The Devil Wears Prada

She respects the work of fashion bloggers, (“It’s very interesting”) though avoids reading them regularly as they “are not always nice to me”. And what about the blog, I Want To Be A Roitfeld, which documents the minutiae of Carine’s career and life? “You have to adapt to the future but it’s dangerous – everyone knows everything, so it breaks the dream.”

The fashion world’s current hot topic is British journalist Suzy Menkes’ article in The New York Times Magazine on the ever-increasing speed of the fashion industry – the “treadmill” – which concerns Carine, too. In Mademoiselle C she laments the constant desire for the new. “Now it’s not just four collections a year, people expect lots and it’s impossible to be so creative [doing this many collections]. Some people get crazy or sad. It’s very difficult because [they are] artists.”

The accessibility of artists is something else that concerns Carine. “This summer we did a picture of the four of us [Christian, Carine’s long-term partner who she refers to as her husband, and their two grown-up children, Julia and Vladimir]. My daughter said ‘Can I put this picture on Instagram?’ so for once I said OK but it went everywhere. You have to protect yourself and I don’t want to give up my privacy… although this picture was nominated the best Instagram picture of the summer!”

Despite her concerns, Carine lets me Instagram a picture of us after the interview. “You have to love the camera,” she instructs me while draping an elegant arm over my shoulder. “You have to smile – it gives a lift and we could all do with a lift.”

For Carine, the next few weeks will involve a lot of smiling for the camera. The length of fashion month is a concern for her. “We start on 5 September [in New York] and finish on 3 October in Paris. It’s impossible for magazines to go everywhere. It costs a lot of money.”

But London will remain on her schedule. Under the direction of chairman Natalie Massenet, London Fashion Week has become an unmissable stop on the international show circuit and Carine is coming to catch Burberry, Tom Ford, JW Anderson and Christopher Kane.

“JW is my new chouchou” she confesses. “For me [LFW] will always be the best one, the more creative one. I love French culture, I love Monsieur Saint Laurent – he is my biggest idol – but most designers are English. They go to Central Saint Martins and it’s a great school.”

And during Fashion Week, when we see each other across the catwalk? Perhaps this time I will give Carine a wave.

MADEMOISELLE C IS RELEASED IN CINEMAS FROM 20 SEPTEMBER AND AVAILABLE ON DVD AND DOWNLOAD FROM 28 OCTOBER

Bonjour Mademoiselle Roitfeld