II.2. BRANDS TAKE OVER THE HISTORIC CENTER

MENU: 2.2. Brands take over the historic center 

"I HOPED TO FIND INDEPENDENT CREATORS WITH A POINT OF VIEW, BUT ALL I SAW WAS BRANDS"

 -- New York lawyer

• "You've discovered the rue de Sèvres!" said a cousin when it was a street for couture at affordable prices, but now one finds brands alone:

Rue de Sèvres facing métro Sèvres-Babylone

• At Palais-Royal, a brand occupies five arcades as luxury's very meaning changes: 

Stella McCartney

 114-120 galerie de Valois

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Until about 2000, "luxury" articles were unique or made in very small series, of perfect quality. Now they are standardized wares bought for their label, which are almost always produced by exploiting labor or the environment. 

•  " 'Virtually entire' fashion industry is complicit on Uighur forced labor, say rights groups:" headline in The Guardian.

•  "Responsible" production is rarely verified.

Brands raise prices exponentially: A friend working for a well-known name was stupefied when an invoice showed wares produced in Bangladesh marked up 2000%.

As well, quality is cut when it hurts the bottom line.* Clients whose wealth is recent may not know know what quality is, and when they buy for the label, do not care.

*A Dior lipstick fell apart after I used it twice. A coat bought for 700€ at un upscale department store (Le Bon Marché), did not fit professional production standards. The wife of the former director of the Etablissement Michel (hatter bought by Chanel) said that commercial directors were not trained in crafts and might not know the effects of their cost-cutting decisions.

# # #

‘Oh, today I’m wearing a Rolex..."

“For them, it’s so ordinary: ‘Oh, today I’m wearing a Rolex" or 'it’s just a Birkin,’ Ms. Szigeti said of how casually some of her clients refer to watches and bags most people only dream of owning." (bold added)

-- The New York Times, by Andrew Zucker, Jan. 20, 2024

"Most people only dream of owning:"

The writer thinks the brag-worthy wares 

are worth wanting. 

# # #

  In brief

• Palais-Royal now 

• Quiet left-bank shops and landmarks  

• Skip the grotesque profits: affordable shopping in "real" Paris 

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Next,

II.2.1.

Palais Royal now