"Look, you come to Paris, you walk into my office, you don't even bother to learn the language. You treat the city like it's your amusement park, and after a year of food, sex, wine… and maybe some culture, you'll go back from where you came. So, perhaps we'll work together. But no, we won't be friends." ― Sylvie to Emily in Sexy or Sexist
Sylvie Grateau is the former chief marketing officer for Savoir's Paris location, and was in charge of the group of executives and employees that work there. She is a hard-as-nails woman with little patience for the American girl sent to work for her.
Biography[]
Sylvie is the daughter of Héloïse and married Laurent Grateau when she was young, and was a shareholder in his up and coming businesses. She had her own dreams as a marketing executive and became an employee at the French marketing firm, Savoir. Sylvie and Laurent separated but stayed legally married. She also dabbled in photography in her youth. She worked for Savoir for over a decade, and had a good rapport with her now-former boss, Paul Brossard. Twelve years ago, Sylvie met the CEO of Maison Lavaux and Savoir's newest client, Antoine Lambert, and the two began an affair that would last years. Sylvie even became friends with Antoine's wife, Catherine, and they had an interesting dynamic. Her position at Savoir grew until she held the position as the head of marketing at the Paris location, where she is in charge of several employees. She wasn't pleased with Paul's decision to sell Savoir to the American marketing company, the Gilbert Group.
Season 1[]
Sylvie's perfectly imperfect life of sophistication and comfort in France is thrown off-kilter by the arrival of Emily Cooper, an American representative from Gilbert Group. She finds the American's arrival to be aggravating and intrusive, especially since Emily doesn't know the language and wants to make changes to the way Savoir, and therefore Sylvie, operates. Emily's clean-cut open-book attitude clashes with Sylvie's as she likes to keep things separate and has no interest in becoming friends with Emily.
As things begin to shift at Savoir, Sylvie's affair with Antoine Lambert grows increasingly more complicated as she feels underappreciated by the man and as though he doesn't care for her. This, coincidentally, comes after Antoine gifts Emily a box of lingerie which Emily lies and claims are from her "new friend Gabriel". Sylvie is ready to end things with Antoine and lose Maison Lavaux as a client when Emily fixes things with the pair professionally which allows them to rekindle their personal lives. She is impressed by Emily's professionalism with the situation and begins to allow a sliver of respect for the American.
This all falls apart when Emily ruins a meeting with Couture designer and potential client, Pierre Cadault. Sylvie is also aggravated with Emily's growing social media presence and the fact she meets with companies about brand deals when she's representing Savoir. When Sylvie learns that Emily's social media could be useful for a deal with Hästens, she allows the girl to keep the account. But she finds the way Emily treats France and portrays it on her accounts as embarrassing. Sylvie is elated for a personal getaway to St. Bart's with Antoine Lambert. She is upset when Catherine intercepts their plans and believes that the trip is for the married couple, celebrating the surprise in front of Sylvie.
This proves to a shifting point for her, as she begins to explore more of her life without Antoine. This includes avoiding him at work and reassigning the Maison Lavaux account to Luc. Emily's connection with Pierre Cadault secures Savoir an invitation to the American Friends of the Louvre charity auction, where Emily models Pierre's donated dress. Sylvie's admiration turns to fury when the event is ruined by American streetwear artists, Grey Space, humiliating Pierre, and Emily. When Pierre refuses to participate in Fashion Week for the first time in three decades, it threatens his deal with Savoir. Sylvie blames Emily for the disaster and fires her from the company.
Emily returns the next day as she is still technically employed at the company until Sylvie files the paperwork, which she ensures will be completed that day. Luc surrenders the Maison Lavaux account to Emily, which Sylvie begrudgingly allows for the time being. She then accompanies Emily to a meeting with Pierre where he announces he wants to reclaim his fashion week showcase. Emily plans a PR stunt for Pierre to reclaim his location from Grey Space which impresses Sylvie enough that she allows Emily to stay at Savoir. She knows that Emily has potential, but she lacks polish and warns Emily that she won't be so lenient on her going forward.
Season 2[]
TBA
Season 3[]
Sylvie tries to find new clients for her marketing agency while convincing her former clients to leave Savoir for a company without a name. Emily pitches Sylvie a McDonald's International campaign for the McBaguette, but Sylvie scoffs as it's not a luxury brand. She wants to focus on convincing Maison Lavaux to transfer to her new agency. Emily convinces her to take the meeting for the McBaguette, which takes place at the Eiffel Tower. Sylvie admits to Emily how much she cares for her and hopes to be her new mentor now that she's left Madeline. During the meeting, Madeline storms in and announces that she is the boss of Savoir, not Sylvie. She outs Emily for secretly working for both companies. As Madeline goes into labor, Sylvie fires Emily once again. Despite Emily's betrayal, Sylvie celebrates her triumph as the best marketing agency in France, since she has several luxury companies that agreed to transfer to her company, aptly named Agence Grateau. She is specially proud to represent Pierre Cadault, who invites her company to a career tribute. Agence Grateau books a meeting with Tiffany & Co. but an unexpected run-in with Madeline and Emily. Madeline reminds the new agency of their non-compete agreements that specifically states they cannot work with any of their former clients for at least a year.
Sylvie attends Pierre's tribute and is horrified to see Madeline there in the same dress as her. Madeline apologizes to Sylvie and asks her to come back to Savoir, practically begging the woman, but Sylvie snidely remarks that her and an American company are like Madeline and that dress - it just doesn't fit. Moments later, Pierre takes to the balcony to announce that he's sold his company to JVMA, who Sylvie realizes does all their marketing in-house. She tries to confront Pierre who pulls her into a photo op, telling her to just smile, despite her rejection. Julien and Luc express their disappointment that Sylvie didn't ask them first before rejecting Savoir's offer, since they risked a lot following her to a new company. Not wanting to make the same mistakes, Sylvie invites Julien and Luc to brunch where she shares JVMA's offer to hire the trio to work for the company as Pierre's marketing company. They would lose Agence Grateau and become JVMA employees, though with agency manage Pierre. Julien and Luc agree to keeping the company as they believe in Sylvie.
Agence Grateau faces its next challenge when Sylvie's landlord catches her operating a business out of her flat, warning her that she can be evicted. Luc accidentally shares that Emily and Madeline are having issues with the Savoir building and he's old friends with their building manager Henri. Sylvie conspires with Luc to seduce Henri into making the building inoperable for the Americans. They succeed in forcing Savoir not only out of the building, but out of business. Sylvie, her company, and employees move into their former building, though Julien and Luc notice the empty space where Emily should be. The men try to convince Sylvie to take Emily back but she dismisses them instantly. Meanwhile, she tries to navigate the red tape of owning a business, such as licenses and taxes. She decides to text Laurent for help, though Erik is upset when he finds them together in the apartment and when he learns Laurent is staying with her for a few days. Sylvie goes out to lunch with Louise who tells her about Emily's brilliant pitch to her about Champère. Sylvie believes the cosmos are trying to tell her something, and offers Emily her old job back.
Sylvie, Luc, and Julien conduct a photoshoot with Erik for their press packet without Emily since she needs to renew her work visa by proving her value to France. Desperate to prove herself to Sylvie, Emily makes it her mission to get Sylvie on "La Liste", a special press honor for entrepreneurs. Emily secures a meeting with Janine DuBois, the woman in charge of the La Liste, and invites Sylvie along to woo Janine. The next day, Erik tells Sylvie that Emily made the cover of La Liste, has a spot, and that Gabriel is listed as well. The woman is infuriated as Emily was meant to be promoting the company, not herself or her Hot Chef during the meeting. Emily wins her back by announcing that Agence Grateau is marketing JVMA's sunscreen. Sylvie glibly tells her "good job" than has Emily mail the magazine in with her visa application. She later learns she didn't make the list because it's for newcomers, but is featured in a standalone article online.
After Agence Grateau loses a venue for a McLaren event, Emily proposes using Antoine's chateau in Provence. The trip puts Sylvie in an awkward place romantically when Antoine not-so-subtly hints to Erik that he and Sylvie had an affair. Erik, who is there to photograph the event, presses Sylvie until she admits to the affair, but assures him he's the only man in her life. When Laurent is unexpectedly invited to the McLaren event, Sylvie shoos Emily from her job working the guest list in an attempt to block Laurent from getting in. Erik sees the two interacting and confronts Sylvie about why she's still married to Laurent if she doesn't love him, and when she can't provide an answer, he breaks up with her and leaves the event. That night, she heads to the lavender fields when Laurent joins her. He's willing to get a divorce if it will make her happy, but he'll always be there for her if she needs him. Their kiss is cut-off when a hive of bees attacks them. They flee to the pool while stripping and jump-in. They makeout in the pool and spend the night together, leaving Provence arm-in-arm.
Once back in France, Pierre Cadault begs Sylvie and Agence Grateau for help with his pop up store. The group tries to convince Nicolas to hire them as Pierre's agency to solve all their problems. Beleving they've accomplished this, Emily invites Pierre to a lunch with everyone. Nicolas surprises Agene Grateau by sharing his decision to fire Pierre and keep the fashion line without the man by hiring Grégory Elliott Duprée, who is a client of Agence Grateau and just unsuccessfully pitched a BDSM line to Air France, as head designer. Emily is to late in trying to stop Pierre from attending the event, and he's hit by a car crossing the street to join them. He survives and is admitted to an in-patient facility while JVMA secretly conspires to replace Pierre with Grégory. Agence Grateau take a meeting with Gregory since they still represent him, and the man shares that Pierre gave him a crude nickname in the press years ago. When Nicolas refuses to postpone Grégory's announcement until Pierre is released from the hospital, Sylvie takes a meeting with Louis de Leon, Nicolas' father and the head of JVMA. Sylvie leverages her past with Louis, which includes workplace impropriety, to convince him to postpone the announcement.
Nicolas intends to announce Grégory at the pop-store that evening, regardless of his father's advice. Pierre is emotional when Emily and Sylvie share the news, especially because "Gag-ory" is given the job. Agence Grateau decides to generate sensation around Pierre as an individual outside of the label, by successfully convincing everyone that Pierre died in the hospital. Nicolas, not knowing about the salacious story, turns the party into a spectacle. Pierre makes a grand entrance and steals the spotlight from Grégory and JVMA, humiliating Nicolas in front of Louis. Nicolas discovers Sylvie was behind the rumor and cuts ties between their companies, but Sylvie doesn't care. She's losing an opportunity she never really desired: a relationship with Louis de Leon. Sylvie and Emily leave the event together, pleased with their outcome.
Julien pitches an idea to Ami Paris that Emily decides to insert herself in and change last-minute while in the meeting. Afterward, Julien requests a lunch with Sylvie where he unloads his frustrations about Emily taking over his pitches and having little respect for work-related boundaries. Sylvie is distracted and doesn't take his claims seriously, as she's dealing with a long-distance relationship with Laurent and her nosy mother. She was meant to attend the Opera with Laurent but he returned to his clubs in St. Tropez, despite it being their anniversary. Knowing she has an extra ticket, Luc invites himself along, and she lies about not feeling well to get out of it. She ultimately attends by herself and is surprised when Laurent shows up after all. He did forget it was their anniversary but once he remembered, he came straight back to Paris to be with her.
The next work day, Julien pitches a deck to Turner & Ascot that Emily takes over. He snaps at her during the meeting for not having an off switch. She briefly and quietly apologizes to him outside the meeting. Sylvie apologizes to and admits she didn't see how Emily behaves until now and wants him to be happy. She assures him she will deal with Emily. Sylvie goes out with Laurent who shares that he's opening a club in Paris, and wants her help in attracting fashionable and luxury clients to attend. She's happy and doesn't know what to do with all her happiness, asking how he can open a new club so soon. He didn't think he could until he got a new investor in Louis de Leon. He doesn't notice her unease and sweeps her into a dance on the Persian sidewalks.
Season 4[]
Sylvie worries about Louis de Leon's retaliation against her, fearing his investment in Laurent's new yacht club could be a ploy. She puts her feelings aside to attend the French Open with a brief visit to the JVMA suite, though she learns Julien is leaving Agence Grateau for JVMA. He accuses her of be selfish and doesn't appreciate her implication that the only reason he was hired by JVMA was revenge against her. Meanwhile, she agrees to market Antoine's new perfume with Baccarat, "Heartbreak".
She receives an interview request from a reporter exposing Louis's inappropriate relationships with female subordinates. She grapples with accepting to comment or not because it could negatively impact Laurent's business. She only agrees after hearing from Emily how the culture at JVMA hasn't changed. The publics reaction to the scandal is mixed, with some clients pulling from Agence Grateau because of the headlines, while others continued to support Sylvie from within. Julien rekindles his friendship with Sylvie, rejoining the company after refusing to give Louis dirt on his old boss. Meanwhile, Sylvie helps Laurent open his club without the backing of Louis, finding a new financial backer in her mother, Héloise. With the help Luc, Julien, and Emily, the club opening is a smash success and saves the company name.
As Sylvie steadies her professional life and romance with Laurent, her stepdaughter Genevieve moves to Paris to pursue a career in fashion. Sylvie isn't initially happy that Genevieve is living with them, but comes to accept her with time. When her attempts to get Genevieve her dream job backfires, Sylvie hires her to work at Agence Gratea. As they bond more over their shared love of fashion, Genevieve lets slip that Laurent visits her mother twice a year, staying with them until Genevieve returns from school. This revelation, coupled with Sylvie's belief that she and Laurent no longer have an open relationship, leaves her feeling betrayed by the numerous revelations of Laurent's escapades in Saint-Tropez. Looking for revenge, she goes to Laurent G a Paris and dances seductively with a random patron, ensuring the club manager tells Laurent what he saw.
Personality[]
Sylvie is the depiction of a hard-working boss who knows what she wants and doesn't settle for anything less. She is intelligent and expects that intellect to be matched by her co-workers. Her blunt honesty often depicts her as rude or harsh. She cares for Antoine romantically and grew to want more from their relationship than mere sex, and was saddened when Antoine chose Catherine over her. This sadness quickly turned to anger that she channelled through her work at Savoir.
Relationships[]
Emily Cooper[]
- Main article: Emily and Sylvie
Sylvie is a hard-as-nails woman with little patience for Emily, the American girl, sent to work for her. Along with some of her colleagues, Sylvie initially disliked Emily as she didn't speak French and sought to make changes at Savoir. They eventually formed a mutual understanding of one another.
Antoine Lambert[]
Sylvie and Antoine met over a decade ago when they were both young businesspeople hoping to succeed. Antoine was recently signed to Savoir as a client, with Sylvie working on his account. He pursued her aggressively despite being married and they struck up an affair that would last for years. She served as his mistress until she felt underappreciated and grew tired of the secrecy and broken promises.
Pierre Cadault[]
Sylvie is a fan of Pierre and desperate to represent him. She was horrified to hear him refer to Emily as "Ringarde".
Trivia[]
- Sylvie speaks English, French, Italian and a bit of Spanish.[1]
- Sylvie has a pet cat.
Appearances[]
Season 1[] |
Season 2[] |
Season 3[] |
Season 4[] |
