
Photo: Antonio Barros
La Fausse Boutique ("The Fake Boutique") opened in Paris in 2010 and, as its name has it, was initially not a boutique but a workshop and incubator for young creative designers and innovators. However, because the front window looked so much like a boutique window, people kept coming in and asking if they could buy the creations they saw. It was by this popular demand that La Fausse Boutique made the transition to retailer.

Photo: Antonio Barros
A lot has changed since owner Vincent took over and there's nothing fake anymore about this amazing boutique. However, designers do still work on site in the workshop/office space at the back.

Photo: Antonio Barros
For customers unsure of how to wear to a certain piece, the designer easily pops out, explains the collection and gives direction for the best way to wear it. In addition to the designers actually working inside the boutique, La Fausse Boutique also sponsors another designer incubator nearby, selling all creations from the incubator inside the boutique.

Photo: Antonio Barros
All of this means that customers can request specific pieces. For instance a group of U.S. friends visiting from New York had an instant crush on reversible belts by Folle Clo who had enough time to make them belts with their own choice of Liberty fabric and leather combination by the end of their trip.

Photo: Antonio Barros
Owner Vincent is an interior designer and architect and designed most of the boutique's furniture himself, mostly from delivery pallets. "It reflects well on the style of the boutique. We want to encourage sustainable products, made locally with the best quality materials. As an artist, I thought those pallets made exceptional material and should not be wasted as they usually are."

Photo: Antonio Barros
Vincent sees the designers he hosts as artists. Anne Drew, designer of original Drew Maury jewelry, is also a painter and musician. The boutique recently organized a whole event around her, exposing her pictures on the wall, playing her music and letting people admire her latest jewelry pieces. The boutique is tightly connected with the artistic and musical communities surrounding it in the trendy Pigalle neighborhood and regularly hosts events inviting its customers.

Photo: Antonio Barros
"I see myself as a safety net for emerging talents: I'm extremely demanding with the entrepreneurs I select, both on the product and on the designer's personality, receiving as many as 10 applications per day. But once they're in, they receive full support," says Vincent.

Photo: Antonio Barros
The place is very creative and collaborative, too. Vincent's assistant designs t-shirts and cushions when she has time off boutique work. "The aim is to have people exchange ideas, for instance having them creating an object together using everyone's best abilities. The result would be truly unique to the boutique!"

Photo: Antonio Barros
The front space resembles a concept store, with amusing gadgets and objects pairing jewelry and accessories. The second room is cozier and will soon feature a dressing room and clothing creation. Vincent wants to give it a feminine and intimate feel, a boudoir atmosphere, with carpet and a chandelier, where one can sit on the antique pink couch and give advice to a friend trying on a dress.

Photo: Antonio Barros
Folle Clo, the designer of reversible belts and rain cape available on Shoptiques, is preparing a collection of unique dresses. She also designed those amazing aprons that look like dresses so you can cook in style!

Photo: Antonio Barros
Customers usually spend a long time in the boutique, having coffee while enjoying music and chatting with designers. La Fausse Boutique's employees love to hear customers' comments and try to incorporate them as often as possible in their work, like when foldable ballet shoes were created for female customers who complained about how their feet were always hurting after partying.

Photo: Antonio Barros
Clients are generally under 40 and the boutique is a big favorite of foreigners, whose attention is caught from the street by a stunning., giant Eiffel Tower. Many are also intrigued by the name, step in out of curiosity and then step out amazed by their discovery of an authentic and original atmosphere.

Photo: Antonio Barros
All in all La Fausse Boutique is indeed not really a boutique. It's much more than that: a surprising experience, a creative network and a community of clients and designers sharing values and tastes for sustainable and stylish products!
Click here to shop the boutique!
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