only imagine. How’d you make the transition into books?

DS: You have to find out what you're really good at. I had long discussions with this guru, an old guy who was a very diligent, very bright guy. I was really miserable, feeling directionless. He asked me why I wasn’t continuing with filmmaking. And I couldn't give him an answer. Then he said right into my face, “Probably it’s because you’re not good enough.” The message was one-hundred percent received. It was a relief; I'm not a bad person. This guy told me the truth, and I could accept it. And when you can do this, you can figure out what you actually want to do, what you’re actually good at. I started making books. I made one with another film director. And we visited Tilda at her hotel, bringing one to her as a present. As we’re knocking, I thought to myself, If I did another book focused on people in this business, it’d have to be her. And she opens the door, looks at the book and says, “Oh, I would like to have a book like this on me.”

PS: These situations seem unreal.

DS: I spent five years on her book, which was an enormous success. It included stills from all her films and launched it in different cities. Fantastic shit.

PS: And now you’ve just released this soon-to-be iconic CDG book.

DS: I've learned to be patient; things can take you years. This book with Adrian and Remo took two years and I didn’t even know if it was going to be approved! Follow your dreams as much as you can. It's not so important which dream it is exactly. If I see a step in front of me, I try to take each chance I get. This is what I wish for everybody, in whatever situation you find yourself, start to do something with nothing. This book started with just a simple idea. You can not find anything like this on the Internet, this compilation, this narrative. It’s something we had to bring together with enormous work. And here we are. I think in our digital, splattered times sometimes you have to make something which is real. That you can sit with and focus on in silence and really take time alone with it.

Fashion

Milli Point Two: Day Two, Star-Studded Misfire

Fashion

Heron Preston Launches his Long Awaited “Orange Label”

The labels themselves have a rich history; first introduced in 2016 as part of the “UNIFORM” exhibition, a collaboration with the NYC Department of Sanitation. Heron has since recovered deadstock labels from that project, breathing new life into them for the collection. While the exact number of remaining labels is unclear, there are only a few hundred left, and once they are gone, the project will come to an end.

The t-shirts themselves are crafted from 8oz, garment-dyed heavyweight cotton and come in two classic colorways: solid white and solid black. There are no graphics or designs—just clean, blank surfaces. Made from 100% recycled cotton sourced from waste fibers collected during cotton yarn production, these shirts reflect Heron’s commitment to sustainability. Each t-shirt is unique, with the label hand-stamped with the L.E.D. logo, the date of purchase, “Made in USA,” and a unit number, ensuring that no two pieces are the same. Only 300 t-shirts will be produced, making this a rare and limited edition release on ledstudio.com. A portion of the proceeds from the collection will benefit the DSNY’s Sanitation Foundation, the nonprofit partner of the Department of Sanitation.