Stepping into Vanessa Bruno’s boutique is like walking into her living room. Vintage furniture, plants and scented candles create a charmingly laid-back atmosphere accompanied by a warm feeling of certainty that you will actually find a piece that fits. ‘Fashion is like home,’ says the French designer. ‘It’s about giving you a good and relaxed moment.’

For decades, there has been a paradoxical situation of men designing clothes for women; sometimes clothes that women might be reluctant to wear. When a woman designs for other women, she takes a different approach. Simplicity and understatement are embraced; collections are less likely to be dominated by architecturally intricate pieces or garments that shout ‘Look at me!’

This is not to say, however, that clothes designed by women are overly simplistic. As Bruno says, ‘Even the most simple thing is difficult to make.’ She pays close attention to details: a drape here, a subtle pattern alteration there. ‘For me a well-cut piece, if it’s a size 38 for example, has to look good on a tall girl and a small girl alike. It’s about making clothes that any woman can wear, even if she has a little bit more waist.’

Vanessa Bruno has intelligently positioned herself between that bohemian je ne sais quoi and the proverbial Parisian chic. Her designs have become an indispensable source of wardrobe inspiration. Bruno’s trademark draped dresses and silky-smooth tops give the Parisian girl her chic yet effortless look. ‘We’re talking about femininity that’s a little savage,’ says the couturier. ‘I don’t like it to be sweet, but it has to be sensual; showy, but not sexy-show-it-all.’

Squeezing into a skirt that reduces movement to four-inch paces is, naturally, not the way that women design for other women. ‘Sexiness and confidence come from feeling relaxed in your clothes. It’s not about wearing a piece of architecture,’ says Hannah MacGibbon, until recently head designer at Chloé, where she made even turtlenecks and pussy-bow blouses look intriguing. ‘It’s about creating clothes to live in.’

Anne Valérie Hash, one of the very few women invited by the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture in Paris to design haute couture, puts it this way: ‘We live multiple lives as a mother, a professional, a wife, allowing ourselves leisure time and fulfilling our passions. Fashion has to propose items that will make women feel at ease in each of these dimensions.’ Seduction and dreams remain key, she says, but they have to be seen through modern eyes. ‘The clue is to be seductive without being aggressive.’

The often impractical wow-factor of male-designed pieces prompted Phoebe Philo to introduce a more understated look at Céline. Philo previously worked at Chloé, where, together with fellow Briton Stella McCartney, she had replaced Karl Lagerfeld. ‘It feels like a bit of calmness and cleanliness are what’s needed in fashion now,’ she observed recently. She admits that she likes the uniform aspect of male fashion, which makes it a safe bet on myriad occasions. Men’s clothes are designed to be efficient rather than showcasing special effects. By following this example, Philo revamped a formerly dusty brand. One of her coups was turning a piece of Napa leather into a simply cut blouse that resembles a sporty T-shirt.

Anne Valérie Hash says she also experimented with the masculine wardrobe when she first started out. ‘I was feeling vulnerable and a man’s coat or fabric would serve me as protection. Working on them helped me grow and feel stronger in the industry.’ Then, little by little, femininity entered into her collections. ‘Suddenly I started using skin-tone colours and delicate fabrics like lace, silk and tulle.’

Tastes, of course, vary. And it’s a very different aesthetic that drives French designer Isabel Marant. Her rock-n-roll chic has spread rapidly across Paris and beyond. ‘What interests me is dressing people. Me above all,’ says Marant, who is known for her dislike of the industry’s frippery. Her aim is not to please fashion mavens, she says, but the urban working woman who longs to add a twist to her wardrobe.

Yes, women are now dictating the rules. But, insists Barbara Bui, they still have to prove themselves more than men in order to be noticed. ‘Fashion is just a reflection of the professional world in general. But it’s true that we have finally begun to discover ourselves in collections conceived by women. Feeling seductive not just through the eyes of a man leaves us with more liberty and independence.’ And, knowing how quickly fashion can turn into caricature, Bui says she always has a real woman in mind, rather than a ‘lifeless statue or the mere image on glossy paper.’

‘What counts in the end is to guard your DNA and build a relationship with your customer in the manner Coco Chanel and Saint Laurent did,’ concludes Vanessa Bruno. The creations of those two giants of design – like Bruno’s own – always looked better on the woman than on the hanger.