Lauren Collins
Lauren Collins began contributing to The New Yorker in 2003 and became a staff writer in 2008. Her subjects have included Michelle Obama, Donatella Versace, the graffiti artist Banksy, Emmanuel Macron, the refugee crisis, and equal pay. Since 2015, she has been based in Paris, covering stories mainly from France. She is the author of “When in French: Love in a Second Language,” which the Times named as one of its 100 Notable Books of 2016. She is working on a second book, about a coup d’état perpetrated by white supremacists in Wilmington, North Carolina, in 1898, and its effects over the past hundred and twenty years.
When France Takes Its Clothes Off
The country has long been a haven for those who believe nudity is a virtue. A new exhibit explores the movement—and lets guests strip down themselves.
Céline Dion Goes On
Viewers of the new documentary “I Am: Celine Dion” know just how hard-won the pop superstar’s rumored comeback at the Olympics would be.
A Cursed Ship and the Fate of Its Sunken Gold
In 1746, a vessel called the Prince de Conty foundered off the coast of France. How did its most valuable cargo end up in the hands of a semi-retired Florida couple?
A (Covert) Pre-Olympics Dip in the E. Coli-Infested Seine
Tired of the stalling of French officials who’d vowed to swim in Paris’s purportedly clean waters, one American expat takes matters into his own hands.
Spandex and Sweatbands at the Louvre
To mark the upcoming Olympics, Paris’s grandest museum has invited exercisers to get down among the marble caryatids.
The Hottest Restaurant in France Is an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
Les Grands Buffets features a seven-tiered lobster tower, a chocolate fountain, and only what it considers traditional French food. Gourmands are willing to wait months for a table.
Tagwalk Takes on the Hemline Index
The cerulean sleeve and the smoky eye have long been the province of whim, but Alexandra Van Houtte (the catwalk’s Bill James) is changing all that with fashion-data analysis.
The Global Ambitions of Invader’s Street Art
At any given moment, millions of people are attending his expositions, knowingly or not.
Bartender, There’s a Beer in My Wine
Paris has been blanketed by posters for vière, a mix of vin and bière drunk from a wineglass, whose name, its creators say, started out as a joke.
French Parents Don’t Know What They’re Doing, Either
An ongoing debate in France complicates the notion that there is an overarching secret to raising kids à la française.
Pilvi Takala and the Art of Awkwardness
The Finnish artist is quietly taking notes as the people around her lose their shit.
Owen Wilson, Art Monster
On a museum-hopping day in Paris, the star of “Paint” makes it clear that he knows his Picassos.
Walking Paris’s Garbage-Strewn Streets
With France’s public trash collectors joining a general strike, the city has been divided in two: the Trashes and the Trash-Nots.
The Button-Pushing Impresario of Balenciaga
How Demna engineered the rise—and near-fall—of the luxury fashion house.
The Other Blockbuster Royals Memoir
Before there was “Spare,” there was “The Heart Has Its Reasons” (1956), by Wallis Simpson.
The Right Not to Be Fun at Work
In a win for workplace dignity, a French high court recently decreed that businesses cannot force their employees to participate in supposedly enjoyable activities.
How Kevins Got a Bad Rap in France
Like to-go coffee or athleisure, the name strikes certain French people as a gauche Anglo-Saxon import—and some Kevins want to change that.
Life After “Call My Agent!”
Fanny Herrero, a rare French showrunneuse, talks “Standing Up,” her Netflix follow-up show about striving standup comedians in Paris. “Emily in Paris” it’s not.
Seeking a Cure in France’s Waters
Can three weeks of hydrotherapy and enforced leisure fix what ails us?
When France Takes Its Clothes Off
The country has long been a haven for those who believe nudity is a virtue. A new exhibit explores the movement—and lets guests strip down themselves.
Céline Dion Goes On
Viewers of the new documentary “I Am: Celine Dion” know just how hard-won the pop superstar’s rumored comeback at the Olympics would be.
A Cursed Ship and the Fate of Its Sunken Gold
In 1746, a vessel called the Prince de Conty foundered off the coast of France. How did its most valuable cargo end up in the hands of a semi-retired Florida couple?
A (Covert) Pre-Olympics Dip in the E. Coli-Infested Seine
Tired of the stalling of French officials who’d vowed to swim in Paris’s purportedly clean waters, one American expat takes matters into his own hands.
Spandex and Sweatbands at the Louvre
To mark the upcoming Olympics, Paris’s grandest museum has invited exercisers to get down among the marble caryatids.
The Hottest Restaurant in France Is an All-You-Can-Eat Buffet
Les Grands Buffets features a seven-tiered lobster tower, a chocolate fountain, and only what it considers traditional French food. Gourmands are willing to wait months for a table.
Tagwalk Takes on the Hemline Index
The cerulean sleeve and the smoky eye have long been the province of whim, but Alexandra Van Houtte (the catwalk’s Bill James) is changing all that with fashion-data analysis.
The Global Ambitions of Invader’s Street Art
At any given moment, millions of people are attending his expositions, knowingly or not.
Bartender, There’s a Beer in My Wine
Paris has been blanketed by posters for vière, a mix of vin and bière drunk from a wineglass, whose name, its creators say, started out as a joke.
French Parents Don’t Know What They’re Doing, Either
An ongoing debate in France complicates the notion that there is an overarching secret to raising kids à la française.
Pilvi Takala and the Art of Awkwardness
The Finnish artist is quietly taking notes as the people around her lose their shit.
Owen Wilson, Art Monster
On a museum-hopping day in Paris, the star of “Paint” makes it clear that he knows his Picassos.
Walking Paris’s Garbage-Strewn Streets
With France’s public trash collectors joining a general strike, the city has been divided in two: the Trashes and the Trash-Nots.
The Button-Pushing Impresario of Balenciaga
How Demna engineered the rise—and near-fall—of the luxury fashion house.
The Other Blockbuster Royals Memoir
Before there was “Spare,” there was “The Heart Has Its Reasons” (1956), by Wallis Simpson.
The Right Not to Be Fun at Work
In a win for workplace dignity, a French high court recently decreed that businesses cannot force their employees to participate in supposedly enjoyable activities.
How Kevins Got a Bad Rap in France
Like to-go coffee or athleisure, the name strikes certain French people as a gauche Anglo-Saxon import—and some Kevins want to change that.
Life After “Call My Agent!”
Fanny Herrero, a rare French showrunneuse, talks “Standing Up,” her Netflix follow-up show about striving standup comedians in Paris. “Emily in Paris” it’s not.
Seeking a Cure in France’s Waters
Can three weeks of hydrotherapy and enforced leisure fix what ails us?