Colette (boutique)

Colette
Company typehigh fashion, streetwear and accessories retailer
Industryfashion
Founded1997
FounderColette Roussaux
DefunctDecember 2017
Headquarters
Paris
,
France
The shop exterior in 2012

Colette was a French high fashion, streetwear, and accessory retailer.[1] The three floor 8,000 square feet (740 m2) concept store[2] was located in Paris and contained an exhibition space, bookshop, and a "water bar" serving more than 100 brands of bottled water. It closed permanently in December 2017.[3] Colette's logo was two blue dots.[4]

History

The boutique was founded in 1997 by Colette Roussaux; her daughter, Sarah Andelman, took an active role as creative director and purchasing manager in the store's final years.[5] Esquire called the store "like Kith, Bergdorf Goodman, and Opening Ceremony all rolled into one."[6] The store did €32 million in sales revenue in 2016,[3] with e-commerce accounting for 25% of revenue.[7] In December 2005, Forbes described Colette as“the trendiest store in the world”.[8]

Brands

An assortment of t-shirts on sale at Colette

The shop was known for stocking the first collections of fashion brands and designers that became famous later such as Jeremy Scott, Raf Simons, Proenza Schouler, Rodarte, Mary Katrantzou, Sacai, Simone Rocha, Christopher Kane and Olympia Le Tan.[9] Rihanna and Pharrell Williams, among others, have been hosted by Colette in pop-up shops.[10]

Reputation

Karl Lagerfeld said of Colette: "It’s the only shop where I go because they have things no one else has. I buy watches, telephones, jewellery there - everything really. They have invented a formula that you can’t copy easily, because there is only one Colette and her and Sarah are 200 percent involved."[11]

Closure

In July 2017, it announced its impending closure in December 2017.[11][12][13] Osman Ahmed of Business of Fashion called it "the end of an era".[5] Sarah Andelman said they chose to close the business rather than sell it because "it was like a baby for us" and "if someone else ran it, it would not be the same."[7]

The location is now a boutique of Saint Laurent - Rive Droite.[14]

See also

References

  1. ^ article about colette's 10th anniversary International Herald Tribune 2007/03/26
  2. ^ Vergani, Guido (ed), (2007), Fashion Dictionary, New York: Baldini Castoldi Dalai Editore
  3. ^ a b Jian DeLeon, Fashion Industry Insiders React to colette Shutting Its Doors highsnobiety.com 2017/07/13
  4. ^ Angela Doland, RIP Colette: Lessons From the Paris Boutique's Coolest, Craziest Brand Collaborations AdAge, July 14, 2017
  5. ^ a b Osman Ahmed, The End of an Era: Colette to Close Its Doors: Colette, the Parisian boutique and longstanding temple of cool, is closing down after 20 years. Saint Laurent is currently in discussions to take over its Rue Saint-Honoré location. Business of Fashion JULY 12, 2017
  6. ^ SCOTT CHRISTIAN, One of the Coolest Fashion Stores on the Planet Will Soon Be Closing: Legendary Parisian shop Colette is shutting its doors in December. Esquire JUL 12, 2017
  7. ^ a b Elizabeth Paton and Vanessa Friedman, Colette, Paris Fashion Destination, Is to Close in December The New York Times July 12, 2017
  8. ^ Greenwald, Michelle. "Colette: Still The Trendiest Store In The World After 18 Years". Forbes. Retrieved 2017-10-16.
  9. ^ ELLIE PITHERS, Why We'll Miss Colette: Fashion features editor Ellie Pithers pays tribute to the first Paris pit-stop on the Vogue editors' Fashion Week schedules Vogue, 12 July 2017
  10. ^ Andrea Cheng, Colette Closing: Why, Days Later, Pop Culture is Still Reeling Billboard 7/14/2017
  11. ^ a b Scarlett Conlon, Colette Paris To Close Its Doors Vogue, 12 July 2017
  12. ^ Condé Nast Traveler, Paris's Colette to Close Its Doors Lale Arikoglu, July 12, 2017.
  13. ^ (in French) ANNONCE SPECIALE Archived 2017-07-15 at the Wayback Machine 12 juillet 2017
  14. ^ Saint Laurent - Rive Droite

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