Follow in Lala's Parisian paw prints: This toy poodle is Vogue Scandinavia's latest top model

There’s a well-dressed jet-setter who has been garnering quite the reputation as of late. Currently based in Paris, she spends her days taking long walks through the city, coolly ignoring onlookers as she poses for the snap of a camera. Her name is Lala and she’s an eight year-old toy poodle (56 in human years) who lives with her doting owners Ilenia Toma and Simon Nygard in the 19th arrondissement. “Everybody loves her,” says Toma. “When we go to eat lunch, meetings, dinners, events, people usually ask, ‘Where is Lala?’,” says Nygard. “She’s a real star in every city,” Toma concludes.

The couple welcomed Lala into their home, which at the time was in Basel, shortly after they first met. Nygard, a Finn who was working as a model, had slid into Toma’s DMs in the fall of 2014 with an attempt to meet up for a coffee date during Paris Fashion Week. Unfortunately, Toma, a Swiss influencer who had also spent years working as a hairdresser, had already left the city. Six months later, she commented on one of Nygard’s pictures: a tattoo on his knee. “Nice tat,” she wrote, in an admitted attempt to sound nonchalant. After many texts, calls and FaceTimes, Nygard arranged to come to Switzerland for Toma’s birthday. “When we saw each other at the airport, we kissed immediately, like we knew each other,” says Toma. Nygard was meant to stay for 10 days; he wound up moving into Toma’s brand new apartment. Shortly thereafter, Lala joined their household.

Related: 10 luxury pet-friendly hotels to visit across Scandinavia

Not only were they romantically fated, the duo quickly discovered they were a creative match as well. At the time, Toma was working with a photographer to capture her social media content, but when Nygard entered the picture it felt a bit like she was “third-wheeling”, so the couple made moves to be able to create their posts autonomously. “Instead of doing Netflix and chill, we were watching tutorials on YouTube on how to handle a camera,” says Toma. The opportunities in Basel were scant – Nygard was working as a fit model for Vetements and Toma was picking up gigs here and there – so they grabbed Lala and relocated to Milan for a stint, eventually landing in Paris.

In June 2020, the couple formalised their creative collaborations via an agency called Siilent Studio. The moniker is a reference to their understated aesthetic, as well as an amalgamation of their names. “We’re very minimal and we’re not so loud in our communication compared to other influencers,” says Toma. “We’re not so aggressive in our promotion of ourselves – we’re more undercover.” In the two years since forming Siilent, the duo has worked with the likes of Axel Arigato, Tom Wood and Birgitte Herskind, operating as creative directors, stylists, photographers and sometimes models. The through line is their quietly moody aesthetic – sharp shadows, clean lines.

Related: These are the 7 pet accessories you never knew you needed

It was the couple’s idea to put Lala front and centre for their Vogue Scandinavia accessories story, which they styled and shot in iconic Parisian locales. Inspired by beloved French film Amélie and Netflix series Emily in Paris, we find Lala hopping on the metro, at Palais-Royal, strolling through a park and stopping at a cafe, classic accessories for both humans and canines in tow. The couple chose bold sunglasses and bags in black and red to downplay the inherent sense of whimsy. “She’s actually playing it cool in Paris,” says Toma. Nygard adds, “She really likes to be in front of the camera.”