Whether you’re attending this autumn’s Fashion Week or just soaking up some of the city’s couture heritage, these five hotels will surround you with style even while you sleep.
Paris Fashion Week is fast approaching (25 September to 3 October), and the capital of couture will soon be invaded by gazelle-like models and extravagantly-dressed fashion editors dashing around town.
Whether you’re looking for total fashion immersion or just to soak up some of the capital’s couture heritage, here are five hotels where you can be surrounded by style even while you sleep.
Aptly located in the French capital’s “Golden Triangle” — a prime spot for luxury shopping just off the Champs Elysées – the five-star Maison des Champs Elysees had 17 of its 57 rooms and suites, as well as the hotel’s restaurant and bar, designed by the edgy Belgian fashion house, Maison Martin Margiela. In the label’s signature whitewashed style, the decor includes various shades of white, from very pale grey to a bleached beige, as well as trompe-l’oeil details on the walls.
In an altogether more flamboyant style, French fashion designer Christian Lacroix designed the interiors of two four-star boutique hotels in the capital: Hotel du Petit Moulin and Hotel Bellechasse. The former, located in the historic Marais neighbourhood, has 17 individually decorated rooms, some of which have a traditional feel with original mouldings and cornices, while others are more minimalist with ‘60s-style design. For the latter, located in chic Saint Germain neighbourhood, Lacroix created seven different decor themes spread over the 34 rooms, including one called Mousquetaires (Musketeers) with heavy yellow brocade curtains and murals inspired by 17th-century paintings.
The 38-room Hotel Original, just next to Place de la Bastille, is the work of unconventional French fashion designer Stella Cadente, known for her fun and whimsical clothes. An enchanted forest theme recurs throughout the hotel, with dark colours and shadows of trees and animals painted on the walls to create a fairytale atmosphere.
Revered fashion designer Azzedine Alaïa is behind the decor at 5 Moussy (5 rue de Moussy, 75004; 01-44-78-92-00), three sleek rental apartments in the Marais just next door to the couturier’s atelier. With their polished concrete floors and 20th-century design furniture, they wouldn’t look out of place on the pages of Architectural Digest magazine.
Kim Laidlaw Adrey is the Paris Localite for BBC Travel. She also writes www.unlockparis.com.