The final preparations for the fashion show of a charismatic and amusing designer, whose fashion house is infused with a family atmosphere. Try as she might to appear relaxed, the designer is so stressed she has put her back out. Isabel Marant, who is positively overflowing with vitality, created her label in 1994, and it met with almost immediate success. With 8 boutiques to her name and a 50% rise in turnover in the last 3 years, her company is one of the only self-financed French labels to have made its mark with its chic and generational clothes. So what is the recipe for her success? Marant replies in her gravelly voice: "I dress real girls, not fantasies or chauffeur-driven women!".

• Loïc Prigent

• Alexander Wang
• Sonia Rykiel
• Donatella Versace