Suki Waterhouse credits the French look of dark suits with no shirt underneath, tousled locks and bold red lips for renewing her confidence as a woman.
But when it comes to its people, the British model, singer and actress says French snobbery led to her being cancelled from a fashion show because she ‘looked too scruffy’.
Rapidly shaving her legs before a show for label Fendi in Paris last year, the 32-year-old said: ‘There’s nothing worse than turning up at a fitting straight off the plane without shaved legs because French people are so judgy.
‘I got cancelled from a show for turning up to a fitting not looking too good.’
It comes as her fellow British models Lily Cole, 36, and Edie Campbell, 33, also hit out at fashion shows for cancelling them after they were deemed ‘too fat’.
Victim of snobbery: Suki Waterhouse says French snobbery led to her being cancelled from a fashion show because she ‘looked too scruffy’
Resting up: Model Ms Waterhouse is seen eating in her latest YouTube video
Front row: Rapidly shaving her legs before a show for label Fendi in Paris last year, the 32-year-old said: ‘There’s nothing worse than turning up at a fitting straight off the plane without shaved legs because French people are so judgy’
Ms Waterhouse, who has been modelling for high-end labels such as Hugo Boss and Burberry since she was 19, opened up about her treatment in France during a video on her new YouTube channel. In one clip the star, who is expecting her first child with Batman actor Robert Pattison, 37, says: ‘French people are looking at me like they’re p*****. They’re like, ‘Go away English person,’ I’m so embarrassed.’
It is not the first time Ms Waterhouse has spoken out against unrealistic expectations placed on models by the fashion industry. Last year she said: ‘[I remember] an initial pressure to change myself a lot. If you were different then you’d be sat down and told that you weren’t going to do shows.’
Fellow model Ms Campbell, who has worked with Chanel and Hermes, was told by a brand she was ‘too big’ to open their Milan Fashion Week show. She said: ‘And by ‘too big’ I don’t mean too famous. I mean too fat.’