France's new export, Vanessa Paradis, tells Sally Wadyka about her music, her makeup -- and her life as a bird.

Her big break came at 14 with the pop single "Joe le Taxi," which whizzed to the top of the French charts. Paradis has also been a movie actress (she won the Gallic equivalent of an Oscar for her role in the 1989 film Noce Blanche) and worked as a model for Chanel. Not bad for someone who's just 20. In her latest act, she's teamed up with singer/producer Lenny Kravitz and launched an English-language album called -- not surprisingly -- Vanessa Paradis. During a recent conversation with the young chanteuse, we learned a few things you don't catch just from listening to her sing...

MLLE: So what was it like to work with someone as famous as Kravitz?

VP: Incredible. I learned a lot from him. He was, like, kind of a movie director for me -- he directed the way I sang.

MLLE: We understand he also wrote the songs. How did he know what you wanted to sing about?

VP: Actually, we didn't discuss it. I didn't have to say, "I want to sing this" or "I want to sing that." We just spend time together, getting to know each other, and he figured it out.

MLLE: But you still feel these songs are really yours? That they say what you want them to say?

VP: Yes, this album is really close to me. He got inside my mind and my thoughts.

MLLE: What about what's on the outside? What sort of image are you trying to create to go with the album?

VP: I'm not trying to give a certain look or image. I just am who I am.

MLLE: Do you play with makeup to enhance your professional image?

VP: Sure, I wear a lot of makeup when I'm working, but otherwise I try to get away from it.

MLLE: If makeup's not a big thing for you, then what do you consider your beauty secrets?

VP: I'm sorry, but I do nothing at all.

MLLE: Come on, really? Not even when it comes to diet or exercise?

VP: Oh, I don't do anything like that! My only regime is drinking water. And getting enough sleep.

MLLE: So much for beauty secrets... what about fashion? What kinds of clothes do you like?

VP: It really depends on what I feel like that day, but in general I like old clothes. How do you say? Vintage?

MLLE: Did you shop in a lot of vintage stores when you were in New York recording your album?

VP: Yes, I shop everywhere -- New York, London, Paris. But I found my favorite item in a secondhand store in [NYC's] Soho.

MLLE: So tell us, what is it?

VP: It's this incredible old pink and beige Vivienne Westwood coat.

MLLE: Does your penchant for old things extend to films as well?

VP: Oh, yes, I love black-and-white movies -- and I really admire Marilyn Monroe. First, because she's beautiful, but also for what's inside. She was so fragile, so emotional.

MLLE: Your ad for Chanel [Vanessa, dressed as a bird, swings on a trapeze in a gilded cage while a fluffy white cat looks on] caused quite a stir over here. People thought it was sexist -- the idea of a woman being displayed in a cage. Were you surprised by these reactions?

VP: I wasn't surprised. Art is supposed to go to extremes. But, personally, I don't think this ad was particularly shocking.

MLLE: It must have been tricky to look so graceful while wearing that big feathered tail. What was it like?

VP: The tail was tied around my waist and it was not the most comfortable outfit! We filmed for four weeks, and I was wearing it from early morning until eight or nine every night.

MLLE: Does this image of you as a delicate, Chanel-clad bird contradict your other image as a pop singer?