Lolo Zouaï: desert rose

Whether she’s shooting a video in North Africa or styling it up for a TOMMY JEANS campaign in New York, Lolo Zouaï’s career has been one characterised by vibrancy.

- Braden Bjella

Still, there’s something familiar about The Big Apple’s grey monochrome. “I used to write music in San Francisco on the beach,” Zouaï’ remembers. “That sounds sunny, but it’s really very cold and foggy. For some reason, something about that is just beautiful.”

Having a sense of place has always been vital to the singer’s creative process. Born in Paris to a French mother and an Algerian father, Zouaï spent her youth exploring San Francisco, venturing through its famous hills and valleys to embrace as much of the city’s character as she could. “I’m like a sponge,” she remarks. “San Francisco was so edgy and different. That’s what influenced my fashion sense the most, just the city I grew up in…I soak up everything that I hear and try to put it first into my music, but also into my fashion sense.”

Those teenage journeys led to some important discoveries. Zouaï found TOMMY JEANS, a love that began in the over-packed racks of a charity shop. “I remember whenever I would find vintage TOMMY JEANS, I would always get them, just because I loved how they looked. My first few music videos are actually in [them],” she recalls. “They’ve always done amazing collaborations with artists, like Destiny’s Child and Aaliyah. Being part of that history is fun. I think about growing with them…It’s a really good team.”