By: Sophia Shyer

Founded in 1997 by Colette Roussaux and her daughter Sarah Andelman, colette was the epitome of a curated, cool shopping experience. The three-story concept store blended fashion, streetwear, art, music, and design, alongside a bookstore and a niche “water bar” that served over 100 brands of bottled water. 

The first time I visited colette, I was ten years old, dragged through the doors on Rue Saint-Honoré by the most stylish person I will ever know, my father. I walked in, wide-eyed, amazed by the amount of sheer creativity and culture I was witnessing and being immersed into. I walked out with a teal nail polish, although trivial, it has remained my go-to color ever since. At the time, I couldn’t fully comprehend the significance of what I was standing in front of, as I do now. 

What made colette genuinely revolutionary was its curatorial instinct. The store earned a reputation as a place of tastemaking, but, more than anything, it deeply influenced Parisian culture by highlighting unknown designers. The boutique was known for stocking some of the first collections of designers who would later become beloved and respected, such as Raf Simons, Proenza Schouler, Rodarte, Jeremy Scott, and Sacai. 

Furthermore, Colette has collaborated with a wide range of different brands like BAPE, Hermès, Chanel, and even McDonald’s – placing colette at the intersection of fashion, art, and everyday life. 

After 20 impressive years, colette closed on December 20th, 2017. Colette Roussaux had reached an age where it was time to step back, colette could simply not exist without the original Colette. Her daughter, Sarah Andelman, chose not to continue without her mother. Now stands a large Yves Saint Laurent storefront. 

Although colette will never make a full comeback, in September of 2025, the Virgil Abloh Archive hosted an exhibition that featured a colette installation in the Grand Palais. Stores like Dover Street Market, SSENSE, and Kith have taken the ideas of colette and built upon them. These stores attempt to replicate colette’s immersive retail experience and collaborative energy, but none have fully captured it. With that, it’s hard to imagine that any store will have quite the energy that colette did. 

That nail polish I bought at ten years old is still on my dresser, and I will forever treasure my blue dot bag like a relic. Ultimately, colettes legacy is being a place that took a chance on the unknown and offering the world something they can’t help but feel drawn to, a place of exquisite style.