Colette in Paris.
I got the Colette August newsletter into my inbox last week, and it reminded me of how much I miss shopping in Paris. Colette is an uber-cool lifestyle and fashion store in Paris, one of the first stores to embrace the “lifestyle store” concept. The upstairs has incredible, fashion-forward clothing, displayed on mannequins (no hangers or rails.) The ground floor has jewelry, books, beauty, CD’s, and whatever else is cool at that moment (Cartier rings, mini spy cameras, diving masks, diamond skull jewelry, weird zines, motorcycle helmets, giant coffee table books, anything.) And the basement is a water bar with a menu of over 50 different types of water, and the best hot chocolate ever.
No hangers, all the clothes are on mannequins.
During Paris Fashion Week, Colette is full of international fashionistas trying to find the “next cool thing.” It is actually a bit scary, and best visited off-peak or you risk ending up lining up outside the store amongst asymmetrical haircuts and giant sunglasses waiting to get inside.
The ground floor at Colette.
Anyway, here are some of the awesome Colette shoes we are missing out on…
Isabel Toledo’s Payless collection. There are some pieces that will be exclusive to Colette, and Isabel and Reuben Toledo will be in the shop on the 16th of August to customize your shoes. Can they come to Vancouver after? (And by the way, why isn’t Gravity Pope, Vancouver’s best shoe retailer with the world’s worst visual merchandising, doing stuff like this?)
The Havaianas limited edition Pinel & Pinel crocodile leather flip flop. There are only 24 pairs being made. For my Milan and London readers, you can also get these at 10 Corso Como and Dover Street Market (the two stores, that along with Colette, make up the three most amazing style stores in the world.)
The joint 50 year anniversary of Hello Kitty and Dr. Martens collaboration boots. I’ve written about Doc Martens a lot lately, and I am feeling I need to wear my old ones (red 8 hole boots) and perhaps invest in a second pair. Not sure I’d go for Hello Kitty ones, but these are very cool nonetheless.
