It's on a stroll through the Saint-Honoré neighborhood that we decide to stop in front of this tiny vintage shop. On the sidewalk, a young boy has set up his sewing machine and created a colorful dress in front of a few amused passersby. "Welcome to the smallest fashion house in Paris," the dressmaker announces. Indeed, upon closer inspection, the place couldn't be more than 10m2. It's not surprising that as soon as the sun comes out, Pierre Courtial sets up on the pavement: "Some people do this in grand salons with gilding, but I do haute couture on the ground floor."
Pierre's passion for clothes goes back to his childhood: "I would stop kids in the schoolyard to touch their stuffed animals. Today, when I walk down the street, I still sometimes touch the clothes of passersby." After a detour in mechanical engineering, young Pierre gathers his senses and decides to move to Paris to study fashion.mode. He will then cross paths with Pierre Cardin, who will become his intern, disciple, and finally, the artistic director of the house. "He is the one who taught me everything... and when he passed away, I wanted to take over this old thrift shop and open the Smallest Couture House in Paris."
At the crossroads between the thrift shop, couture house, and sewing workshop, the lovely boutique is filled with around a hundred clothing items from the 50s and 60s, most of which have been customized by the sharp needle of the young prodigy. "A piece of clothing is hours of work! As soon as it becomes old, we toss it away, when all it takes is a bit of imagination to turn it into a new creation."
Why import clothes made on the other side of the world when a talented fashion designer works just down the street?
The Smallest Couture House.
Pépite: The Smallest Haute Couture House, a High-End Thrift Store
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La Plus Petite Maison de Couture, 2, rue Sauval – 1er, Paris
« One day, Mr. Cardin said to me : "Look at what they threw on the floor for me !” There were tons of little fabric crumbs covering the ground. "Pick them up and throw them on this white fabric. Now, sew each little colored piece onto the fabric, make a dress out of it, and sell it for 10,000€ !” » That's how Pierre Courtial, a young apprentice of the great fashion designer Pierre Cardin, learned that even in fashion : nothing is lost, everything is transformed.