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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II.2.1.

Palais Royal now

2.2.1. PALAIS-ROYAL NOW

MENU: 2.2.1. Palais-Royal now

 

HIGH-PRICED BANALITY — AND A FEW BOUTIQUES WHOSE WARES ARE STILL WORTH THEIR PRICE 

Claude Abron

Adapted from a Google map

Echoes of tradition

• Evolution

• The ambiance of a Balzac novel

• Remembrance of things past

• A sumptuous covered passage remains

• The walk ends in a salon

• A restaurant whose serenity prolongs the mood

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Evolution

EVOLUTION

BRANDS' MARKUPS ALLOW HUGE RENTS, WHICH RAISE ALL RENTS: WHEN OWNERS OF TRADITIONAL SHOPS RETIRE, 

MERCHANTS OF COMPARABLE SPIRIT LACK THE MEANS TO REPLACE THEM

Take what used to be a historic café, where furious debates took place during the Revolution and Napoleon became a client. Until 2016 it remained a restaurant, where life sized engravings of Louis-Philippe's family* lined the walls. 

* The head of the Bourbon junior branch. Its connection with the site is explained here.

Zoom

The gardens are reflected in the window.

With its immense engravings covering the wall, the spirit of the restaurant fit that of the gardens. Those below are much less impressive, but give the idea:  

 

Engravings sold on the web 

# # #

The café where revolutionaries' discussions contributed to transforming France is now a place to find a brand of shoes... 

Their cost, in 2019; the list is no longer posted, but prices appear on the web.

...or silence.

 

# # #

Traditional luxury is produced

 on a small scale in owners' workshops

or in countries where regulation is relatively strict.

It costs the same or less than mass-produced brands,

and its price / quality ratio is infinitely better. 

Walk through these gardens slowly and look attentively

to find shops that still sell luxury that is worth its cost.

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The ambiance of a Balzac novel

THE AMBIANCE OF A BALZAC NOVEL

MEDALS AND SABERS SET THE TONE UNDER THE GARDENS' ARCADES 

(START WITH GALÉRIE MONTPENSIER ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE GARDENS IF YOU COME FROM THE LOUVRE)

La Galerie numismatique

 N°s 4-5 Galerie Montpensier

Next door, an establishment present since 1790 

Baqueville

Since 1790

N°s 6-7-8

Then... 

La Maison de l'Ambre

 N° 15 


Didier Ludot

 N°s 20-24

Vintage, since 1974

...and a gallery of Primal Arts that from 1993 to 2024, showed works worthy of a museum... 

Gallery photo

Galérie Ivana Dmitrie

N° 36

...then, for change, in 2024 opened a temporary exhibit of 20th century mechanical toys to collect or decorate:

Ivana Dimitrie

# # #

Under the arcades on the other side of the garden (galerie Valois) used to be "Delage," for handbags, belts and shoes made by hand in France. Not seeing the name among the Palais-Royal boutiques mentioned on the web, I thought it had gone as others had. But before suppressing the images, I passed by to see what had replaced it.  

   

"We're the same! With a workshop and seven craftspeople in Brittany!" said the cheerful owners who greeted me:

François Croze and Jean-François Célaerio

Délage, now Bégum 

N° 15 

Compare prices with those of a mass-produced brand in 2019, shown above.

"One has to re-register à company every ten years, and we forgot. Another company took our name and tried to sell it back to us. So we changed it."  

Thinking that mediocrity was the definitive evolution, I was surprised and delighted to discover this boutique, arrived in 2023 :

  «  Malachite !»

Monies 

N° 149 

This handful of shops are superbe exceptions

 to the standardized production that invades the garden.  

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Remembrance of things past

REMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PAST

"MEN WHO VALUE ENGRAVINGS APPRECIATE MY VESTS," SAID THE OWNER OF A SHOP THAT FIT ITS 18TH-CENTURY SETTING

A boutique that until 2024 epitomized a spirit that we recall with nostalgia:

La Galerie d'argent 

42 galerie Montpensier

(It then became an office)

Danou Jacquard, descendent of the founder of Jaquard looms, and creator of a shop that perfectly represented classic France. 

Leave the gardens by their farther end

and stroll toward this royal place:

Place des Victoires

You will remain in an (almost) preserved oasis.

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A sumptuous "covered passage" remains

A SUMPTUOUS COVERED PASSAGE REMAINS

GALERIE VIVIENNE IS SO DISCREET THAT PASSERS-BY OFTEN MISS IT

4, rue des Petits-Champs

Though banality has invaded here too, some shops express the former spirit:  

Lucien Legrand
At the entrance

Founded 1880; Japanese ownership since 2013, but the wines the same.

Wolff and Descourtis

N° 18

The next page says more.

Catherine André
N° 26 

Alexis Mabille

 N° 34

Yukii Tori
 N° 38-40

At the end, a bookstore founded in 1826

Librairie Jousseaume 

N° 45

François Jousseaume, the founder's descendant

It evokes a spirit that we miss.  

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The walk ends in a salon

THE WALK ENDS IN A SALON

SCARF DESIGNERS COME FOR INSPIRATION, AND STATE THEIR REGRET FOR THE LIMITS THAT BRANDS IMPOSE

As well, the colors by Italian artisans cannot be mass produced.

Wolff et Descourtis 

 N° 18, galerie Vienne

(No web site but enthusiastic write-ups on Internet)

2019

2024

Until recently one could purchase the hand-dyed scarves in the shop alone, and clients might be visitors for who included the shop on their visits to Paris.  

Now one can buy them through through the web.

# # #

"This shop comes from my family,

which founded it after Germany occupied Alsace

after the war of 1870.

For that story, please click.

It is like my home. 

I will receive you as in my salon..."

"Of course purchases are appreciated,
 but what interests me in our meeting

 is sharing a story that helps know France better." 

-- Owner Victoria Wolff

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A restaurant whose elegance prolongs the mood