Colette is closing its doors for good.
The beloved Parisian boutique announced that it will officially cease operations at the end of this year. "As all good things must come to an end, after twenty wonderful years, colette should be closing its doors on December 20th of this year. Colette Roussaux has reached the time when she would like to take her time; and colette cannot exist without Colette," said the store last night in a statement released on its website and social media channels.
Founded in 1997 by Roussaux, the store on Rue Saint-Honoré has long been regarded as an iconic shopping destination in Paris that pioneered the lifestyle store concept – virtually unheard of two decades ago. It's hard to sum up the alchemy of colette's unerring success; part of it stems from the store's idiosyncratic range of cutting-edge fashion, household items, toys, magazines, limited edition trinkets, and 73 different types of mineral water stocked across three floors and 8,000 square feet of retail space. Another reason is that colette has always been a vital champion of nascent talent – stocking collections from designers such as Simone Rocha, Christopher Kane, Rodarte, and Olympia Le Tan when no one else did.
With its final four months drawing near, it remains unclear if colette will maintain its online presence post-store closure. In the meantime however, it will be business as usual. colette is currently planning its swansong collaborations with Sacai, Chanel, and Saint Laurent. Saint Laurent will reportedly take over the shop space from 2018.
