Tom Ford
Traceless Perfecting Foundation in Porcelain
Extreme Mascara in black
Lip Color Matte in Plum Lush
Tom Ford
Traceless Perfecting Foundation in Porcelain
Extreme Mascara in black
Lip Color Matte in Plum Lush
Credits
In this Schön! online beauty editorial, photographer Jon Johnson captures model Lilla. She presents the perfect canvas for Riku Campo, who pulls mind-blowing and eye-catching make up looks, with the use of brands, such as Dior, Chanel, and Tom Ford.
Chanel
Vitalumière Aqua Foundation in Beige
Le Volume De Chanel Mascara in black
Ombre Premiere Longwear Powder Eyeshadow in Chocolate Brown
Le Rouge Crayon De Couleur Mat in Discretion
Chanel
Vitalumière Aqua Foundation in Beige
Le Volume De Chanel Mascara in black
Ombre Premiere Longwear Powder Eyeshadow in Chocolate Brown
Le Rouge Crayon De Couleur Mat in Discretion
Credits
Dior
Face & Body Foundation in 0W
Rouge Blush in Rose Caprice
Artist Rouge Cream Lipstick in Tender Pink
Rouge Dior Lipstick in Light Bubblegum Pink
Dior
Face & Body Foundation in 0W
Rouge Blush in Rose Caprice
Artist Rouge Cream Lipstick in Tender Pink
Rouge Dior Lipstick in Light Bubblegum Pink
Credits
Make Up For Ever
Reboot Active Care-In Foundation in Porcelain
Artist Color Shadow Refill Eyeshadow in Baby Pink and Purple
Artist Rouge Cream Lipstick in Tender Pink
Make Up For Ever
Reboot Active Care-In Foundation in Porcelain
Artist Color Shadow Refill Eyeshadow in Baby Pink and Purple
Artist Rouge Cream Lipstick in Tender Pink
pullover. Ottolinger
skirt + shoes. Ann Demeulemeester
pullover. Ottolinger
skirt + shoes. Ann Demeulemeester
Credits
Oklou is living an intense moment of change. There’s a euphoric energy around all the new steps. When we speak to the Paris-dwelling artist Oklou – the moniker of Marylou Mayniel – on set with Schön! in the Parisian suburbs, she’s in full prep mode, on the cusp of the release of her first full length album, choke enough. She is beaming; brings with her tranquillity and presence. With her ethereal, electronic sound, Oklou conquered hearts and delved deep into a new world of hyperpop lovers with her mixtape Galore in 2020. Now, she’s exploring her unique blend of polyphonic, electronic pop, in wide open soundscapes influenced by vaporwave and ambiance sounds. While her debut was rooted in an era of tumblr and digital soundscapes, with choke enough, she pushes the boundaries of her sound to craft a very personal approach to emotions – deeply real, deeply linked to the chaos of life throwing lots of different experiences at you. She’s expecting her first child, and is also releasing a body of work into the world, a second birth, as she states herself.
Deeply anchored in her sound-making process, Oklou speaks expansively about her work, her research, her loops – she enthuses about introducing new sonic expanses and new instruments – from trumpets, acoustic guitar to new vocal processes, which she speaks of as yet another instrument. Working with a close-knit musical family composed by the likes of Casey MQ, A.G. Cook, Bladee and Nate Campany, Oklou channels sound explorations and distortions into an extremely personal tunnel of pop experimentation. choke enough is a connection and an irl space, where you have to let yourself go into abandonment. The album floats and flitters through experiences and emotions, and being guided through it taps into that euphoric energy of being alive. Oklou sits down – IRL – to talk to Schön! through the process of the album, the changes and the next steps.
How are you?
I’m doing crazy well. I’m really great. It’s a really great moment for me. What with the pregnancy and my projects – there are two births, so to speak, in 2025 [laughs].
You’ve just released choke enough – how would you describe the process behind the album?
The last mixtape came out over 4 years ago now. I started work on choke enough two and a half years ago. I lived Galore to the full until we finished the tour dates. And there was COVID in the midst of it all.
I really had to turn the page on Galore, and its whole campaign (talking purely in wonderful marketing terminology) to be able to start a new chapter. It took me two years before I finished the music. It was a big challenge for me. I would have liked to flout my previous experiences, but it’s not possible – to ignore everything that came before. It’s a bit like when you enter into a new relationship, with someone for example. The past is still there.
I had expectations in terms of what I wanted to talk about. With Galore it was very clear – there was a specific experience in front of me – well, behind me, as it happens – but there was something easy, accessible for me. By 2022, I was in a different place, I was in a transition phase in my life, I had lots of emotions that I hadn’t explored, hadn’t matured yet.
It was a big period of change, socially, in my way of thinking, also in my personal relationships. Also in my life choices, in my paths, in the way in which I lived my life. I wanted to ask myself – ‘ok, what really suits me?’ Psychologically, it was complicated for the album because I needed to feel that I could draw on imagination from something anchored in my everyday life, and given that my life was a bit scattered, it was difficult to put my finger on something, a central theme, on anything really.
And I didn’t think I had found it – for a long time. Eventually, I got to the point where I realised that the album is a bit like a messy room. And I’m at peace with that image now. I find it very dense. And that’s because it deals with so many things. And it’s the reality of what my life has been for the past two years. It was my life.
left
jumper + hat. Sunnei
trousers. 8on8
shoes. Miista
right
top. JENNY HYTÖNEN
trousers. SSHEENA
gloves. YENESAI
left
jumper + hat. Sunnei
trousers. 8on8
shoes. Miista
right
top. JENNY HYTÖNEN
trousers. SSHEENA
gloves. YENESAI
Credits
It feel like there’s a definite emotional journey through the album. As if you’re constantly working on yourself.
It’s true that I also needed to get away from certain sounds that were in Galore – not necessarily with the idea of improving, but with the idea of exploring other sound processes, so that I don’t settle too much into my comfort zone. Also, so that I remain stimulated by my sound research, which is something I really enjoy.
You have a background in classical music…
Yes, yes. But not exclusively. I spent many years at the Conservatoire, putting in many hours and investing a lot of time in an environment of classical music. But that’s not all, there was a lot going on before I was 10. As a child I had the chance to learn music with teachers who opened up my sensibility, and my technique, to learning to sing while playing the piano, for example. It was a much more popular approach, in fact, than what I went onto learn at the Conservatoire.
When I was a teenager, I developed my own personal tastes by listening to the radio and watching concerts and festivals. I’ve never been fully classical. But I think that’s fine.
jacket. Ottolinger
top. YENESAI
trousers. SSHEENA
boots. Ann Demeulemeester
jacket. Ottolinger
top. YENESAI
trousers. SSHEENA
boots. Ann Demeulemeester
Credits
How would you describe the work on sound for choke enough?
The big difference for me was the piano, the instrumentals I wrote and composed. On Galore, it was me who played the keyboards a lot on the instrumentals, so it was very much a process of switching hats. Galore was very written – orchestral, almost. With choke enough, that’s not at all the case. I did a lot of research on chords. I used my hands, my playing hands on the keyboard a lot. My main sonic axis, I would say, or to rephrase – the genesis of each track – were the loops that were on my computer, that I fell in love with. Most of them I created myself, but I’ve also been inspired by other people’s loops, with people I work with.
You worked on the album with Casey MQ…
I continued working with Casey MQ, yes, but also with Cecile Believe, who’s great, and another guy from LA called Nate Campany, who was a big fan of what we were doing with Casey. And then for the whole production side I worked with A.G. Cook again. We did studio sessions in Paris, LA then sessions in London.
left
jumper + hat. Sunnei
right
jacket. Ottolinger
top. YENESAI
left
jumper + hat. Sunnei
right
jacket. Ottolinger
top. YENESAI
A recurring question about your work is your use of English, as a French artist. What do you find in the English language that you don’t find in French?
There are several reasons [for writing in English]. It’s a choice of comfort, in many ways. There’s a comfort in working in a language that I don’t understand 100% in all its aspects, because it allows me to write lyrics. I don’t really feel like a lyricist or a poet with words. Writing in French is an exercise that can’t be taken for granted. I’ve tried it a few times, though – it sucks [laughs]. It’s horribly awful. It’s really hard.
At first, I turned to English because it was easy, it was very much an imitation of what I listened to. I listened to a lot of English music, basically. It was a musicality of language that I was used to. It was mimicry, clearly. That doesn’t mean I don’t pay attention to lyrics, on the contrary. I never work on lyrics alone. I have a different relationship to the use of the two languages.
There’s always, I feel, an accuracy when you speak of emotions in your work. Is this exploration important for you in choke enough?
It’s a recurring theme, in relation to this period of scattered moments that I’m going through, which is going off in so many directions. As a stigmata of what I’ve been through before, which was so raw, so “EURGH!” – there was this questioning around intensity, which is required to talk about emotions.
top. YENESAI
skirt. JENNY HYTÖNEN
trousers. Miista
shoes. EMPTY BEHAVIOR
hat. VESPA
scarf. Ann Demeulemeester
top. YENESAI
skirt. JENNY HYTÖNEN
trousers. Miista
shoes. EMPTY BEHAVIOR
hat. VESPA
scarf. Ann Demeulemeester
Credits
Do you go on the hunt for this emotional intensity, as a person?
Yes, I think I do. I think so.
What’s your star sign?
It’s Taurus. What does that say about me? [laughs] I’m looking for emotions in my life, for sure, and I’m in a very intense moment, especially because I’m starting to shift away from myself. It’s something I talk about a lot on the album. It’s a shift in my brain. I spent my teens and twenties being very inward-looking, very egocentric. Not in a problematic way, I’ve always been attentive to friends, to the people around me. I was very present. I now notice that there’s something about growing up, there’s an interest in others that’s almost stronger now. It’s very new, that’s what’s been happening over the last few years. I hope this is a step forward.
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Credits
A slight chill in the air sees Jane Fu and June bundle up in this Schön! editorial photographed by Al Sarcoli with looks by JANE FU, Uniqlo, Romantic Move and others, featuring make up by artist Rafa Garcia Sanchez.
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
opposite
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
opposite
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
Credits
left to right
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
left to right
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
Credits
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
opposite
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
opposite
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
Credits
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
opposite
left to right
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
left to right
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
opposite
left to right
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
Credits
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
opposite
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
Credits
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
opposite
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
June wears
jacket. Zara
shirt. Uniqlo
denim trousers. FATALISM
shoes. ROMANTIC MOVE
opposite
Jane wears
trench coat. JANE FU
shoes. CELINE
Good meets bad in this Schön! editorial photographed by Topper Komm with model Linus Weber wearing looks by Diesel, Balenciaga, Guess and others styled by Ridvan Cavus with grooming by Asena Aysal.