A Paris Fashion Experience
It’s currently Fashion Week in Paris, where designers are showing their Fall/Winter 2019 collections. Sadly, all of my invitations seem to have been lost in the mail (kidding!!). But I thought it would be fun to share my experience meeting a real Paris designer in her atelier.
But first, let me back up a bit, and tell you how this came about.
A Paris Shopping Experience
Last summer during our visit to Paris, we signed up for a shopping excursion with Paris Shopping Tour. It was such a wonderful experience, and I recapped it here…
Shopping Like A Parisienne 1
and here…
Shopping Like A Parisienne 2
Diane offered to take me on a more targeted shopping experience when I returned to Paris in December. Did I have to think about it? Pas du tout! This time, we started the morning at the boutique and atelier of Leoca Maison Parisienne.
Paris Fashion: Meeting The Designer
The designer of Leoca Paris is Maud Falcon de Longevialle. (That’s her on the left, and Diane on the right.)
We went upstairs to the atelier to see some pieces in progress for the Spring collection. (Some of the items shown are available online, others don’t seem to be yet. The top Maud is wearing is here.) She was utterly charming and so very French, as are her designs!
Leoca Maison Parisienne Designs
With a degree in Fine Arts, her fabrics and designs are informed and inspired by art. She works directly with artists to design custom fabrics. She said she loves this one because it reminds her of a David Hockney painting. (If you look closely, it’s a slightly surreal image of an armchair in a swimming pool.) Here’s a top in the same print.
The fabrics are French, Italian and Japanese, and the finishes and details come from French workshops.
You must accessorize, bien sûr! Here she adds a neon yellow cloth belt to a peach painter’s smock. Her approach to design and dressing is very playful, which I liked. These clothes are meant to last and be timeless, yet are not serious or stuffy.
I fell in love with this trench, which is supposed to be available for Spring. (Not yet seeing it on the website.) The large pocket on one side, and the piping on the pocket and inside of cuffs are such quintessentially French details. In fact, many of the pieces I examined had interesting little details and finishing on the inside as well.
Afterward, I tried on several pieces in the boutique downstairs. Though I didn’t need another coat, this one in grey-green wool with orange piping was tempting! (Available online and on sale HERE.) I left it behind, but did buy a lightweight denim popover shirt, which I’ll show you as soon as the weather here warms up a bit…
Here are a couple of videos from the visit I’ve shared on Instagram….
In the clip above, she describes her inspiration for the pattern.
And in this one, she talks about her creative and design process. It was a fabulous experience, and just one of the many types of fashion and shopping excursions that Paris Shopping Tour offers.
A Customized Experience
They’ve recently expanded the scope of experiences, and have launched a re-designed website that allows you to customize your tour to suit your interests.
Want to take a deep dive into the life, influences, and work of your favorite fashion legends? Check out the Fashion Experiences. Want to create your own fragrance (I did, more on this later…) or learn to make a hat? There’s a Workshop Experience for that! Looking to hit the French outlet malls? Yes, you can do that too. You can customize your experience for your budget, or types of participants (couples, girlfriends, tour group). Vintage? Decor? Antiques? Oui, oui, et oui!
Diane and the entire team of experts are incredibly knowledgable and multi-lingual. So even if your French doesn’t go beyond “bonjour” you’ll be able to enjoy these excursions. If there’s a visit to Paris in your future I highly recommend Paris Shopping Tour!
Disclosure: I was provided an excursion by Paris Shopping Tour at no cost in exchange for review. I did pay a fee for the fragrance workshop I’ll be covering in a future post.
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I love the gray-green wool trench coat!! I’m wondering how it ran, size-wise! I’m 5’7” and normally wear a medium.
Gosh, I don’t remember what size I tried on. It’s not a fitted piece.
Could I do this as a plus-size woman?
I don’t see why not, depending on the nature of the excursion you’re interested in.
I guess my question is more, *is* there plus size fashion in Paris?
There is some, yes. Though I haven’t been looking for plus sizes specifically, I have come across at least a couple of boutiques that feature plus clothing. I’ll check in with Diane once they’re done with Fashion Week and report back.
Thanks! 🙂
Not every French woman is a size 2. There are all sizes of women there as there are in North America. (I have been to France many times.)
There is for sure Marina Rinaldi and Elena Miro. Eileen Fisher is all over the world in dept stores. I’m super curvy and a 3x. By curvy I mean hour glassed which can make plus size shopping a real problem. But I found great stuff in the above mentioned shops in Paris and Rome. I’m just not disciplined enough to have Susan’s cute figure!!
Sadly, I would not be optimistic about this. There is really not much plus size fashion in France. The main high street brands, more accessible independent designers, and luxury brands top out sizewise at a 40/42 or small 44, which is a US 10/12. There are a handful of places that someone of my size (US 16) can shop, and even there it’s usually a handful of items in a shop where the largest size fits and looks good. The higher end brands and boutiques tend to be far less friendly to even below-average sized Americans. What plus sized fashion there is is fast fashion/mass market, online-only for larger sizes, or really off-the-beaten path indie designers that probably aren’t on the radar of a tour company like this. There are so few places that you could just google them and take yourself there.
Even though I’ve lived a big chunk of my life in Paris, I end up buying most of my clothes in the US or UK, and then buying shoes, handbags, and accessories in Paris.
This was what I suspected. Can I shop with you in Paris? I’ll bring you some plus stuff from the US! 🙂
thank you so much for these quick clips. A fashion trip is on my bucket list.
Ps I really like your hair longer. It looks lovely.
Fun post!
What fun to see you smiling exuberantly in that clip on the Paris Shopping Tour website! You’re a convincing ambassador 😉
I missed that, will have to look for it! (Just saw it, that was THE trench I was trying on!)
Do I spot the Place Des Vosges in the video with Diane? Paris is my all time favourite place. As soon as the Brexit madness settles(!) in Britain, we will be planning a trip. Have had some fabulous things on previous visits and it is amazing how even shoe boxes can fit into suitcases that seemed full on the outward journey. As much Paris as you can do, Susan.
I enjoyed the photos of people from your earlier trips but I know they led to some online discussion so you may have decided not to repeat that.
I love Diane’s handbag- the circle bag in the pics. What is the brand/ where can you find?
Hi Margo, her bag is from a French brand, Louvreuse. You can see their website here: https://www.louvreuse.com/eng/
I love these clips! esp the Paris Fashion Tour! Thankyou!
You look amazing (dare I say adorable) in that coat! I don’t know, Susan, I think you might need to go back and get it.
I have been shopping in Amsterdam with a private stylist twice. It was heaven. To do the same in Paris is even nicer I bet. Only it does cost quite a bit of money and if you spend a hundred euros an hour (that was 6 years ago) and you go for half a day, you do not want to come home with a tank top from H&M. Which means I really have to save up and I rarely can as there are so many temptions.
Greetje