Over the past few seasons, French designer Amélie Pichard has gained steady traction with her charmingly offbeat accessories. Think patchwork faux-python clogs, pink velvet slides, and thick-soled oxfords. Suffice it to say, strappy stilettos aren’t her thing. Pichard’s vision is a sticky-sweet mix of Barbie dolls and ironic twists on conventional femininity, so it should come as no surprise that Pamela Anderson has been her lifelong muse. “In 1992, Baywatch was on French TV. I was 9 years old, and from that moment Pamela never stopped being a source of inspiration for me,” Pichard tells Vogue.com. “She is a mother, a lover, a nature girl, and very sophisticated. She knows who she is and is a strong woman. I told her that she was to me what Brigitte Bardot was for her.” Another thing Pichard and Anderson have in common is animal rights activism—Anderson is particularly vocal about her involvement with PETA.

The women first connected on Instagram—a friend of Anderson’s introduced her to Pichard’s account—and before long Anderson was wearing Pichard’s pointy Pamela mules all over Los Angeles. The decision to collaborate on a vegan collection was a no-brainer. “Pamela sent me a lot of spontaneous MMS [texts] with inspirations and old pictures of her,” Pichard explains. “I knew I wanted to make something very Baywatch, but also try something different, like raffia shoes, which are very St.-Tropez.” The collection includes lace-up boots, espadrille wedges, and mules in a range of vegan materials, from denim to raffia and cherry metallic faux leather, a nod to the famous red maillot Anderson wore on the show. One pair of platform slides reads “Pamela” across the front, and a few sensible pumps feature blocky Lucite heels. “The shoes aren’t that high,” Anderson says. “Amélie told me French women don’t wear such high heels. I thought that was chic, and more suitable to the sexy beach lifestyle. We put a lot of thought into the silhouettes—they’re less trashy, more elegant.”

The fact that the collection still hints at “trashy” stereotypes (Lucite heels, bedroom slippers) is proof that Pichard’s designs aren’t just pretty objects—they should possess a sense of irony, too. “I don’t use any strong terms like feminist,” Pichard says. “For me, it’s simply about being a woman and campaigning for sexy women who are at ease with themselves.” So instead of fighting against feminine clichés, she embraces them wholeheartedly: If girls are supposed to like glitter, pastels, and seductive heels, then bring on the sparkle and Lucite and plasticky pink vinyl. (In other words: Own it!) Anderson approaches life in a similar way: Sure, she’s a sex icon, but she uses that to further her cause, regularly posing nude (or nearly nude) for PETA campaigns. David LaChapelle is shooting the campaign for her and Pichard’s collection later this month, and it will be interesting to see how the photographer puts his Surrealist spin on the subject matter.

Click through the slideshow above for an exclusive first look at the collection—then shop it in December at Opening Ceremony.

The post Amélie Pichard and Her Muse Pamela Anderson Debut a Collection of Vegan, ’90s-Inspired Accessories appeared first on Vogue.

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