Shopping itinerary – Paris

Welcome to the next“Shopping Trail – Paris”.

Paris attracts women like a magnet. Is it due to promising romantic elation, beautiful views, or perhaps unique places where you can indulge in shopping frenzy? One thing is certain. At least once in your life you have to visit there. Where is the best place to go shopping then? You can find all this in our guide.

It all started in the 15th century in Istanbul. The Turkish Grand Bazaar gave birth to shopping malls and is still called their cradle. Over the centuries, malls have become increasingly important points of mass culture, impressing not only with their wide access to goods, but also with their architecture and history. Department stores in Paris and London, annually attract millions of visitors with their vitrine virtuosity and plethora of goods. Some, however, offer something more – they impress with their architecture and history, the charisma of their founders and innovative sales ideas. In the first set of “Shopping Trail” two fashion capitals will be under the magnifying glass, and in them places where, in addition to fashionable clothes, you can still find traces of the commercial revolution.  

The year 1893, a small haberdashery on the corner of La Fayette and de la Chaussée-d’Antin streets in Paris. It expanded with each passing year, eventually taking up an entire townhouse and eventually becoming a ten-story shopping mall. Lafayette was the first place where customers could perceive goods in a full sensory experience. Touching products and trying them on, which is the norm in the 21st century, was no small revolution in the fashion world at the time. Cousins Theophile Bader and Alphonse Kahn were also the first to introduce fixed prices, mail-order catalogs and the sales we already know so well. At the time, only the English wallpaper company Morris & Co. was doing something similar.

French women, according to the prevailing customs, made up the largest group of clientele, but there was also room in the gallery for the men accompanying them, who found a quiet corner in the waiting room where they could sink into the current press.

Lafayette has been attracting visitors for decades, not only with its wealth of products, but also with its remarkable art deco architecture and its dome, which dates back to the turn of the 20th century. Elegant Baroque-style balconies overlook the Paris skyline, and the sun streaming through the glass roof, creating a unique gallery atmosphere. No wonder the place inspired artists. Impressionist Caillebotte immortalized the gallery in his painting “Man on Balcony, Boulevard Haussmann,” and fashion designers periodically hold their shows in the haberdashery, which has become one of the most popular department stores.

The city of love attracts millions of tourists every year – 28.9 million a year (World Tourism Organization, 2016). For years, Paris has been recognized as the tourist capital of Europe, impressing with a completely different lifestyle, culture and history.

Joie de vivre, aromatic coffee somewhere in Le Marais, unhurried walks along the Seine, and unforced elegance – all this can be found in Paris.