May 10th, 2020, 09:55 AM

Stores to Bookmark in Paris When Quarantine is Over

By Leila Roker
We're all itching to get outdoors. The long-waited May 11 is just a day away! Here are some stores in Paris that the fashion class recommends you check out once we all get to stretch our legs.

Studio des Parfums

Example of Final Product and Perfume Package, Image Credit: Kayla Stokes

Located in the heart of the Marais, Studio des Parfums is a small boutique dedicated to helping people curate their perfect, personalized perfume. This perfume lab is a hidden gem for people who crave the experience of creating their own perfumes, but hope to avoid tourist traps such as The Alchemist Atelier. For over ten years, Studio des Parfums has brought their customer's dream perfumes to reality in just an hour and a half. Customers can choose between having their own individual, couple, or group workshop. 

Each session is guided by a highly trained perfumer. Throughout the session, customers will experience how to mix their own perfume and choose their own base, middle, and top notes from over 40 different scents. You will also have the chance to name your own perfume! Once satisfied with your creation, the shop will document the perfume into their system with a special ID number so that you can reorder it any time! 

Studio des Parfums is located on 23 Rue Bourg Tibourg in the 4th arrondissement of Paris. Workshops are held in English and French! 

-Kayla Stokes

Audrey Langlois: An Authentically Parisian Minimalist Jewelry Haven

A look into the boutique, image credit: Linnea Wingerup

The world of Audrey Langlois is one of everyday magic and fairytale-like detail. Her mission is to make each customer feel like each piece was made especially for them. Situated on rue de Temple on the edge of the ever-creative Marais region of Paris, sits Audrey Langlois’ flagship boutique named after the designer herself.

“I was really passionate about gemstones and jewelry, and I used to collect a lot of vintage jewelry and family jewelry” Audrey notes when probed about her love of jewelry-making. She additionally mentions that most of her inspiration is garnered “mostly from antiques, like sculptures or even antique jewelry”. The rings, cuffs, bracelets, and earrings of the displayed collections at Audrey Langlois show a great deal of detail and time-intensive work, with the necklaces featuring a single gemstone, and rings of gold and amethyst resting on soft displays. Her commitment to these well-made pieces is evident. “I draw my inspiration from culture’s refinement as well as from nature’s imperfect, sometimes exuberant, splendor…” . This splendor has been definitively captured in Langlois’ store and collections, rendering her a notable up-and-coming Parisian jewelry designer. I, for one, would like a piece for myself.

66 rue du Temple, 75003, Paris; Hours (Tuesday-Saturday) 11h00 - 19h00; contact@audreylanglois-paris.fr

-Linnea Wingerup

Sillages Paris

Image Credit, Aira Xenelli 

Maxime Garcia-Janin, 29, founded Sillages Paris in 2018 with the goal of launching Haute Parfumerie 3.0. He wants to stay far away from the standardization of modern perfumery and make the experience of wearing perfume tailored to the person wearing it. His goal is to make sure that a person will not smell like everyone else.

Customers can compose their personalized perfume online, choosing their palette of 3-6 ingredients out of a possible 64, and then selecting a personal sillage among the hundreds of formulas created by the master perfumers in house. The online algorithm looks for a custom formula according to the customer’s tastes.

For customers unwilling to make a perfume online, this millennial brand has a store front in the Bastille. Located in the 11th arrondissement, customers can book a 30-minutes appointment with the store manager and create a custom scent in person. All 64 raw ingredients are floating on this acrylic string display in the main floor room, available to be sniffed at the customer’s leisure.

Sillages Paris is located at 5 rue Charonne, Cour Jacques Vigues, 75011 Paris, France. For appointments, please book online.

-Aira Xenelli 

Paris Knitters and Crocheters Club

 

Knitting, Image Credit: Shutterstock/1524686048

In light of the recent growth in popularity of knitting, the presence of knitting clubs has skyrocketed throughout Paris. One of the most active clubs is called Paris Knitters and Crocheters. The club is accessible through the app, Meet Up, accessible on Apple and Android app store.

 

One of the members and club organizers, Ally shared that originally she used this to craft as just a hobby but now as the co-organizer for this club that meets on weekend afternoons she is able to enjoy the company of the group over light refreshments while progressing on her most recent knit or crochet project. “It’s peaceful and I enjoy being able to have a creative outlet in my life apart from the office work life that I have to live out throughout the week. Also, with the strikes that happened during the holiday season, it was nice to have something to work while being cooped up inside for several weeks.” Ally expressed.

 

If you are interested in joining this club feel free to visit their homepage.

-Lauren McDonald

 

Severine's Boulangerie

 

Severine in her bakery, Image Credit: Jason Treffry

Severine has been baking out of her boulangerie, Florentín, in the 15th arrondissement of Paris, France, since 2005.

 

She grew up helping her mother and grandmother in the kitchen as a child and young adult. In the late 1990’s, Severine received an internship in New York city and was excited for the opportunity to experience America and progress in her profession. It was a growing year for her, until one day she received a call that would change her life, her grandmother had died. Less than a week later, she moved back to France to be with her family during this tragic time. Her family tried to juggle their personal lives while still keeping the family business running. A year later, things started to turn around. Severine met and married her husband, then welcomed a daughter into the world not too long after. With her new-found inspiration and joy for life, she decided it was time to open her own bakery. She found a location with lots of foot-traffic to help her business, especially during the beginning stages. With the help of her husband, they opened their doors a few months later.

 

Severine’s bakery isn’t like any other bakery. Her husband is an avid Lego builder and has filled the bakery with Lego models and characters on display for all to see inside and out. His current showpiece is a creation of the Arc de Triomphe with the Olympic rings above it, in honor of the Summer Olympics games to be held in Paris in 2024. Aside from providing some of the most traditional French pastries, Severine also offers a combination of her profession and her husband’s obsession by selling edible Legos! Severine has done her best to progress in her craft while keeping family close. I’m thankful to have someone like her nearby to bring a smile to my face whenever I stop by. She has a heart of gold and is a rare talent in the kitchen.

 

 

169 Rue de Vaugirard, 75015 Paris, France

-Jason Treffry

 

Vanessa Bruno

 

 

Vanessa Bruno is a fashion designer born in 1967 from a French father and a Danish mother. This dual origin has significantly influenced her creations, through which we find the French chic but also the nomadic spirit of Denmark. Her collections are inspired by the sixties, mixing the bohemian spirit and the boldness of Rock&Roll. Her collections reflect lucidity intertwined with glamor; Parisian elegance combined with bohemian nonchalance. In 1996, she started her eponymous brand with a desire to break away from everyday life and to give every woman a modern evolutionary wardrobe. In 1998, she opens her first store in the left bank of Paris and launched the same year the iconic “Cabas” which instantly became an international bestseller. The fashion label has new more than 300 points of sales around the world, with a main showroom located in the 11th arrondissement in Paris.

 

 

8-11 rue de la Pierre-levée, 75011 Paris, France.

-Abdel Benakki

 

Dover Street Parfums Market

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

COSMYDOR @cosmydor x GREMS @insta_grems available now at Dover Street Parfums Market Paris. #DSPM

A post shared by DOVER STREET PARFUMS MARKET (@doverstreetparfumsmarket) on

Wander through the maze-like streets of Le Marais, Paris' 3rd arondisement to discover Dover Street Parfums Market, the Parisian outpost of Dover Street Market, a cult multibrand retailer founded in 2004. This is the fifth retail outpost of Rei Kawakubo and Adrian Joffe, the iconic duo who lead Comme des Garçons.

Stocking new, unusual, and hard-to-find avant-garde fragrances, this two-story boutique has a clinical and streamlined look. Stocking fragrances from Byredo, Commes de Garçons, 19-68 and even Diana Vreeland Parfums, the store offers an eclectic range of beauty and personal care products as well. On the lower level visitors can find beauty, hair and makeup items from Dr. Bronner, Edward Bess, and Nannette de Gaspe.

11 bis Rue Elzevir, 75003, Paris, France; Phone: 01 45 31 33 20

-Claudia Gunter

Liwan

The boutique I was interested in was called Liwan. Liwan is located in the 6th arrondissement, near the Odeon, and it is surrounded by other small boutiques that add charm to the lovely street. It is filled with traditional Lebanese clothing and handmade goods from various other crafts-men around the world. The garments that are sold in the store are beautifully hand decorated with precise stitching and embroidery, making each one unique and individualized. What is great about this store is that not only are the products beautiful, they are handmade, so each are different than the next. Handmade products are the best due to the fact you can tell how hard someone worked on them and the passion for craftsmanship The clothing is simplistic with its exterior colors, but it is the detail on the inside that give them an extra glow. This store beautifully brings together fashion and culture, and that is what makes it such a treasure.

8 Rue Saint-Sulpice, 75006, Paris, France

-Alicia Blum 

Nomasei

Image Credit: Juliette Abitbol & Edouard Sanville for Nomasei

Inspired by the terra-cotta red typically found in the Tuscan hills and the Sienna earth, and off-white, the color of the Pompeii marbles, the concept for Nomasei took form. Tucked away in a little shop of the 18th arrondissement of Paris, the shoe store was founded by Paul Tenailllon and Marine Braquet, who have both worked at some of the biggest fashion houses such as Dior, Chloé, Jil Sander, Louis Vuitton, and Givenchy. They had the idea of creating a luxury brand that would not only embrace their commitment to crafting timeless and genuine products, but also to being ethically engaged and transparent in the process. Nomasei embodies the work of the hands. “Mano”, hand in Italian, is the inspiration for “Noma”, but with a twist; and “Sei” means “six”, because every creation is the result of a collaboration between the work of multiple hands and skills coming together around one idea that eventually becomes a creation. It symbolizes the four hands for the two designers, and two hands for the collaborators, including craftsmen and customers. Nomasei sources all of its materials locally and uses packaging made from recycled paper, cardboard, organic cotton, and compostable plastic. The duo has set a six-month goal for themselves, but they admit that there is a long way to go to achieve full sustainability. Nomasei’s main goal is to offer a luxury product with less impact on humans and the environment, one that is timeless and offered at a fair price.

 

11 Rue Robert Planquette, 75018 Paris

-Sophia Scalzo

 

 

 

The Craftsmanship Behind Chanel

 

Atelier, Image Credit: Shutterstock/1180432414

In Paris fashion today, craftsmanship is still king. Tradition is incredibly important in Paris and while the fashion industry is always innovating, the value placed in handcrafted goods is still very high. The work produced by artisanal suppliers is the driving force behind haute couture, specifically The House of Chanel. A longtime champion of small craftspeople as a backbone for their design, Chanel has been instrumental in preserving, maintaining and promoting artisanal work. Chanel guaranteed the survival of 21 manufacturers and 13 artisanal suppliers for over 25 years, starting in 1985 until 2013 when they acquired their most recent supplier. These are all specialty artisanal workshops that supply luxury craftwork to couture houses in Paris. Under the subsidiary Paraffection S.A., owned by Chanel and established in 1997, the specialty workshops are also free to work with other houses. This model allows them to remain independent while maintaining the benefit of being a part of Paraffection. In this way, Chanel has guaranteed stability for these craftspeople and promoted their artisanal work to younger generations.

To find out more about the House of Chanel, visit Chanel.com.

 

-Coco Wagner

 

Parisian Chic City Guide 

 

If anyone in Paris is looking on how to fill their weekend plans post-quarantine, Parisian Chic City Guide, written by Parisian fashion icon Ines de la Fressange, is a pocket-sized guide to everything that is Paris. This book will appeal to those who have children or are willing to splurge to enjoy the best of the best in Paris. The book is essentially a trusted guide to the city, written by a well-known stylish Parisian local.

The book is organized by the 20 Arrondissements and shares what makes each restaurant, shop, florist, etc unique, as well as the author’s personal favorite finds about each area. It also includes a map of Paris and blank pages for personal notes in the back. This city guide is the perfect size to bring around with you and explore the beautiful charming city that is Paris.

Although Google Maps and TripAdvisor are used more nowadays with the age of technology, but the Parisian Chic City Guide is a one of a kind book, made for those who do not want all the typical tourist hot spots. It will bring you into the Parisian scene as if you lived here yourself. You will start to shop, eat, and live like a local Parisian.

You can buy this book on Amazon.

-Alicia Blum