Vanessa Seward is releasing an e-book on 19 January 2022, ‘La Guide de la Gentlewoman’, which is written in French. The book will explore the designers’ take on relationships, feminity, and personal style, and all that goes on in the woman’s life. It will give readers a guide on how to reach a realistic equilibrium between visible performance and inner insecurities.
The book will talk about all the things a woman experiences in life ranging from cigarettes to selfies and the chapters of the book will be arranged alphabetically. Co-written with Matthias Dubureaux, Vanessa describes her “alter-ego.” The heroine of the book will be someone who is attainable, imperfect and open to interpretations.
Seward has been giving illustrations of all the portraits of the heroine of the book on her Instagram handle vanessaseward. The e-cover of the book depicts the late actress Sylvia Kristel.
The book will center on the theme of self-confidence and how a ‘gentlewoman’ navigates the world while looking fabulous. Seward talks to vogue about this and says:
“I think you can choose to be a gentlewoman. I think lots of women are already. The book is also about you looking to yourself. This was more the message. It isn’t a thing of pressure. It isn’t a guide on how to be chic or what napkins to use. It is more like, look into your inner creativity. And I think everyone can be a gentlewoman really. It’s not at all a question of how rich you are or what education you have. It’s more a question of ideals.”
Vanessa faced her share of difficulties and challenges as she wrote the book. Her transition from a fashion savant to an artist and author wasn’t an entirely smooth process, albeit it was a satisfying one. She describes her journey to vogue as she says:
“In a way, it was more time-consuming. Also, in fashion, I really feel I know where I’m going now. I have more confidence. I don’t think I would’ve been able to do this 10 years ago. I have experience. And in a way, even if it’s painful, I can take the risk that maybe some people won’t like it, some people won’t get it, and it maybe that doesn’t matter so much. At least it’s honest.”
The book is available for pre-order on the Google Play store here.
Who is Vanessa Seward?
Vanessa Seward is a French fashion designer. She was born in 1969 in Argentina, where her father was a diplomat who worked as an economic advisor. She was raised in London until the age of 12 with her mother, after which she moved to Paris.
Vanessa studied designing at Studio Berçot, after which she worked at various high-end fashion houses such as Chanel, Tom Ford and Yves Saint Laurent (YSL), as an accessory designer. She gained 9 years worth of experience as an accessory designer, and became second-in-command at Loris Azzaro in 2002.
After the death of Azzaro, Steward acquired the position of artistic director in 2003 for his fashion house, Loris Azzaro. She worked with many celebrities during her time there and served the company for eight years, but she left the label in 2011.
She finally joined A.P.C to launch her own line, a ready-to-wear collection with the brand. She also worked for the luxury jewelry brand ‘Swarovski’ in 2012 and designed a collection for them.
She is currently married to musician, record producer, composer and director Bertrand Burgalat, who is also founder of the record label Tricatel.
