So here we are, presented with yet another temple of luxury, erected like a manifesto of ostentatious grandeur, with its seven levels piled up like the vanities of a world already overfed. A design gallery, two culinary spaces, an interior studio… it reads like a catalog of desires packaged in marble and glass. Paris, once again summoned as a postcard backdrop, finds itself ordered to host this transatlantic hybrid: half American dream bunker, half French palace of illusions.
And already, the specialized media wave their censers: “success,” “innovation,” “international clientele”… As if the philosopher’s stone of high-end retail had just been discovered. But what revelation is there, other than the repetition of the same equation? Money, staging, a hint of lifestyle, and the illusion of endless refinement. One almost regrets that the Lord Himself did not do this with La Samaritaine. Continue reading
The zipper, commonly called a zip, is today an everyday object, found on jeans, bags, coats, or even shoes. It is so widespread that we almost forget it was the result of a patient invention, the fruit of several attempts before becoming established.
The US Open! This tournament, supposed to be the pinnacle of sport, the embodiment of merit, sweat, self-sacrifice, those hours of solitude on the court and training, that merciless discipline that makes an athlete a champion. And what are we being sold in endless glossy columns and sponsored Instagram posts? Certainly not the sporting achievement, but the pathetic parade of a “court of mirages”: Botoxed stars, supermarket bimbos, silicone clones, and interchangeable influencers whose only contribution to humanity is a plastic smile and a promo code for a pair of sneakers mass-produced by children.
Never, since the blissful hours when my childlike soul wandered along the shores of Saint-Malo with my kittens, had my body known such affliction. Brittany, mother of winds and waves, had given me back, along with the copper glow of summer days, the dryness and tugging of its salty nights. My skin, once supple as a morning leaf, bore the marks of a blazing sun, stinging sand, and a bitter breeze. My heart, faithful to the sea’s promise, nonetheless found itself captive within this tormented body.
Printemps Fires Its Boss With the Usual Formula: “Thank You for Your Commitment”
A peaceful farewell rises for this breath of elegance: on the morning of September 4, 2025, a light went out. Giorgio Armani, in his ninety-first year, has departed, surrounded by his loved ones, leaving upon the fabric of time the indelible imprint of a style that has become memory.
He was from Béarn, yet his name will forever resonate along the avenues of Paris and on the world’s red carpets. Jean Barthet, a genius milliner, shaped hats the way others write poems: letting audacity and grace dance together on a single thread.
For a long time a symbol of eternity and prosperity, luxury today is facing a deep crisis. While prestigious houses still retain their aura, their model is weakened by economic, social, and cultural upheavals. Several factors explain this decline.
During an interview in Milan to comment on his company’s solid results, Brunello Cucinelli reminded everyone that he was speaking on behalf of a house “firmly positioned at the exclusive level.”
It’s official: Givenchy has found its ambassador in China, and her name is Zhang Ruonan. The Chinese star had already hinted at her fashion love affair during Sarah Burton’s very first Givenchy show last March. For the occasion, she wore an asymmetrical papaya-colored dress’ that fruit we’re never quite sure about at breakfast but absolutely adore turning into a fashion statement. In her hand: a mini Antigona bag in box leather, barely big enough to hold a credit card, two Tic Tacs, and a reasonably sized ego.
In the grand narrative of American style, Perry Ellis wrote a chapter that belonged only to him. Far from the clichés of utilitarian sportswear, he infused it with a charm that was at once classic and free, a playful modernity, never without a touch of gentle irony.
I was leaving behind that millennial Brittany, blessed by its granite, standing like a shoulder of eternity, and when the sky blazed with a burning red, resembling the wrapping of Fahrenheit, which dares to claim it can hold infinity in such a trifling glass bottle, I admired this spectacle of dawn. The roar of the engine and the hoarse power of the 530cc echoed through the narrow streets of Pleslin like thunder rising from the depths of the ages. I was heading back to the capital, and this departure reminded me of mornings from another life, when, thirty years earlier, I tore myself from the warmth of a bed to write to the one I had just left, as if a single hour of absence already carved the abyss of eternity.
Milan is getting ready to turn the heads of broke starlets and cash-strapped actresses eyeing their next Mercedes. So grab your sunglasses and your best jaded stare: Milan Fashion Week is back from September 23 to 29, and this edition promises to be as chaotic as a fashionista’s wardrobe during an existential crisis.
“They handed over the blueprints, the keys, and the Porsche”: Chronicle of a “Made in France” Industrial Suicide
They came without warning, these guests with silent steps discreet, conquering the peace of my Breton retreat. Not mere passersby, but true tenants of silence, come to fill my days with a tender kind of stir. And with a gentle intrusion, like the wind sneaking into a house long closed, these unexpected lodgers decided without contract or condition to take up residence in my daily life.
Dear Readers, fans in the shadows, discreet haters, imaginary clients, and bimbos of the apocalypse (my muses, my favorite gal pals, whom I greet along with their fake nails clicking like castanets), the time is dire: the company is closing for the holidays.
At Interparfums SA, they’re not afraid to take risks. After making the perfumes of major houses like Van Cleef & Arpels and Montblanc shine, the company is now preparing to launch its own in-house brand: Solférino Paris. An evocative name that smacks of… political maneuvering, backroom deals, and the polished floors of old-school politics.
Ah, the purveyors of protective cosmetics… those valiant modern-day alchemists, armed with golden pipettes and pseudo-scientific slogans, ready to save us from every rogue photon! Give me a break — but not too loudly, I’m wearing SPF 130 on my lips and it’s stickier than regret.