Some might argue that one can be French wherever they are. It can be, after all, a lifestyle as much as a geographic location. While we in the U.S. love to swoon over European landscapes and images of life in Paris, there are quite a few Francophones living successful blogger and influencer lives stateside. These are individuals who show us that you can hold onto and share your French roots wherever you find yourself.
We’ve selected some of our favorite NYC-based Francophiles below.
NYCxClothes
Haitian sisters Shelcy and Christy are the embodiment of French chic x2. Having grown up in Port au Prince, the two emigrated to NYC in 2010 after the brutal earthquake. It wasn’t until 2014 that they began blogging and also launched their digital marketing agency. They noted that at the time they didn’t see many women who looked like them in the industry, and even less there weren’t many who were specifically Haitian, and so they wanted to change the narrative and spotlight black Haitian women excelling in creative careers. Their adoration for fashion, interior design, and photography results in beautiful content with a certain je ne sais quoi appeal.
L’Appartement 4F
Ashley and Gautier Coiffard are self-taught bakers based out of their apartment in Brooklyn (see original Frenchly piece here.) Prompted by the pandemic, the French-American (Gautier is French and Ashley is American) couple launched a successful French pastry business directly from their home while still maintaining full-time day jobs. Today they are launching their own brick and mortar shop in downtown Brooklyn. Their love for each other, baking and carbs, and a certain joie de vivre is contagious and well portrayed through their Instagram account proving that one can find real French pastries in NYC sometimes with a clever twist like croissant cereal, (bien sûr, who doesn’t like milk with a fresh tres-mini croissant.)
Léanne Ansar
Leanne Ansar is a romantic soul with a talent for finding aesthetically-pleasing and swoon-worthy corners that she transforms into paintings and photographs as well. Her style is characterized by a vintage ’50s vibe featuring plenty of full skirts, second-hand pieces, and always a touch of red on her lips to seal the look. This French-American beauty may also have scored the New York City real estate lottery with her brownstone apartment featuring a glass Tiffany ceiling.
Christina Caradona
Trop Rouge blogger Christina Caradona is a French-American (Biarritz-born) model living between NYC and Los Angeles. She is a true feminist and having recently entered her thirties, she shares on Instagram her thoughts on finding self love, acceptance, and exploring how to use her voice for women’s issues in the modern world. Her blog is a funny and raw depiction of being a woman with a good dose of New-York-cool-meets-French-chic throw in.
Arnaud Montagard
Arnaud Montagard moved to Brooklyn six years ago to pursue his career as a photographer and has since excelled with numerous exhibitions of his work and publications in magazines including the New York Times, Le Monde, Forbes, Vogue, and the Financial Times, etc. He captures the raw and real nature of America with his travels across the United States, taking photos of particularly desolate diners and off-the-beaten path hotels. He even published a photo book of his travels called “The Road Not Taken.” He was recently interviewed by another well known French traveler and Youtuber Bruno Maltor in which he gave a tour of his Brooklyn neighborhood. Montagard’s Instagram feed offers a refreshing look at American life through his camera lens.
Cindy Bruna
Born in France to Congolese and Italian parents, Cindy Bruna is a modern supermodel living in New York City. A well-heeled traveler, she trots the globe via runway shows and magazine covers only to come back home to NYC, where she is well known for her workouts at the Dogpound. In her spare time, Bruna advocates for the end of human trafficking and speaks out about other humanitarian causes.
From Lucie
French countryside nymph “Lucie,” aka Loreta Lamargese, is the Lower East Side’s most whimsical baker delivering to your favorite brunch spots including Ten Bells, Sunday to Sunday, and more. Her flower inspired delicacies in real flour bring the natural beauty of the Mother Nature, albeit in cake form, to the concrete jungle.
