In a shock to the world of fashion, renowned Parisian boutique Colette will close its doors in December. The shuttering of the cult icon of haute cool, which just celebrated its 20th anniversary, signals the end of an era.

“As all good things must come to an end, after 20 wonderful years, Colette should be closing its doors on December 20 of this year,” the retailer said in a statement. “Colette Roussaux has reached the time when she would like to take her time; and Colette cannot exist without Colette.”

Founded in 1997 by Colette Roussaux and later run with her daughter Sarah Andelman, who lived above the store, Andelman shared the news in a post on Colette’s social media channels, with the dates 1997 and 2017 in the two circles that make up its logo.

Colette is arguably the original doyenne of luxury fashion with an edgy street aesthetic and the original purveyor of the pop-up store concept.

“We started to work with people like Virgil [Abloh] before he started Off White, as well as OAMC’s Luke Meier when he came from Supreme, and with the whole wave of designers like Hood By Air,” Andelman told The Business of Fashion last year. “At a certain point it didn’t make sense to have them on the ground floor anymore, so they went up with the designers.”

The three-story, 8,000-square-foot space Rue Saint-Honoré sells wares from niche film camera to souvenirs and T-shirts, jewelry and toys. Its exclusive high-low collaborations have led to unique products, independent magazines and the fashion incarnation of the Apple Watch, with curated music soundtracks another signature element of its retail mix.

“It’s the only shop where I go because they have things no one else has,” Karl Lagerfeld told BoF last year. “I buy watches, telephones, jewellery there — everything really! They have invented a formula that you can’t copy easily, because there is only one Colette, and her and Sarah are 200 percent involved.”

Sourced through Scoop.it from: www.brandchannel.com