Directory

Retail Directory 2009 

Margaret Howell

Paris

Parisian women know Margaret Howell’s classy, comfortable clothing from her stand at the Bon Marché department store. Now the French are also discovering the British designer’s menswear, thanks to a new boutique in a courtyard off the Place de la Madeleine. The 19th-century space once housed a hairdresser, then a postage stamp printer, but by the time Howell arrived, it was abandoned and had fallen into ruin. Dirt covered its most striking feature, a curved portion of the ceiling embedded with rows of clear glass rounds like bottle bottoms. Architect William Russell of Pentagram transformed the rest with a serene, modern design inspired by London’s Wigmore Street store. He demolished a derelict garage in front and replaced it with Basalt flagstones, creating an expanded entrance. Inside, dark oak flooring contrasts with white walls and the pale oak surface of a six-metre long counter displaying design books and jewelry. A devotee of British postwar furniture, Howell has decorated the store with a mix of originals (such as an Ercol dining set) and her own re-issues (e.g. an Ernest Race Heron chair), all for sale. Men’s and women’s clothing hangs neatly from continuous rails along two walls, while Vitsoe shelving shows off eminently English accessories and objects, from Oliver Goldsmith eyeglasses to a vintage 1950s Robert Welch toast rack.

6 place de la Madeleine
75008 Paris

www.margarethowell.co.uk