The denim designs by Paris-born, London-based designer Faustine Steinmetz are a hybrid of influences from both cities.

One part “French girl chic,” Steinmetz’s designs are often based on iconic denim silhouettes with a gamine twist, like a classic Trucker jacket remade in transparent crinkly fabric. Others serve made-you-look textures that smack of British quirkiness, including felted denim.

For Steinmetz, denim is a democratic canvas for her playful, yet elevated, eponymous label. “While denim tends to go back and forth, in and out of ready-to-wear brands, Faustine Steinmetz has cultivated her collection with denim as her signature,” said Melissa Moylan, Fashion Snoops VP, creative, womenswear. “Her couture background adds a certain novelty element that’s not easily replicated in artfully cut and distressed denim pieces. Her collections place denim on a high level which merit runway presence.”

And the industry has noticed. The designer was awarded the 2017 Swarovski Collective Award for her inventive designs. Dazed Media co-founder Jefferson Hack, and one of the judges for the award, said, “Faustine Steinmetz is a designer, a magician, a technician of fabric, so adept at manipulating textures that she is an almost supernatural dreamweaver.”