PARIS’S TEMPLE OF COOL Colette Turns Retailing Into Art By Jeanne Rudbeck The French have a word for it: chicissime. For style-insiders from Tokyo to Toronto the Right Bank store is as much a must as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame or the Louvre. Visitors enter not urgently, like shoppers, but concentrated and pious, like the faithful entering the famous cathedral or art lovers approaching the Mona Lisa. For Parisians, the anonymous building on the rue Saint Honore, just a few blocks from Hermes, Lanvin and the other haute couture houses, is an obligatory twice-a-week stop It's l'amour; it's le fun. It's also a byword for all that is hip, chic and cutting-edge. X-ray-thin French women clad all in black come to check out the latest finds before adjourning to the intimate water bar in the basement to discuss their style experience while quaffing one of the 65 mineral waters. The Acqua della Madonna from Italy or the light fizzy from Japan are especially nice while nibbling at minimalist exotic cuisine that keeps them trim enough to fit into the clothes displayed on the upper level. Here, unique pieces by the grand designers like Chloé and Comme des Garcons are hung next to the classic white Gap-T-shirt, though the latter has been reworked by designers such as Doo.Ri, Rodarte and Thakoon. Colette is more than a store. It's a concept. The founders, Colette Roussaux and her daughter Sarah Lerfel are instinctive buyers. They give space only to pieces they have fallen in love with in their travels to far corners of the world; pieces that have a look; pieces that have a certain je ne sais quoi; pieces that won't be discovered in New York or London until long after they've been exhibited at Colette. Here anything could be cutting edge: a handbag, a box of detergent or a pair of vintage Adidas. Accessory addicts think they've died and gone to heaven. Colette exhibited the iconic Dinh Van bracelet long before it became...well, iconic. On one visit I saw an Ikepod watch by Marc Newson, $40,000, displayed near a $2 pot of Carmex and a $1.50 Livestrong yellow rubber bracelet. In the shoe department I found a pair of rubber Italian beach shoes for ten dollars next to $400 Pradas. I bought the rubber slides. Colette was the first in Europé to sell items from the New York apothecary Kiehl's and bags by Le Sportsac. For the 2007 World Cup in Rugby, which is hosted by France, Colette featured key pieces from Ralph Lauren's RUGBY line. The $120 jersey shirts were snapped up on the opening day and sold out as fast as World Cup tickets. To mark its tenth anniversary this year, Colette has relaunched the classic Lacoste crocodile polo, but with a twist: the resident dogs Cap and Pep chase the famous crocodile across the shirt. As daughter Sarah, a former art student, says, the only rule is that there are no rules. Colette 213 rue Saint-Honoré Paris Tel: 33 1 55 35 33 90 www.colette.fr |
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