Colette was a French high fashion, streetwear, and accessory

retail Retail is the sale of goods and services to consumers, in contrast to wholesaling, which is the sale to business or institutional customers. A retailer purchases goods in large quantities from manufacturers, directly or through a wholes ...

er. The three floor

concept store The retail format (also known as the retail formula) influences the consumer's store choice and addresses the consumer's expectations. At its most basic level, a retail format is a simple marketplace, that is; a location where goods and services ar ...

was located in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

and contained an exhibition space, bookshop, and a "water bar" serving more than 100 brands of

bottled water Bottled water is drinking water (e.g., Water well, well water, distilled water, Reverse osmosis, reverse osmosis water, mineral water, or Spring (hydrology), spring water) packaged in Plastic bottle, plastic or Glass bottle, glass water bott ...

. It closed permanently in December 2017. Colette's

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

was two blue dots.

History

The boutique was founded in 1997 by Colette Roussaux; her daughter, Sarah Andelman, took an active role as

creative director A creative director is a person who makes high-level creative decisions; oversees the creation of creative assets such as advertisements, products, events, or logos; and directs and translates the creative people who produce the end results. Creat ...

and purchasing manager in the store's final years. ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'' called the store "like Kith,

Bergdorf Goodman Bergdorf Goodman Inc. is an American luxury department store based in New York City, founded in 1899 by Herman Bergdorf. , it operates a women's store and a men's store across the street from each other on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. ...

, and

Opening Ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

all rolled into one." The store did €32 million in sales

revenue In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of product (business), goods and services related to the primary operations of a business. Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some compan ...

in 2016,Jian DeLeon
Fashion Industry Insiders React to colette Shutting Its Doors
highsnobiety.com 2017/07/13 with

e-commerce E-commerce (electronic commerce) refers to commercial activities including the electronic buying or selling products and services which are conducted on online platforms or over the Internet. E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile co ...

accounting for 25% of revenue. In December 2005,

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

described Colette as“the trendiest store in the world”.

Brands

The shop was known for stocking the first collections of fashion brands and designers that became famous later such as

Jeremy Scott Jeremy Scott (born August 8, 1975) is an American fashion designer. He is the sole owner of his namesake label, and from October 2013 to March 2023 was the creative director of the fashion house Moschino. Since launching his brand in Paris in 19 ...

Raf Simons Raf Jan Simons (; born 12 January 1968) is a Belgian fashion designer. Beginning in furniture design, Simons launched his own menswear label in 1995. He was creative director at Jil Sander (2005–2012), Christian Dior (2012–2015), and Calvin Kl ...

Proenza Schouler Proenza Schouler is a womenswear and accessories brand founded in New York City in 2002 by designers Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez. In October 2024 Proenza Schouler appointed Shira Suveyke Snyder as chief executive officer, succeeding Kay ...

Rodarte Rodarte () is an American brand of clothing and accessories founded and headquartered in Los Angeles, California, USA, by sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy. Rodarte has received a number of fashion industry awards since the line's inception in 20 ...

Mary Katrantzou Mary Katrantzou (born January 1983) is a Greek fashion designer who lives and works in London. Early life Mary Katrantzou was born in Athens, Greece to an interior designer mother and a father who trained in textile engineering. Katrantzou mo ...

Sacai Sacai (stylized in lowercase) is a Japanese luxury fashion brand founded by fashion designer Chitose Abe (née Chitose Sakai) in 1999. ''Vogue'' magazine has cited Sacai as influential in breaking down the dichotomy between casual and formal clo ...

, Simone Rocha,

Christopher Kane Christopher John Kane (born 26 July 1982) is a Scottish fashion designer based in London. Biography Kane was born as the youngest of five children in Newarthill, North Lanarkshire, to an engineer and draughtsman father and housewife mother. Ka ...

and Olympia Le Tan.

Rihanna Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, businesswoman, and actress. One of the List of music artists by net worth, wealthiest musicians in the world, List of awards and nominations received by Rihanna, her vario ...

and

Pharrell Williams Pharrell Lanscilo Williams (; born April 5, 1973), also known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer, and fashion designer. He first became known as one half of the music production duo ...

, among others, have been hosted by Colette in

pop-up shop Pop-up retail, also known as pop-up store (pop-up shop in the UK, Australia and Ireland) or flash retailing, is a trend of opening short-term sales spaces that last for days to weeks before closing down, often to latch onto a fad or scheduled e ...

Reputation

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld also called Kaiser Karl (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, photographer, and creative director. Lagerfeld began his career in fashion in the 1950s, working for several top fashion hous ...

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."

Closure

In July 2017, it announced its impending closure in December 2017.Scarlett Conlon
Colette Paris To Close Its Doors
''Vogue'', 12 July 2017 Osman Ahmed of ''Business of Fashion'' called it "the end of an era".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 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."Elizabeth Paton and Vanessa Friedman

''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' July 12, 2017 The location is now a boutique of Saint Laurent - Rive Droite.Saint Laurent - Rive Droite
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References

External links