All Saints

I was late to work today because I got caught up in (what I thought was a new) boutqiue called All Saints, at 49, rue Etienne Marcel. I was wandering down towards the Louvre after having paid a visit to a newish concept store called Hotel Particular. I had read a couple of reviews of this swank fashion outlet but was not wholly impressed by the selection, more impressed by seemingly friendly staff. Hotel Particular stocks high end threads such as Gaspard Yurkiervich, Vivienne Westwood and Jean Charles Catelbajac. It is men's and women's and very unisex at times as two items I was looking at were apparently for men. The store itself is lovely, boudoir meets hotel costes, sort of. It was easy to walk out empty handed. It's not my scene but I do appreciate the attempt to do something different in Paris.

So back to All Saint's, which I stumbled into, as it is sort of tucked back on a corner right near Place de Victoires. The store in fact has been around for a year, and talk is for a new store in the Marais soon. You enter into a huge, darkened space full of distressed metal and wood furnishings, everything in muted tones of beige, gray, black, navy and cream. The lighting is low, not clublike low which can be anoying, but dull, requiring concentrated focus to get what is happening. I was skeptical at first and not even in a shopping mood when all of a sudden, I wanted ten things. The cuts are, generally speaking, deconstructed but with form/shape. A few jackets that reminded me of Vivienne Westwood, with the gathered necklines and diagonal cuts, but prices are quite reasonable. New approaches to cardigan sweaters that reminded me of the Danish designers Best Behavior, draped around the body to be worn open or wrapped closed, layered tunic like dresses, great options for winter wool coats. Prices seemed to range between 80€-€400 depending on the item.
Everyone is probably in the know about this place, but if you are not, go check it out. www.allsaints.com