Trickster Magazine

You are a chef, a couturière, a model, an artist, a creative food director, and a visual storyteller. How do you stay true to yourself in the creative world?

It’s strange – all of this came to me almost supernaturally: the ideas and the instinct to share them. It’s not that I love to talk about myself or show people how to do things. It just feels natural. And honestly, there isn’t much of a difference between who I am in private and the woman you see on social media.

And how about working with many different fields at the same time?

Cooking, hosting, presenting, and modeling all at the same time can be a lot, but I always come back to the basics. I try to find the perfect match between the client and who I am as a person. Also, my best work usually comes from my very first idea. When I cook, I love starting with just two simple ingredients – no rules – and just letting it grow from there. It’s the same with drawing: if I compare my first sketch to the tenth, it’s never the same, and it’s never better.

Your style is so detailed and inspired by a vintage home vibe, yet it feels effortless.

When I start a project, I think a lot about what I’ve cooked or eaten with my family and friends, going all the way back to my childhood. I think about what I’ve seen at markets, what I’ve tasted recently, my travels, or people I’ve met. So many people around me inspire me every day, and I’m always looking, always searching – not just in food, but in every creative way.

I get a sense that you’re constantly looking for something. That’s kind of what keeps you going, isn’t it?

Yeah, that’s why I do so many things. Even though I’m always open to starting something new, I would like to be focused on one thing right now. I am a chef, but I’m so much more – and maybe for now, it’s just that. I think I need more maturity, and luckily I have time to figure it all out.

I worked with the same company for ten years! I was so young when I started – only 18 – having moved to Paris all alone with my seamstress diploma. I just knocked on the door of Chanel and started immediately. Looking back, I still can’t believe the guts I had to just go for it.

There’s beauty to being young and fearless.

Yes, absolutely. I do not miss the structured, scheduled workplace, though. I know that I don't want to go back to it.

You’re Parisian now, but originally from Cully, a small village in Switzerland. At what point did you make the decision to leave Lausanne for Paris? Where did you get the drive to knock on the door of one of the biggest haute couture houses?

I remember this moment perfectly. I was in sewing school and saw a little printed ad with a black-and-white logo: they were looking for someone who could study for six months and then work as a seamstress in a maison in Paris. When I saw this, I realized this person was me. So I extended my studies and worked at the same time to save for an apartment in Paris. And that’s how it happened: I packed my favorite painting – a lady ice-skating on a lake – and all my sewing things, and my dad drove me to Paris. I was sent to take a test at Chanel: change the zipper on a skirt and respect the lines of the fabric, which was exactly what I was trained for. Apparently, it was very hard to find girls who could sew technically. Paris fashion schools are mainly about style, art direction, and all of the above, but they don’t offer as strong technical training as older generations.

So, you wanted it and you got it.

Oui, I wanted it. I am someone who loves to work on lots of little things, and when I arrived at Chanel, every day was exactly that. I would dive into all sorts of details on clothes. I was couturière and petite main and so much more. In the end, I worked with private clients – different bodies, different needs – seeing them weekly, and they became my friends.

This sounds very creative.

Yes, it was. Sometimes I worked with leather, sometimes I embroidered – every day there was a new body shape and always a different schedule. We were not only following the collection, but also taking care of the changing needs of the clients: altering vintage Chanel pieces or adding sleeves. We were actually changing a lot. There was a fine line between just altering and totally changing the style, but when an oriental client needed a dress that didn’t have an open back, we of course made the change.

That’s real luxury service right there.

Yes, that was my life for ten years – but it changed.

After Karl Lagerfeld?

After Karl Lagerfeld, everything was much more separated, much more structured, and there was less freedom. The house changed a lot, so I started to feel that I needed to change as well. I was on the haute couture floor, but I wanted to move to the prêt-à-porter studios. I was denied the chance to make the change, so I decided to leave. They told me, “If you leave Chanel, you leave it for good.”

And just like that. How did this take you to food?

Now, looking back, I was so sad about Chanel. I was depressed that I couldn’t continue my dream of working as a couturière, but I understood that I wanted to continue making things with my hands. So I spent my days slowly cooking and taking my time.

Cooking just for yourself at home?

I’ve always loved to cook, so I started making dinners for my friends – at first in my small apartment in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, and later in the little garden I took care of.

A garden in the center of Paris?

There was a small garden behind my building that no one was taking care of. After a long search for the caretaker of the house, I was lucky to find someone who had the key to the garden, just by accident. I still hadn’t gotten permission to rent it, so I decided to take care of it myself. I spent my days planting and caring for the garden with my cat, Pirate.

It seems to me you’re the type of person who doesn’t give up easily.

No! And the garden grew beautifully. I hosted many wonderful small dinners there for my friends. After a year, though, neighbors started to get jealous of what I was doing there, and I was asked to return the key.

Did they take care of the garden at least?

No. No one took care of it, and it just died. But I gained the understanding that this is something I really love to do.

And this is how Cantine Laszlo was born?

During COVID, when Paris was locked down, I had an idea to start an association to cook for homeless people in the city. I used my Instagram to ask people to donate money, and it grew much bigger than I expected. We had so many chefs and restaurants sending us food and helping with deliveries – it turned into something much bigger. Since we received a lot of donations, I knew I had to show what we were doing, so I started sharing everything on my Instagram. But I didn’t just want to make simple rice – I wanted to give them good food made with love and care. I felt like a mom preparing lunch! I was so happy to do it all, and I learned so much in the process. I knew how to cook, but not like this.

Because of the quantity, and having to be creative with the products you’d been donated?

Exactly. It was quite complicated to cook for the homeless – they have a lot of allergies, they might not eat meat, they sometimes already had food so they’d save it for the next day – and you had to consider all of that. My idea was to cook them something really good. For example, once I made risotto with truffles – I really wanted them to feel like they were eating at a restaurant.

And you did all of this in your apartment?

With Léo, my husband, he helped me a lot. He took the pictures and supported me everywhere, and that’s how it started.

You and your husband, Léonard Méchineau, often work together, but your first personal project as a duo was the launch of the book Petites Chaises.

This is a project Léo and I have been thinking about since we met. He found the little champagne capsule chairs at my place and was so intrigued. It’s something I’ve been making for my home and for friends and family ever since I was ten years old. Again, I was making something with my hands. You know when your parents are having a long, boring dinner with friends and you’re just looking for something to do? So I started making little chairs. I’m someone who loves to collect things, and over the years I’ve made around 600 to 700 chairs. Léo is a still-life photographer, and he proposed that we make this book together. I was so happy to make it – but also really scared to share it with the public. I don’t even know why.

It’s been your imaginary world for so long…

Yeah, and now it’s a book. And we’ll make another one. It’s a project about collections, and it will become a collection.

Having a mother who is a model and loves to cook, and a father who is a painter – how did that shape you growing up?

I think I took the most from my parents’ artistic sides, more than my brother and sister. I actually started speaking very late, when I was three years old. From the day I was born, I was a little different, expressing myself with my hands – so my parents were never worried. They always taught us to think outside the box and see all the possibilities. My dad even forbade coloring books, saying that when you paint, there are no lines and you have to make your own stories.

And now, do you feel like you have lines you have to follow?

I do – a lot. But one day, I will remove all of them and just create.