“It’s all about the poetry of imperfection”: Inside the stunning Parisian apartment where beloved French brand Sézane was born

Through a tucked-away courtyard in Paris’ desirable Saint-Germain-des-Prés, up a twisting stairway one finds an elegant two-floor apartment with soaring ceilings and a very palpable energy – a je ne sais quoi, if you will. Morgane Sézalory felt it when she first set foot in the space. “The first time I walked in, I felt the air change,” she says. “Even in the middle of Paris, there’s a sense of stillness here – light filtering through the windows, the faint sound of the city outside.” It was here, whilst raising her daughters, that Sézalory’s vision for her beloved brand, Sézane, “quietly began to take shape”.

“There were fabric swatches on the floor, toys beside sketches, and ideas growing in every corner,” says Sézalory. “The place witnessed it all. That energy has stayed in the walls: soft, creative, and alive.” Though she has since relocated to a new apartment, she couldn’t bare to part with the address. Today it’s her private creative studio, its every nook and cranny a reflection of the brand she’s built from the first online-only brand in France into a bastion of Parisian style, with stores (or l’appartments, as they’re called) across the US, France and Europe.

It all started with Sézalory’s love of vintage. In 2004, she launched Les Composantes, an online vintage store that reflected her curatorial eye. The vibe? Effortless, feminine and undeniable Parisian. This set the tone for what would later become Sézane. Launched in 2013, the pieces were based on Sézalory’s most covetable vintage finds – an ethos that permeates today. Think easy breezy blouses, sweet cardigans and just-right denim. The sort of suede bucket bags one might find tucked away at a particularly well-curated vintage shop or a scarf one might inherit from a fashionable aunt. The autumn/winter '25 collection, specifically, revels in vintage-cut denim, sumptuous knits in mossy greens and butter yellows and timeless trenches.

As is the case with Sézane, nothing in the apartment that saw the brand’s birth is over-designed. The mix is eclectic yet perfectly in balance – a reflection of Sézalory’s enviable instincts. “Everything here carries a feeling,” she says of the apartment. “The mix of floral wallpaper and gingham, the worn wooden furniture, the ceramics, it’s all about the poetry of imperfection. I love when things look as if they’ve lived many lives.”

Take, for instance, the small wooden desk discovered at Clingencourt, at which she often sat to sketch the very first Sézane pieces. “It’s uneven, a little scratched, but it’s where I worked, wrote, and dreamt,” she says. Elsewhere, a wooden cabinet she picked up at a flea market for “next to nothing” when she was just 18. “It has followed me through every move, and I’m very attached to it,” she says. “It’s one of those quiet, faithful pieces that remind you how beauty often hides in the simplest things.” Today, it’s populated by mismatched ceramics, picked up from here and there.

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The walls, meanwhile, are filled with vibrant photographs by Ghanaian artist James Barnor; striking portraits in a desaturated palette that reflect the same effortlessness as Sézane. Over the years, he’s become a dear friend, both of the brand and of Sézalory personally. “I discovered his work through a book, long before we met,” she says. “His images immediately struck me – their freedom, their quiet strength. Later, we celebrated his 88th birthday at our first Appartement Sézane, on rue Saint-Fiacre, and a deep friendship began.”

Sézalory has a name for her design approach – the potent blend of “craftsmanship, warmth and emotion” – that permeates both her homes and her brand: “French sincerity”.

It tracks that Sézane has already begun to gain a loyal fanbase in Scandinavia; women who are drawn to the brand’s everyday ease, its authenticity and its sustainable roots. As Sézane enters its next chapter, our region is firmly in its sightline. “I've always followed instinct – and my instinct told me we were ready to grow again,” hints Sézalory. “The next chapter isn’t about transformation; it’s about depth. More creativity, more collaboration, more meaning. We’re still guided by the same values – craftsmanship, generosity, and heart, but with a new openness. In many ways, I think the story of Sézane is just beginning.”