Let’s be honest: there’s always that one person you text (with or without a selfie) from the dressing room in a moment of panic: “ Should I get it?!?” Caroline Brasch Nielsen—current Chloé campaign girl and street-style star-in-the-making—is who I dial up for those heavy-hitting wardrobe questions. We have completely different styles, but the girl just gets it. Forget the whole apathetic model-off-duty, Oh-I-just-picked-this-up-off-my-floor thing—Caroline posts reference pictures from before she was born on her Instagram, cites Melanie Ward and Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele as her favorite stylists, and shops like it’s her job. (I guess it sort of is her job?) She is passionate about clothes, and more than that, she is passionate about ‘swag.’ As in the adjective. For example:

[Me, via text]: “ Should I get this Céline sweater? They only have a size large : /”

[Caroline’s response]: “YES! Really cool! Like in big size! Looks Swag : P”

I got the sweater in question (obviously) before meeting up with Caroline for some speed-shopping at Colette in Paris, where I took note of her current swag/style rules to live by. Think leopard. Think pink. Think swag, but more Kanye, less Bieber.

1) “I love colors. I think it’s difficult to wear black. I never only wear black; I don’t know how to put it together. I like Anna Dello Russo a lot because I like the way her outfits are saturated. It’s always too much—and I kind of like too-much sometimes. I like Balmain, Lanvin…if I could wear head-to-toe Balmain, I would.”

2) “I have a thing for coats and jackets. I love jackets. I have, like, twenty. I just think you can look so chic with a good jacket on. All you really need is a nice coat, and a nice bag. I’m really keen on getting a red leather motorcycle jacket from Balenciaga.”

3) “Right now, I like mixing animal prints with bright colors. Like, an animal-print jacket with a bright-colored scarf and a bright bag. Colorful bags— epic. You know what bag I like at the moment? The traditional Dior bag, but in colors. I would go with pink, I think. Hot pink is perfect with leopard. And I only like smaller bags. I mean, how much stuff do you really have to put in a bag? Not so much, usually.”

4) “I never wear heels—only flats. I think sneakers look really modern right now. They just make outfits look cool. I like Kanye’s style. I like when he does designer pieces with expensive sneakers and lots of gold earrings—it’s so cool.”

5) “I think you’re better off browsing than going out to buy a specific thing. I never think, ‘Oh, I need a coat, I’m going to go get a coat.’ You should see what’s out there, and not feel pressured to get something just because you need it. Also, it seems like every time you’re ‘on a mission,’ you don’t find what you’re looking for. I like Net-A-Porter because you can check it often, it looks good, and it’s easy. And I love to shop in Paris and in New York.”

—Emily Weiss

Caroline Brasch Nielsen, wearing a Lanvin jacket; Emily Weiss in the dressing room at Céline.