III.5.8. "THE EMERGING DESIGN HUB OF PARIS"

THE BBC WROTE OF LA GOUTTE D'OR IN 2018

(OF SHOPS THAT HAD SPRUNG UP SINCE 2016)

At its heart is a crossroad, over which hovers a center for urban and world music (since 2021). We will come to it. But now, discover the kind of shop the BBC mentions, that would be impossible to find anywhere else.

The Paris 360 Music Factory

                                                                                                        HollyHood

A walk in which African spirits flourish. 

• "An Afro brand out to conquer the world"  

• Detour: African market signs

• Detour: ads that express engagement

• Madame Touré's fashion

• Christian prints in a Muslim neighborhood

• Black heros inspire streetwear

• A tiny restaurant and a take-out

*    *    *

Next,

"An Afro brand out to conquer the world..."

"AN AFRO BRAND OUT TO CONQUER THE WORLD..."

WROTE "LE MONDE"* OF MERGING AFRICAN MARKET SIGNS, WAX PRINTS, POP ART, COMICS AND COLOR TO INVENT A STYLE

*Considered the most influential French daily. 

Youssouf Fofana, child of the northern outskirts, created 

Maison Château Rouge in 2016.

Zoom

He made this poster to promote neighborhood creativity generally:

Maison Château Rouge

40bis rue Myrha

His style:

Richard Nahem

Newsletter

       

Ibrahim, vendor

The client in the black t-shirt spoke English with a foreign accent. Maison Château Rouge corresponds to what Chanel used to be, luxury unique to Paris. 

 

Kids scribbled on the panel that replaced a broken window. Two months later it was still there: Perhaps it was left on purpose.

But in April 2026 it was "temporarily closed..."

...occupying for a time the empty Tati department store at Barbès.

  # # #

The Monoprix chain gave it 

nation-wide recognition.

*     *     *

Next,

Detour: African market signs

DETOUR : AFRICAN MARKET SIGNS

ONE FOUND THEM BY LUCK ALONE UNTIL FOFANA MADE THEM HIS SPRINGBOARD 

"My parents brought it back from a trip to Africa," says the doctor whose office this sign adorns: 

"These canes were part of the assortment of a collector who had lived in Africa," said the antiquarian specialized in canes:

La Galerie Jantzen 

18 rue de Beaune,7th

"I found them when cleaning out an attic in Alsace," the founder of the bookstore across the street from Maison Château Rouge admits:

La Régulière

43 rue Myrha

The only other place, to my knowledge, where such signs appear by calculation is a restaurant whose decor Fofana created: 

      Another Soul Restaurant in Paris (Baba Soul, 10th), "Entry to Black Paris" 

By highlighting the overlooked art 

he has launched an idiom 

that is direct, humanistic and fun.

*    *    * 

Next,

Detour: ads with a different message

DETOUR: ADS THAT EXPRESS ENGAGEMENT

FOFONA'S FIGURES ARE PART OF A WIDER WORLD...

          Newsletter 

...NOT THE USUAL VOID

                                                                 At top of Hotel Lutétia, 7th, 2015

     Next to river and across from Louvre, 2020

Mall, 2025

*    *    *

Next,

Madame Touré's fashion

MADAME TOURÉ'S FASHION

THIS FORMER MUSIC STORE IS NOW A TINY BOUTIQUE,  WORKSHOP AND PARLOR

Pala Pala Music 

35 rue Myrha

Abidjan's Madame Touré chats with a friend. Small as it is, the shop is as convivial as the beauty parlors and like the Asian computer store in the 13th (please click and scroll down), money is not the only goal.

 

The guest is blacked out because I forgot to ask permission to use her photo.

The client on the left observes as Madame Touré makes her headdress. The workshop is behind the man on the right.

 

Madame Touré creates her wares. 

"Usually clothing in this spirit is sold 

as mass production on the web.

Here we imagine it ourselves and make it by hand."

-- Madame Touré

*    *    *

Next,

Christian prints in a Muslim neighborhood 

CHRISTIAN PRINTS IN A MUSLIM NEIGHBORHOOD

A STORE FOR NOTIONS LADS TO CATHOLIC INVENTIVITY AND

A MAJOR RELIC 

Having lunch at this restaurant...

 

Across the street from the Paris 360 Music Factory (more later)

I noticed the unusual announcements across the street...

La Grande Mercerie de Château Rouge

     31 bis rue Myrha 

"Students, 50 % reduction on your alterations;" "Religious cloths..." and remembered that I had to replace a snap.

# # #

"You can't sew it by hand. Let Pierre replace it," said the lady who greeted me. Later I learned that this was a family enterprise. The distinguished man behind the counter was her husband and the young man her son:

Snaps of different colors. Few stores bother with such minimal mending (for one euro in 2020).

While waiting I noticed Christian images, surprising in that Muslim neighborhood which led to talking to the Cameroonian owner, Marie-Isabel Djob* Ngena-Nkondo.

*"Child of God"

Going toward the church of Saint-Bernard-de-la-Chapelle

She said that she had been the cantor at the Saint Denys Basilica* 

which shelters the tunic Jesus wore on his way to Calvary**

*In Argenteuil, a commune north of Paris, site of an important medieval abbey. 

**For its story, The Seamless Robe of Jesus, Wikipedia; for a more complete account, this article in French:

Summary

The weaving is that of the 5th or 6th century, but may be older: Lack of examples prevents comparaison. But the tears in the tunic correspond to carrying a heavy object on the shoulders and DNA tests show the same blood group as that on the two other relics believed to be of Jesus.

In 2016, its exceptional display drew at least 200,000 pilgrims :

Left, Charlemagne brings the tunic to his daughter, the abbess of  Argenteuil;

Right, the tunic as shown in 2016.

She had this and other Catholic prints made in the Ivory Coast:

The fleur de lys, symbol of the French monarchy, evokes the tie between Catholicism and France. 

Displaying these prints shows the tolerance of this largely Muslim neighborhood. 

Protestant, I knew nothing of the relic. It took this store to almost miraculously uncover an important part of Catholicism and so of the Western past. 

Immigrants work: 

Marie-Isabel may sleep in the store. 

*     *     *

Next,

Black leaders inspire streetwear