Les Jardins de ROWSE Begin with Martine Leherpeur

On Beauty, Truth, and Timeless Rituals


Martine, a visionary trend forecaster, was the very first to open the doors of her Parisian home to host Les Jardins de ROWSE, an intimate gathering celebrating care, presence, and authenticity. A few days later, she sat down with Gabriela Salord, our co-founder, to reflect on beauty as truth, the power of rituals, and the smile that outshines everything else.

Les Jardins de ROWSE Begin with Martine Leherpeur

Les Jardins de ROWSE Begin with Martine Leherpeur

On Beauty, Truth, and Timeless Rituals


Les Jardins de ROWSE Begin with Martine Leherpeur

Martine, a visionary trend forecaster, was the very first to open the doors of her Parisian home to host Les Jardins de ROWSE, an intimate gathering celebrating care, presence, and authenticity. A few days later, she sat down with Gabriela Salord, our co-founder, to reflect on beauty as truth, the power of rituals, and the smile that outshines everything else.


GABRIELA

1. You’ve spent a lifetime decoding what’s next. What has stayed timeless for you?

MARTINE
That’s quite a complex question. I’d say what hasn’t changed is what’s real. What’s real, what’s authentic, what’s at the heart of each person. I’m currently writing with a friend a sort of raw account of my path. And as you said, I’ve spent my time projecting into the future, and with pretty good accuracy, because I have a good nose. And I realize there’s this constant thread in my professional life that’s about the value of things. My friend once told me: “You don’t love fashion. It’s not fashion you care about. It’s the garment, what it means, what it carries, how it reflects something at a given moment.” That’s very powerful. And I keep finding that thread throughout every stage of my professional life.

And the other constant, for me, is non-compromise. I’ve never compromised. I’ve always been pretty radical in my decisions, in my judgments, in my sense of what matters, of saying, “That thing is really important. It’s coming. It’s what people crave.” And I was never wrong about that. So yeah, I think I do have a good nose. I’m like a hunting dog in a way.

G

2. Les Jardins de ROWSE is about transmission, between generations, through rituals. What do you feel is at risk of being lost in how we speak about beauty and identity today? And what must we protect and carry forward?

M
We’re in this era, especially now, of beauty masks, of compulsory beauty, being told “You must do this, you must do that.” That’s been around for a long time, but now it’s been taken to the extreme, what I call the Kardashian era, with rules about how your body should look. Even when people talk about body positivity, it’s just not true. It’s not positive at all. It’s the opposite.

G

To me, beauty should be a reflection of something deeper. I saw a girl on the metro yesterday, she wasn’t classically beautiful, she had odd teeth, but she was beautiful. She was in love. She was with her partner, totally in love. And I thought, wow, love can transform you, it can make you beautiful.

M
That’s what I believe. Beauty is almost a duty to be happy. Of course, being happy isn’t always easy. I recently lost one of my brothers. And I have a sister-in-law who is absolutely wonderful, so beautiful in her grief, because she is living. Because she accepts. That’s what life is, accepting yourself in every phase. Beauty is a reflection of that. It brings us back to what I said earlier: authenticity.

G

3. You hosted our very first garden gathering. What did that moment awaken in you? What do you believe becomes possible when women come together to share stories, wisdom, and presence?

M
It’s about being yourself, being true in the moment, that’s what makes you beautiful. What I love about what we started with Les Jardins de ROWSE is this approach to beauty that’s… boundaryless. No lines between men and women, or any of that. It’s not about women only gathering together, or men, none of that. It’s about feeling good in your body, being able to look in the mirror and say, “That’s me. It’s not perfect, but it’s mine.” And then I smile, and that smile transforms my face. Smiling is so important.

So many people don’t smile anymore. They’re made-up, constructed, but they don’t really smile, ever. And the smile, that’s the most precious jewel we have. It outshines any diamond. That’s beauty to me. And that’s what I want to pass on to my grandchildren. That’s what I talk about. That’s why ROWSE speaks to people, because the brand is like that. It’s really, deeply inspiring. That’s why I’m an advocate for ROWSE. It expresses a beauty that lifts you.


G

It’s very beautiful, what you’re saying.

M
And there’s nowhere else that speaks like this, with both poetry and clarity. It’s simple, it’s direct. Like a grandmother telling her granddaughter a story. Of course, it’s still marketing, but it’s a very different kind of marketing. Not the usual kind at all.


G

4. Rituals are a way of caring, a return to ourselves. What beauty rituals ground you today? And how does ROWSE’s philosophy and approach to care resonate in those moments?

M
This idea of gardens, well, I think it’s a beautiful concept. The Gardens of Eden, a kind of earthly paradise, even if we’re talking about winter gardens or whatever. A garden brings this notion of pause, of stopping, of feeling good, of conversation. It instantly sets a tone that’s different from a shop or even a salon. It’s another level.

What struck me during that first gathering was the incredible ease. Everyone felt comfortable, relaxed, accessible, even among people who didn’t know each other. They shared this common love for the brand, its vision. Through that, they found a shared philosophy, a kind of joy in meeting someone who shares something important. That’s precious. And again, it ties into this idea of slow time. It was a very pleasant moment, a kind of counter-rhythm to today’s fast pace, being online, doing everything in three clicks. This was the opposite. Even if people only stayed half an hour, the time felt spacious, generous. And that’s rare.

As for rituals, I'm not naturally someone with a lot of rituals, but for the first time in my life, I actually have one. I never forget it: my Regenerate Night Serum in the evening, and my cleansing routine. Yesterday I went horseback riding, it was super dusty, and when I got home to Paris, I had to cleanse my face with the Jasmin Cleansing Balm . It was all black. I felt so much better afterward. And I can't live without it now. I look in the mirror, and my face is more radiant. Sure, I still have all my wrinkles, and I’m too tanned because I spend too much time in the sun, but I don’t care. When I smile, people say, “Your smile!” That’s it. That’s the thing.

I sometimes go to a tiny organic studio near my house, it uses these completely unknown brands. Last time the woman told me, “You have amazing skin.” And I almost laughed because I’ve never put anything on my skin in my life, except ROWSE.


G

5. If beauty is a garden, what does yours look like now?

M
It would be more of an English garden than a Versailles garden, not orderly, but full of the flowers I love. Roses, especially. I adore roses, but not the tidy kind. I love wild roses, climbing ones, mixed with old varieties. Not a garden with neat lines.

Well, right now in my Paris garden, my husband planted three potato plants. They’re growing among the roses and everything else. He says, “I don’t know how many kilos we’ll harvest.” I have no idea, but it makes me smile. At first, when I started gardening, I wanted everything white and green. Now it’s all colors. And it’s better that way. Less perfect, but more... alive. You feel more at home in it. And I think the ROWSE garden today is a comforting garden.

So many awful things are happening in the world, it needs to be a refuge. We have a duty to create refuge, not just for ourselves, but for our children, our families. It’s essential. In order to be generous, to give, well, we need to feel full. And to be full, sometimes, you need to be just a little selfish. So you can give more. Someone told me that when I was thirty, and it stayed with me for life. They said: “Take care of yourself, and you’ll take better care of others.” It’s true. That could be ROWSE’s message: Take good care of yourself, and you’ll give more. You’ll shine more.

To shine in the sense of being inspiring. And ROWSE helps you do that.


G

Thank you, Martine.

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