Who are the Parisian department stores aimed at? At their birth, in the 19th centurye century, they participate in the democratization of fashion, as the exhibition dedicated to them at the Musée des arts décoratifs in Paris (until October 13) rightly explains. A vocation that had been somewhat lost before the Covid-19 crisis: these establishments then seem to target mainly Chinese tourists, usually coming in groups, equipped with a long shopping list of luxury products. Are we witnessing a new shift? With Asian customers not having returned in as many numbers as before the pandemic, department stores are readapting their fashion offering to local consumers, becoming both more accessible and more unique.
The most striking change is the unprecedented place given to “designer brands”. That is to say, labels often embodied by their founder or their artistic director, with a strong stylistic bias and prices situated between luxury and mid-range. From a T-shirt costing around a hundred euros to a coat that can reach 1,000 euros, with a large part of the offer between 300 and 400 euros, the prices are high, but these brands, essentially manufactured in Europe, spread the idea of good value for money.
From one department store to another, the assortment is quite similar and aesthetically complementary: Jacquemus, and its sunny fashion made of openwork dresses and ruffled tops; Ami, which revisits the Parisian wardrobe with its basic pieces topped with a heart logo; Lemaire, a fan of a chic and sober wardrobe in neutral tones; Zimmermann, whose vaporous and floral dresses have the advantage of suiting all body types; Nicolas Di Felice, who reinterprets the geometric shapes of the founding father for Courrèges, or Julien Dossena, who breathes new life into Rabanne with his outfits with multiple prints and his offbeat bling-bling.
At Printemps Haussmann, Bon Marché or La Samaritaine, these brands are everywhere. At Galeries Lafayette Haussmann, the second floor, completely renovated, is now dedicated to them. The spaces allocated are vast: they are generally real boutiques of around a hundred square meters, taking up the furniture and house codes – the beige cave of Jacquemus thus rubs shoulders with the immaculate laboratory of Courrèges.
Since most of these brands are mainly distributed on the Internet, the physical point of sale seeks to attract customers who would like to touch or try on the pieces. The department store’s investment also concerns the selection of products, which is no longer limited to listing the few best-sellers of the brand concerned. “The choice is comparable to that of street shops, says Arthur Lemoine, director of the Galeries Lafayette offer. With runway pieces, capsule collections, new products, previews.
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