Samuel Fournier is simultaneously both your most low and high maintenance friend. He likes things simple. However, he has very exacting ideas and standards of what this simplicity entails. He exudes an effortless elegance and does everything, even the most pedestrian of tasks, with remarkable finesse. It could be said that his early background in figure-skating and dance gave him this particular panache and discipline. All mystery aside, Sam embodies the true meaning of style. He has his own way of doing things and we’ll all eventually catch up.
“I never really had to make a decision, it just all happened to me,” is Sam’s way of succinctly summing up his career path. But like a true stylist, this is his sharply tailored version that has pinned and tucked back years of his hard work. A small town boy from Sainte-Claire, Quebec, he moved to Montreal in his early twenties to find a way into fashion. With little experience outside of visual merchandising, he snagged a position as a full-time stylist at SSENSE. Whoever interviewed him saw the aforementioned unmistakable way about him that makes everything appear high-end in his hands.
“Of course, I love working with designer clothes for the quality and craftsmanship behind the design but I also love working with vintage. When I’m styling, I strive for authenticity and uniqueness.” Samuel delves into the complexities of each particular person, understanding that real people aren’t predictable or an archetype. That they aren’t a one-dimensional caricature but rather unique persons. He takes pride in building a strong look that shapes and defines a non-linear identity.
This approach is evident in Samuel’s work. He loves to exercise the boundaries of a look, exploring and experimenting with unconventional silhouettes, shapes and pieces. The fingerprint he leaves behind is in his execution: the placement of a collar, the flip of a cuff or the unexpected combination of two seemingly juxtaposing pieces. It has the air of street style; a lived-in quality from someone who is impossibly stylish.
“I believe it is important to stay tuned in with what is happening in fashion, be it on the runway or fresh campaigns. But I sometimes prefer a bit of distance and just go with what my head is telling me to do instinctively. I like to look at everything, take it all in and create my own thing.”
Another signature that Sam is somewhat reluctant to own is that he is ahead of the curve. That all elusive cool factor. For him it’s unconscious.
“That’s something I don’t consider,” he says before pausing and laughing good naturedly, “Really, I am a chameleon. I able to go all places, depending on the mood.”
Interview by Naeme El-Zein.