Behind the scenes of a brand that doesn't cheat.

Behind the scenes of a brand that doesn't cheat.

Three cities, three lights, real girls: welcome behind the scenes at La Smole.

  1. 01Marseille, CassisFrance
  2. 02Phnom Penh, HotelCambodia
  3. 03Paris, StudioFrance
La Smole started from a very simple observation: nothing fit me. So I made it all myself. The first fittings in a Paris studio, the thrill of seeing the collection take shape for real. Marseille under harsh light, hair in our faces, salt on our skin. Phnom Penh, where it all began, long before the swimsuits.
Three cities, zero filters, girls who look like us.

Shoot 01France

Marseille,Cassis

The harsh southern light, the calanques as a backdrop, the mistral on our skin. The first real La Smole shoot happened there: between the Anse de la Fausse Monnaie and Cassis, two days flat out, legs like lead and a crowd of Sunday chillers as a welcome committee. We ran everywhere, barely slept, and shot until the light gave out. We could almost do it again tomorrow (not true).

Marseille shoot, seaside

Breakfast at 5 a.m., a photographer (and very dear friend) who came all the way from Brussels just for the occasion, the drive to Cassis before sunrise, and against all odds, we were hot in March. No rigid direction, no calculated poses. Just the girls, the water, the swimsuits, and the Mediterranean did the rest.

Marseille shoot
Marseille shoot
Marseille shoot
Marseille shoot, full width

Shoot 02Cambodia

Phnom Penh,Hotel

The humidity, the saturated colours, the golden light of the Khmer golden hour. Bringing La Smole back to where part of the story begins, because that's where I come from, was obvious.

Phnom Penh shoot
Phnom Penh shoot
Phnom Penh shoot

Cambodia is personal, it's my country of origin. Unfortunately, given the current geopolitical context, I couldn't be there for this shoot.

My cousin Somaira, with Khemma, Clarice and Mathilde, did it all. An iPhone, the Phnom Penh light, and four girls who wore La Smole in the water as if it were obvious. Seeing them in it, over there, was exactly what I had in mind from the start.

Phnom Penh shoot
Phnom Penh shoot

Shoot 03France

Paris,Studio

Paris, 7 March 2026. A studio, natural light, and Olary, my childhood friend, the one I've known for as long as I can remember. She's in all the packshot photos on the site. She was remarkably serious and patient, and every image we got that day is thanks to her. Seeing the swimsuits exist for the first time on someone you trust completely is a luxury no casting can replace.

Paris studio
Paris studio

In the studio, there's nowhere to cheat. No landscape to distract the eye. The swimsuit has to stand on its own. It's the ultimate test, and it's where you see whether the cut keeps its promises.

Behind the scenes, Paris studio
Behind the scenes, Paris studio
Behind the scenes, Paris studio

A huge thank you to everyone who made all this possible.

And a special thank you to Andrei Baicu, official photographer of Collection 01. We met more than five years ago on a beach in Hossegor, but that's a story for another day.

What matters is that he captured La Smole's world when I couldn't even explain it clearly myself: vague briefs, references everywhere, and yet he found it. Most of what you see here is thanks to him.

To all the girls who posed, those who held the iPhone, those who drove at 5 a.m., those who proofread, advised and put up with the doubts at 2 a.m., La Smole wouldn't exist without you.