City guide for creatives in Paris Five places to discover the city beyond tourist stereotypes

Our guide could not miss the creative city par excellence: Paris. More than any other place in the world, and its urban planning speaks for it, Paris represents the city of goods and modernity.

Haussmann, the urban architect who in the mid-nineteenth century redefined some European capitals, gutted and rebuilt Paris with the goal of making it perfect for commerce. He succeeded. From the great world fairs to Fashion Week, everything in Paris speaks of spectacle: from the details of shop windows to political and strategic choices. Think of Macron, when he publicly fumed at just the idea that Emily might move away from the French capital, to represent another city as the cultural capital and capital of world fashion.

And so, always outside the suggestions of TikTok feeds, here are 5 must-see moments in Paris during Fashion Week and beyond. An itinerary that goes from food to nightlife, passing through culture, in view of the most anticipated Fashion Week in the world.

Maison La Roche

Maison La Roche, home of the Le Corbusier Foundation, is one of the several visitable and perfectly preserved works of the Swiss-born French architect. A key figure of modernism, and certainly the most popular among his peers, he can be fully appreciated by visiting the interior of this villa throughout the entire year. The house is actually part of a double residence: one, not open to visitors, was designed for his violinist brother Albert Jeanneret, and the other, that of collector Raoul Albert La Roche, accessible in all its details. The villa is located in the 16th arrondissement, an area rich in modernist architecture. Here Le Corbusier applies his basic principles in every element, from the structure to the interior details. Time must be dedicated to it, walking through it slowly – the advice is to first brush up on architectural history to appreciate the details, such as the door handles, and discover choices that have been endlessly cited since, like the placement of sinks or the iconic internal ramp.

8-10 Sq. du Dr Blanche

Rose Bakery, Maison Balzac

Among the many Rose Bakeries in Paris, we recommend the one housed at Maison Balzac. If in the city’s Bouillons you find typical French dishes, at Rose Bakery the offering is simple cuisine, in curated spaces with excellent raw ingredients. An intimate location, perfect for enjoying open air, greenery, contemporary architecture, and good food. Always ready for a Sunday brunch, founders Rose and Jean-Charles Carrarini – she is the sister of Adrian Joffe, CEO of Comme des Garçons – actually come from the fashion world. After years as a knitwear designer, in 1988 they opened their first restaurant in London with the idea of simple, genuine Franco-English cuisine. Today Rose Bakery counts four locations in Paris, other venues in different cultural capitals, and corners in Dover Street Market from Los Angeles to Tokyo. We obviously recommend the iconic lemon rose cake.

47 Rue Raynouard

MAD Musée des Arts Décoratifs

A stone’s throw from the Louvre, the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD) is one of those museums that continues to surprise every year. Under the curatorship of Marie-Sophie Carron de la Carrière, Paris finally dedicates an exhibition entirely to the incredible figure of Paul Poiret, a creative who elevated fashion designers to intellectuals capable of reading and shaping their own time. A chronological and thematic journey that gathers 550 pieces including clothes, sketches, perfumes, photographs, and objects. Retracing his story does not just mean reviewing an important moment in fashion, but pausing to reflect on a true creative who already in the early 1900s did not want labels: he was a genius, collector, and unparalleled art connoisseur, the prototype of the contemporary creative director. Not only famous for liberating women’s bodies, Poiret collaborated with artists, designed interiors and furniture, understood the value of perfume advertising, and cultivated a ruthless networking, capable of involving the best talents of the time from art to architecture.

107 Rue de Rivoli

Velvet Manners

The City of Light is also made of nightlife and music, central elements that create communities united in the darkness of clubs, places where the best collaborations between creatives are often born, even before in Instagram DMs. If Silencio, founded by the filmmaker David Lynch who passed away last year, has gone from place to be to mainstream spot, something new is already ready to arrive. Velvet Manners is one of these signals: a very young collective, at their second event but already with other projects in the works, born with the idea of making independent music a social connector and cultural vehicle. The goal is to bring together emerging artists and a highly selective audience in intimate experiences. Their debut, last June with Rita P, immediately sold out. Now the next event is set for September 24 with Most Things and Xmal. The first is a London duo mixing sharp rhythmic arrangements and experimental post-punk structure, the second explore darker and more industrial territories, between IDM and sound art. And who knows, they might return in October, during fashion week.

Mécanique Ondulatoire, 8 Pass

Lemaire

We cannot fail to recommend a shopping spot: even though fashion is struggling, there is one brand that, due to its design coherence, seems immune to trends and PR strategies: Lemaire. Its flagship in the heart of the Marais is not a store, but what should be the contemporary retail space of a strong brand with a delicate voice: a home. Opened in 2023 on rue Elzévir and designed by the in-house team, the space welcomes with Moroccan tile floors, hand-knotted rugs, and a pair of Chair 1 by Enzo Mari, conceived in the Autoprogettazione manifesto, an approach that recalls the modularity and flexibility of the Lemaire wardrobe. The store becomes a cultural platform: here you find capsules like Martin Ramírez or collaborations with artists such as Philippe Weisbecker and Carlos Peñafiel, where the object becomes conversation and contemporary craftsmanship. Every detail reflects the philosophy of the two founders, Sarah Linn and Christophe Lemaire. Proof that in fashion it is still possible to build your own language and remain faithful to it, even with a turnover of 100 million.

1 rue Elzévir