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Couture in an unexpected neighborhood (walking tour)

Almost no one visits the area that lies between the medieval entry to Paris & the now-garish Grands Boulevards...

but this has been the district for leatherworkers and furriers since medieval times. As well, it was a site of superb luxury production in the 19th century, when the boulevards were the epicenter of continental fashion. Craftspeople and very small manufacturers still nestle in the quiet streets, where signs of grandeur remain.

We explore the neighborhood and discover people who invest themselves completely in their production. They are therefore unlikely to cut corners on quality, especially not to spend on marketing, which they don't do. So their wares are not only far less expensive than those of sumptuous establishments - they may in fact be better. 

 

 
The workshop featured on the home page is part of this walk.

 

  • Then and now

 

Porte Saint-Denis and boulevard in 1830...

Here was the Continent's heart of luxury, where young heirs and Russian princes flocked to spend their fortunes.

and now

Next to the medieval trade-route gates, it has returned to the hurly-burly of much earlier times.

 

 

  • Setting the scene: the Fan Museum

 

 

At rear, the Curator restores a fan.
A fan's cost was equal to that of a car today.

Once a fan showroom, this jewel of a museum nestles on the third floor of an ordinary building, next to African beauty shops.

 

We leave awed by a refinement inconceivable now.

 

  • Among the sites that we discover...

 

 

At the end of one street
Of another

 

Photos of leather coats and jackets are on the way.

 

 

  •  Nearby 

 

Since the passages are in the heart of the Right Bank, this visit can connect with such suggestions as:   Opéra,  Shopping that only Paris can offer,  Workshops for haute couture,  Silks of kings... 

 

And of course, Walking into history – & neighborhoods, whose tours concern the central part of the city.

 

 

 

•Costs: Please CLICK

 

 

 

 

Credits: milliner's window / Camilla Macfarlane ; raucous street / Claude Abron ; Fan Museum / Claude Abron ; Saint-Denis entrance toward 1830 /  Marc Gaillard Archives; bank, church / Camilla Macfarlane