Kulte, a French fashion-meets-streetwear line, initially started out as a secondhand clothing store, and has since evolved into original, urban collections for men and women. Vintage-inspired graphics and cuts inform the designs, while the brand aims to bring a fresh, modern feel to the everyday wardrobe. Located in Paris’ Marais neighborhood, this shop is one to add to
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This collective-minded store in Paris’ Marais neighborhood features the work of four
independent creators: objects and furniture by Matali Crassey, CDs by artists on the Blonde Music record label, clothing by Misericordia and shoes by Veja. Painted an ambient sky blue from ceiling to floor, and featuring intricately carved birch plywood shelves to showcase the merchandise, Lieu Commun is
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With furniture and lamps by Isamu Noguchi, Verner Panton, and Jean Prouvé alongside its own eponymous line, interiors store Sentou also features housewares, textiles, and varying objets d’arts by several lines. Represented on both the right and left banks of Paris, both branches of this colorful, luminescent store are full of innovative treasures for the home.
29 rue
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PARIS...Bernhard Willhelm designs in the same arena as Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, Tsumori Chisato and Jeremy Scott, allowing his imagination to unravel freely each season. The German born, Belgian based talent created a savvy mashup of ethnic and animal influences, using bold black and white linear prints alongside realistic depictions of lions and other creatures. Simultaneously urban, lightly kitschy, graphic and
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PARIS...Tsumori Chisato, who began working with Issey Miyake in 1977 before starting her own line a decade later, brought her expected wildness to Paris runways for S/S 09, taking an exuberant and free hand with print, color and texture. A directional, yet on-trend look at ethnic influences, layering and print mixing, Chisato expertly presented striped harem pants, fluttery, feather fringe
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PARIS...French aristocrat Jean-Charles de Castelbajac has been designing ready-to-wear, as well as unique one-off creations, for forty-five years, famously debuting his teddy bear coat on Madonnna in the film Prêt-à-Porter. Castelbajac shows his fanciful work every season in Paris, spinning an entire environment around the clothing. S/S 09 brought him into the clouds, with a light, pop-art set surrounding each
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PARIS...Venerable French brand Cacharel, founded by Jean Bosquet in 1964, has always presented a youthful mood, including bright colors, texture and pattern in their collections. S/S 09 brought a particularly young look to the runway, through the use of smocking, babydoll silhouettes and pieces that would be perfectly suited for a picnic. A shocking yellow enlivened khaki and provided an
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Paris...Lanvin
If any designer has been thoroughly successful in creating a defined signature recently it has been Alber Elbaz for Lanvin. Once again his special ways with proportion-play, luxury materials and classic dress-making techniques culminated in a collection that was truly worthy of closing Paris Fashion Week. The show began in a reserved way with the structured yet voluminous and draped
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Paris...Louis Vuitton
With Edith Piaf singing on the soundtrack, Marc Jacobs' declared that the Louis Vuitton S/S 09 collection was "all about Paris." Although with the masses of feathers, beads and other Africana references, it was most likely the Paris of that other famous chanteuse, Josephine Baker he was referencing. Whatever his initial inspiration might have been, the show was upbeat,
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Paris...Chanel
In recent seasons Karl Lagerfeld has used grandiose props to emphasize the history and strength of the brand. This time out, girls exited from the door of the façade of the Chanel building at 31 Rue Cambon onto the runway "street". Meanwhile "Our House" by Madness (yet another '80s reference!) played in the background. The major silhouettes looked ladylike but
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Paris...YSL
Designer Stefano Pilati took a look toward the East this season “I felt for an extreme simplicity,” he said, “but it has to be feminine and a bit audacious. Lifting the spirits was making sense to me.” He created a fresh tear-shaped pattern which was used on blazers and boleros, both cropped and voluminous. These top-heavy silhouettes created a
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