Photo: Cecile Bortoletti
Olympia Le-Tan is famous for transforming literary classics into covetable schoolgirl accessories––think Moby Dick and Anna Karenina clutches that feature intricate, hand-embroidered vintage-edition designs. The French bag maker also designs clothes, and she will present her Fall ’15 collection this Saturday in Paris to the delight of fashion and literary nerds alike. We asked Le-Tan for her guide to the City of Light, which includes classic French diners, of course, the famous English-language bookstore Shakespeare and Company.
Favorite restaurants:
Cibus is my favorite Italian restaurant in Paris. It’s so small you can hear everybody else’s conversations, but the food is so delicious that that doesn’t even matter. We usually get catering from Cibus at the office the night before the show as a special treat. It helps us stay up late!
Takara is my local Japanese restaurant where I go at least once a week with my friend Victoire Castellane. It’s the oldest Japanese restaurant in Paris, and I love it because it hasn’t changed.
Le Voltaire for a delicious French classic dinner. I love the atmosphere. There couldn’t be a more Parisian place than this one.
Caviar Kaspia: it’s always such a treat to have the potato with caviar. And they have OLT caviar clutches in the shop on the ground floor.
Favorite shops:
Olympia Le-Tan! Because it’s the best shop in Paris. We opened a few months ago. It’s all pink and looks like a dollhouse. I do my meetings there now because it’s so cozy and nice.
Photo: Courtesy of Olympia Le-Tan
Colette because there are always great new things to buy, and I love the restaurant downstairs.
Shakespeare and Company is the bookshop where Spike Jonze filmed Mourir Auprès de Toi (the short movie we did together). It’s mainly English and American books. It’s so beautiful and has so much history. It’s also the best place to find old first-edition novels in Paris.
Favorite museums:
The Centre Pompidou for the view and the permanent collection. When my sister is in Paris, we always take my little brother there to walk around. I never get tired of the view on the way up the escalator.
The Louvre because there are always bits of it I haven’t seen.
Photo: Courtesy of Shakespeare and Company
Favorite activities:
Hanging out at the Tuileries with my niece and nephew, going to the Marché aux Puces on the weekend.
Favorite place during fashion week:
The only place I see during fashion week is my office.
—Austen Rosenfeld, Style.com
