A Bandana Lady In Paris

Behind the Scenes of Our Paris Trip

Earlier this month, I had the incredible opportunity to visit Paris for fashion week! I was joined by LCT’s wholesale manager, Tracy Ong Ruch, for four days of showing our collection at Splash Paris and meeting buyers from all over the world. I went in feeling very prepared (I’m an over-preparer, after all) and was quickly humbled by the international logistics I thought I had figured out. Alas, still some homework to do!

But anyway, this recap is about the fun stuff: the research, the inspiration hunting, and, of course, the eating and shopping I squeezed in around the show. Here are a few of my favorite discoveries, with recommendations for fellow textile nerds, curious shoppers, and anyone who wants to sprinkle their Paris itinerary with a bit of wanderlust.

1.Treasure hunting at the flea market- Les Puces des Saint-Ouen

If you have a particular something in mind, book a group tour with Mariana,who can help steer you toward exactly what you're looking for. In my case, that meant antique French textiles, naturally. She has wonderful relationships with the vendors and plenty of darling suggestions if you're not quite sure what you're after.

I went hoping to find something special for both my daughter and my mother, but I wasn't entirely sure what that something would be. Marina suggested hand-painted antique porcelain boxes, and wouldn't you know it? Sometimes you need a little expert guidance to find the treasure you didn't know you were looking for.

Tip: Go with a general idea of what interests you, but leave a little room for surprises. That's half the fun!

Guide's link: Marina's flea market tour

2. Dinner on the terrace at Café Marly

I'll admit, Café Marly seemed almost too good to be true. A restaurant with a terrace overlooking the Louvre Pyramid? Surely this was going to be an overpriced tourist trap. But after several locals recommended it, we decided to book a dinner and see for ourselves.

Reader, it did not disappoint.

The food was very good, the prices felt reasonable for the setting, and the view was tres magnifique. Sitting under the Louvre's grand arcades with the pyramid right in front of us felt like one of those pinch-me Paris moments. Sometimes the obvious tourist attraction is obvious for a reason.

I'd recommend making reservations for the terrace.

3. A textile pilgrimage to the Musée de la Toile de Jouy

A little off the beaten path, but an easy enough ride-share from Versailles, is the Musée de la Toile de Jouy, dedicated to the history of printed cotton textiles in France. This little museum is well worth the detour.

The story begins in 1760, when Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf founded his textile-printing manufacture in Jouy-en-Josas. The factory became famous for its printed cottons, particularly the pastoral scenes we now recognize as Toile de Jouy: those wonderfully detailed landscapes filled with people, trees, and little stories unfolding across the fabric. At its height, the manufacturer employed more than 1,300 people and became one of France's major industrial enterprises.

I loved getting a closer look at the history behind a textile that has become such an enduring part of French decorative arts. It was a good example of how a piece of fabric can tell us a lot about the people, technology, and culture of its time.

4. Versailles, naturally

I paired the museum visit with a trip to the Palace of Versailles, which has been on my bucket list ever since I first saw Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette in 2006.

I was particularly excited to see the decorative arts and historic interiors in person. Part of my visit was all about the former royal apartments and their furnishings, while other parts of the palace tell the broader story of French history. Naturally, I spent a disproportionate amount of time admiring the textiles and the men's shoes in the oil paintings. Priorities!

The only disappointment was the crowds. It was honestly difficult to take everything in while being shuffled through warm rooms alongside what felt like half the world's population.

Next time, I'd love to skip the palace interiors and spend a whole day exploring the gardens and wider estate instead. There's so much more to Versailles than the Hall of Mirrors, and I suspect a slower visit outdoors would be a treat.

5. Window shopping. 

Paris was practically designed to be a shopper's paradise. The French even have a delightful expression for window shopping: le lèche-vitrines, which literally translates to "window licking."

I mean, talk about drool-worthy displays!

A few places that made my shortlist, most of them recommended by our wholesale manager Tracy, a born-to-browse retail aficionado! 

• Le Bon Marché — You could easily spend a whole day here. Fashion, home goods, beauty, food, and several cafés make it an excellent destination for browsing, lunch, a snack, and more browsing. It's a department store, yes, but one that feels like treasure hunt with a mix of the aspirational AND the affordable. I picked up some wolford tights (on sale!)  for myself and these hair ties / friendship bracelets for my daughter. 

• Merci — A fun concept store with an ever-changing mix of fashion, homewares, accessories, and design objects. A good place to pick up gifts.  I especially loved the colorful 'tablescapes' on the 2nd floor. 

• Maison Callieu — A specialist shop for hair barrettes and brushes made in France. Go on a weekday morning and you can to avoid a long wait in line. Tracy and I spent over an hour in this tiny shop making extremely high-stakes decisions about which animal themed barrettes to purchase for ourselves and the rest of the LCT Team! 

• Avène skincare at a French Pharmacie — This one's personal. My daughter and I both have eczema-prone skin, and we've been using a moisturiser called Avène Xeracalm A.D.  with miraculous results. If you also have sensitive skin, this is one I'd put on your list.  Another one is their Cicalfate+ repair cream.  It is a zinc based cream that goes on like a thick white diaper cream but then RUBS IN CLEAR! So great for la boo-boos. 

6. Bike Share- I did dare! 

One afternoon, while running an errand during the Splash show, I got a wild hair and decided to rent a city bike and pedal back to the venue.

Would I recommend doing this in the middle of a busy city without much planning? Well, perhaps not as your first activity after landing. But riding through Paris instead of hopping in a taxi was an experience I'll never forget.

My advice: find a quieter neighborhood, get comfortable with the bike-share system, and give yourself permission to take the scenic route. Just keep your wits about you in traffic!

7. A pilgrimage to Alex Singer Cycles

This next one is a bit niche, but it deserves a place on the list.

My partner is an avid cyclist, and before I left, he made a quiet request for a French cycling souvenir. Now, I would probably have visited this shop anyway, but seeing as he was solo-parenting our toddler for over a week, the request dare not be denied.

So off I went to the 18th arrondissement to visit Alex Singer Cycles, a legendary Parisian cycling workshop with a long history of building and repairing bicycles.

I met the shop's namesake's grandnephew, who initially came across as a little gruff but turned out to be very kind. I bought a beautiful wool cycling jersey and a few cycling caps, and he even threw in a water bottle for free. Better still, he let me poke around the workshop.

For anyone who loves bicycles, craftsmanship, and small specialist businesses, this is a lovely stop. It felt like stepping into a little corner of cycling history, and I left feeling pretty pleased with my souvenir-hunting skills.

8. Le Sentier Historic Textile Tour

If you're at all interested in fashion, fabric, or the people and crafts behind them, book a Textile Tour of Paris with Rebecca.

Rebecca led our small group through the historic Le Sentier fashion district, visiting haberdasheries overflowing with specialty ribbons, silk threads, lace, mother of pearl buttons, beads, and millinery accessories. Imagine drawers and shelves packed with all the little things that make a garment special. I was in heaven.

But what made the tour especially worthwhile was the history. Rebecca shared fascinating stories about the women and girls whose labor helped make Paris a center of fashion and textiles through the 18th and 19th centuries. Their work has often been overlooked in the grander stories of couture and design, and I appreciated having that history brought to the foreground.

One more bonus: Rebecca shares a list of recommendations for food and other Paris discoveries. Everything I tried from her list was stellar, so come hungry and leave room for a few detours.

9. The Paris list for next time

Of course, there's only so much one can squeeze into a single trip, especially when you're balancing a trade show with the temptation to investigate every interesting shop window.

Here are a few things that didn't make the cut this time, but are firmly on my list for next time:

1. La Galerie Dior — A deep dive into the history of the House of Dior, with couture garments, sketches, and archival material. How did I not make it here?

2. Bibliothèque Forney — I'd love to explore more of the library and collections devoted to art and craft. Best of all it is free and housed in a historic medieval building. 

3. The gardens and estate at Versailles — Ideally, a full day outdoors, without the palace crowds. 

4. Chantilly — I'd love to visit this historic town and learn more about the region's lace-making traditions. Another textile history field trip!

5. Hot chocolate at Angelina — Because sometimes research means sitting down with a very serious cup of hot chocolate.

6. Monet's gardens at Giverny — Not technically Paris, but an easy addition to a future trip for a little color and garden inspiration. I'll need to plan around the seasonal opening dates.

7. The Grand Palais — So many couture shows take place here, and we were tantalizingly close during fashion week. I never managed to get inside, so that's another one for the list.

Until next time, Paris!

Four days of trade-show meetings, followed by as much textile history, shopping, eating, and general poking around as I could manage. Every day can't be Paris, but I'll be riding this high for a while.  I truly love what I do. Designing accessories isn't just about choosing colors and drawing patterns. It's about looking closely at the world, learning how things are made, discovering the stories behind them, and bringing a little of that inspiration back to the studio.

Paris, we'll be back!