How Fashion Editors Shop Paris

By Chris Frey
December 2, 2009

Chanel, Paris Spring Fashion Week show, October 2009 (Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images); the Eiffel Tower; Isabel Marant, Paris Fall Fashion Week show, March 2009 (Photo by Nathalie Lagneau/Catwalking/Getty Images)

The frenetic energy of a runway show in Paris during Fashion Week is often upstaged by the crowds surrounding the spectacle: the models, the editors, the photographers, the journalists, the celebrities and the devoted fashion fans who stand in line hoping for a last minute admission inside or a mere glimpse of the pageantry outside. To call it excellent people watching is a grand understatement. When I worked as a fashion editor and attended the shows regularly, I sometimes imagined that each individual I encountered, one more fabulously attired than the next, was actually dressed by a high powered stylist in a secret wardrobe trailer just around the corner. (Frankly, Fashion Week aside, I often get the same feeling from watching the tres chic Parisians just going about their everyday business.)

A few years back, I was seated in the second row of the Yves Saint Laurent show unobstructed view of the crowd. As I was waiting for the show to begin, I witnessed Catherine Deneuve, queen of French cinema, and Courtney Love, queen of grunge, enter the room wearing identical YSL leopard trench coats. Both women, with strikingly similar shades of blond hair, skillfully ignored one another as they searched for their seats. I'm sure that the dark sunglasses they were both wearing (at night) made seeming oblivious a lot easier. As the fashion drama went down, my attention darted between the two. But the only thought I could really focus on was: "I need a leopard coat."

Catherine Deneuve and Courtney Love at the Yves Saint Laurent Fall Fashion Show, March 2009 (Photos by Photo by Tony Barson/WireImage and Eric Ryan/Getty Images)

And so it goes for anyone lucky enough to make a trip to the City of Louis Vuitton and Lights. You pack your bags with a mindful edit of your greatest hits—the pieces that you believe will help you look like a native, or at least like a cool American. Then you hit the streets and almost immediately covet something from a shop window or an unbelievably chic stranger. And you begin your hunt.

I spoke to Hope Greenberg, Fashion Director at Lucky, and Leah Karp, Accessories Director atAllure, both of whom have spent many seasons covering Fashion Week, in order to get the inside scoop on the perfect Parisian shopping experience. Then, for those of us who don't get the chance to fly across the Atlantic twice a year, I challenged myself to find similar items on eBay.

Both Greenberg and Karp noted that because of our current economic climate, their consumption habits have shifted a bit. Greenberg laughs when reminiscing about the days of the occasional "guilty indulgence" when "the combination of the exchange rate and the tax back made it possible to almost rationalize" the purchase of a Chanel jacket. These days she's more likely to rationalize this one (buy it now price, $525), from Isabel Marant, pictured on the fall 2009 runway, top right. Marant's boutique is a must-stop for Greenberg on every visit.

Both editors also make regular stops at the incredibly chic Colette for fashion as well as hard to find books and music, Zadig and Voltaire for accessories and Castaner (a Spanish brand with a boutique in Paris) for espadrilles. They note that even though French boutiques carry brands you'll find in the United States, the items themselves are often quite different. This is frequently the case with A.P.C, a cult-favorite line known for steamlined denim, clean-cut separates and comfortable low boots, of which Karp is a big fan (left, starting bid, $149).

Greenberg says that when she was last in Paris, she shopped almost exclusively at Vanesso Bruno, a designer whose artful apparel and accessories collections perfectly fuse feminine with just the right amount of edge. This navy silk dress (left, buy it now price, $380) and pair of strappy grey suede heels (buy it now price, approx. $595) are classic looks from the designer.

Both also editors recommend a stop at Iris shoe boutique for hard to find styles and an impeccably edited selection of shoe designers, including Belgian fashion favorite Veronique Branquinho. This pair of wooden heel ankle boots (buy it now price, $258) would look just right paired with a flowy floral dress.

Vintage jewelry shops along rue St. Honore, like Greenberg's favorite Dary's, are a collector's dream. Don't worry, there are plenty of affordable pieces in the mix. Karp's favorites this season are statement necklaces with oversize links, like this Stephen Dweck bronze necklace (buy it now price, $500).

Repetto, the classic French dance shoe company is another longtime editor favorite. In business since 1947, the company now offers a multitude of styles and colors at its flagship in Paris. Greenberg and Karp always check out what's new, like these adorable jodphur boots (left, buy it now price, $229).

While both editors certainly shop for themselves (it is their job after all), they claim that finding unique gifts for friends and family is even more satisfying. One of their mutual favorites is Monoprix, a French franchise that Greenberg calls the "equivalent of Target [price-wise], but the clothes look like they're from a fancy designer." Karp agrees, adding that she stocks up on clothes for her children there because they are "inexpensive but look and feel luxurious." She adds that Monoprix has "a great book department, which is a fun place to find children's books and beautiful books about Paris."

Classic books like Le Petit Prince (buy it now price, $5.12) and Madeleine (buy it now price, $8.48) are so much fun to own in the original French versions.

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