There’s a storied history of writers who’ve discovered Paris and, subsequently, their muse. Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Barrett Browing, Yeats… all were enamoured enough with the City of Lights to the point of – quite literally – poetry. The lovely and talented Alice Cavanagh has followed in that tradition, succumbing to the city’s irrefutable charms.

For a living, Alice writes about her passions; fashion, primarily, but also food, culture and travel. It’s most convenient, then, that the Australian ex-pat now lives in a city synonymous with them all.

“From an early age I’ve loved history and travel and here I feel I’m in the middle of it all,” she tells us from her sunlight- and book-filled apartment.

“I love the challenge of the language, the culture, and I appreciate that I am basically able to nourish myself on a regular basis — it is so stimulating.”

“I can also travel at the drop of the hat. I’m travelling at least once a month and discovering new places all the time and it’s still such a thrill. Plus the French are very good at the good life.”

Translation: cheese.

Alice may hail from Australia but she’s got a sense of style that’s distinctly Parisian: elegant, chic and understated.

“I dress for comfort first and foremost,” she explains.

“I’m very tactile and like wearing soft, natural fibres, and I don’t like anything too fitted. I love loose, feminine tailoring and long dresses for that reason and chase brands like Christophe Lemaire, TOME, Isa Arfen and am currently obsessed with Maryam Nassir Zadeh in New York.”

“I tend to avoid print and embellishment and like wardrobe separates that can be mixed and matched. Also since I moved to Paris I have less colour in my wardrobe, but I am consistently drawn to blue, black, green, cream and a certain kind of red.”

She keeps her dance card full, balancing her time as a contributing editor to Vogue Australia and regular writing jaunts for PORTER, The Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine; freelancing for Paris-based fashion giants Chanel and Kenzo, and teaching a digital media subject at the hallowed art and design school, Parsons.

With such a cool career line-up she says it’s challenging to single out one particular highlight to date. “There have been so many,” she says. “But a few interviews stand out — speaking with photographer William Eggleston for example, or Karl Lagerfeld.”

“Every experience trumps the next one: be it visiting the Chanel couture ateliers or travelling to Israel. I get to invest in my passions and hobbies on a daily basis and I call it ‘work’.”

Some would also call it living the dream, or Vivre le rêve, as they’d say in Paris.

Photography Molly SJ Lowe

Words Susannah Tucker


Her Style File