After Colette, seven buzzy Paris boutiques drawing the cool crowd with sharply curated selections of hard-to-find fashion, and more
The ultimate concept store, Colette’s closure came as a shock – but there are still places to shop in the French capital. Ahead of couture week, we profile seven of the most happening boutiques in the world’s fashion capital
Few cities in the world take their fashion shopping as seriously as Paris, fashion’s undisputed capital. So the announcement that cult concept store Colette would close its doors in December 2017 sent shock waves not only through the city but also the industry.
“The second-in-command in the newspaper came down to ask us how much space we’d need for [the closure],” recalled journalist Frédéric Martin-Bernard, head of menswear at prominent French newspaper Le Figaro, as he introduced “The future of retail, there is indeed a before and after Colette”, a roundtable he moderated at this year’s edition of the Hyères fashion and photography festival.
Yet while this closure felt like a major blow to the city’s retail landscape, it has hardly left a void.
“Shopping in Paris is at the heart of a big change, whether it is with the ‘why’, the ‘how’ or the ‘what’ customers are browsing for around the capital’s stores,” says Alexis Lau, digital and communication director of the Paris branch of Korean concept store Tom Greyhound. “The city is finally scaling up the game by intensifying the customer’s experience. Retail space has definitely taken back its place in the Parisian shopping landscape.”
These days, stores big and small cannot expect success merely by offering a cutting-edge selection of clothes.
“Everyone knows their size these days, so shopping online is easy,” says Thomas Erber, multi-hyphenate founder of the travelling Cabinet de Curiosité curio shop currently housed at the Hôtel de Crillon. He credits Colette’s success to its founders’ will to turn their space into a cultural hub complete with exhibitions, events and even a restaurant.
