When we started Le Mill seven years ago, Colette was one of two seminal references for Julie and me (the other being Merci). The store was a game changer in our industry. Boutiques have always existed, both in smaller towns and larger fashion cities, but Collette was the first to transform what a speciality store did and how it looked. If today we speak about concept stores and look at the trend of curated spaces popping up in most major cities, it was Colette that really popularised this movement.
Having good taste and presenting pieces we love in a curated space is what most of us speciality retailers do, albeit some better than others. What Colette does, though, is something more. They are always the first to launch the most seminal designers and collections. Second, they collaborate with these designers and mentor them through special collaborations in their store. Third, the store turns into an incubator for cool concepts and ideas outside of fashion. Colette is constantly buzzing — one day it’s a magical new temporary tattoo that girls are lining up around the block to get; on another it’s a renowned artist launching his monograph at the store.
It’s fitting that the last few months of the store will be dedicated to a whole new concept in brick-and-mortar, monthly pop ups of influential brands in fashion, including Chanel this November. Each brand will take over the first floor of the boutique. I don’t think we’ll have to wait long before we see other concept stores doing the same thing.
I think Sarah Andelman and her mother, Colette, the namesakes behind the store, were right to shutter while they were still at the top of their game and relevant. It’s exhausting to always be on trend, follow each designer, be the first to know and then make sure you sell it well. So, I can understand how they might want a break. But I’m saddened that we won’t have their leadership in tackling the next phase of retail.
As department stores live their most testing year, and online continues to grow, speciality stores have a real role to play. The magic of fashion comes alive in brick-and-mortar stores. And those of us who will learn to work with social media and online will be the real winners.
Colette would surely have been the first to do this; perhaps that prospect was what exhausted the duo so much. In the meantime, Julie and I are really going to miss our regular fashion week meals at the store, where each of us would order the same exact thing — two Colette salads and two soft boiled eggs.
The store is presently collaborating with Balenciaga for a store takeover that will be on until mid-August
Cecilia Morelli Parikh is co-founder, Le Mill, Colaba
