Rose bakery, Merci Paris

I Can't believe that it has taken me up until now to visit

MERCI Paris

I was pretty sure I was going to love it 

and guess what 

I did 

I was in Paris for Maison et Objet 

as were the rest of the design world 

and Merci was teaming with japanese, Americans, Northern Europeans 

This is where the inspirers go to get inspired 

After a spot of shopping 

We made our way to Le Bon Marche 

and the highlight here was I also finally got to eat lunch at a Rose Bakery outpost

Amazing

simplicity 

taste

texture

perfection

and the cakes......

I purchased the cook book 

and I have already begun working my way through it 

Highly recommended 

 

 

Merci Paris, Egg London and shopping

installation at Merci by Li Edelkoort

I don't need to tell you about

MERCI

The inspirational retail experience founded by

Marie-France and Bernard Cohen

The people behind childrens label

BONPONT

Tapping in to the belief that the customer who goes to a store wants an experience.

This is a place you can buy clothes for yourself, your kids

flowers
 and items for your home
 a second hand book and you can eat!

In this day when everything you could desire is a click away

Sit curled on your own sofa steaming mug of tea in hand and purchase a book,

a nail polish, a dress, a meal

So why would you bother to go to an actual store

Why would you jump on a plane and FLY to Paris ?

Because this store like a handful of others in the world

Is not just offering product

They have delved into something deeper

They have delved into your emotions

EGG,
 London

images from Accessorator

When I visited EGG in london for the first time I had such an overpowering feeling

I did not want to leave

I wanted to sleep there

There, it seemed everything would be perfect

 in a pale chalk and indigo blue wash of inspiration

Maureen Doherty has also, through a curated focus and impeccable eye

managed to create a shop that offers more than just a quick fix of retail therapy. 

Retail giants in an attempt

(some more successful than others )

 to capture a little of this magic are collaborating with smaller

and more exclusive brands

A recent example is the

Missoni for Target

launching Sept 13th in the US

An ambitious project of 400 items from suitcases to bicycles

It's fun and true to the brand

The reality is most of America is unaware of Missoni

But I am sure there will be a rush on these items

personally I have my eye on the bike



Dries Van Noten

My love for this man will never cease.............

All images from

Vogue.com

Givenchy Couture



Le Bon gift

Back in the Autumn of 2007 myself and my friend designer Eilis Boyle were in Paris for the fabric fair Premiere Vision. We took the last day of our trip to visit the shops and department stores for inspiration and pleasure. We were in Le Bon Marche, which is one of the first department stores in the world and an emporium of style and good taste (the Food Hall alone is worth the trip to Paris). Eilis and I headed upstairs to the designer rooms, where I implored her over to visit the Dries Van Noten collection first. While we made our way around drooling over each piece Eilis saw a white shirt she loved and decided to try it on. She strolled to the changing room and I sat at a table and chair and picked up a little book that was lying there. The French sales assistant looked at me pawing the catalogue and said
"Oh, one moment" and disappeared.
Now French sales assistants in fancy department stores don't exactly have the reputation of being the warmest or friendliest of people so imagine my surprise when she came out and handed me this
Now to call this a catalogue is a bit like calling champagne a fizzy drink. This is a fabric covered hard back book with Dries Van Noten embossed on the cover and inside ............ oh what a parade of delights.
The photographs are by Wouter Deruytter and include images of the backstage area including this incredible scaffolding construction for hair and make up and dressing the models
a page with Polaroids of all the models in the show. and press taking shots and people giving interviews.
It's a little window into the thrilling and chaotic moments before the show. There are close ups of the sleek and understated hair and make up and detail shots of the luscious embroideries, you don't really appreciate the texture of the embroidery unless you see it in person or in a detail shot like this.
Isn't her intensity fantastic! As well as all of that there is, of course the complete collection A/W 2007/08 (one of my favourite seasons at Dries) and some detail shots. Doesn't the above embroidery look like a crustacean, some sort of aquatic anemone or coral formation.I love the simplicity of this paisley print .
I don't know why the sales assistant decided to give it to me but I appreciated it so much I actually started to cry! (sad I know) It is a precious treasure to me and the manner in which I received it makes it all the more valuable. I was not a big spending customer loading shopping bags with purchases, I was just a fan a real and honest lover of the work. So, whoever you were Ms. French Sales Lady, Thank you so much and Mr Van Noten I salute you.