213 rue saint-honoré.

every concept store aspires to be colette. the french boutique is the original sanctuary of everything cool and fresh, and despite existing for over a decade and being constantly challenged by new street smart boutiques globally, it remains unrivaled.

colette is the creation of sarah lerfel and named after her mother, colette roussaux. everything we've learned to believe cool stores should have, be it a selection of music sold in addition to clothes, little gadgets together with gawky shoes or a bar in the middle of a boutique, it was pretty much her who came up with it. thus, it is as much a fashion mecca as prada's flagship in nyc's soho.

lerfel steers her business with an incomparable fashion intuition because, as she claims, she never has time to think or reflect. her staple is to create a collection of merchandise that is simultaneously eclectic and selective and has been able to avoid becoming a pastiche of her own concoction -- a fate many concept stores fall prey to after being hailed ice cold. colette sells famous fashion houses, like ysl and lanvin, but for young designers, making it to the racks of this three-storey boutique has for over a decade meant making it big.

because of its unique standing, colette carries exclusive collaborations and sells lines normally never seen out of original brand flagships. simply put: if lerfel wants it, she sells it, and because colette has an online store, it's great for us located here in the outskirts of civilization, as well.

one of the exciting novelties comes in the form of the second collaboration between adidas originals and jeremy scott which was launched 1 february 2009. i'm not huge on sportswear, but have liked adidas originals and often think designer collaborations are at their most exciting in streetwear and sports.

for adidas' 60th anniversary, scott takes a leopard inspired theme, but the real gems of the collection are in my opinion these black tops; i especially like the fringed tank which combines street with the sassy flapper girl.

the corset top and cardigan with side strings are subtle enough echos of the 80's and early 90's, and remind me of times when dance music videos were group choreographed with skilled dancers who wore clothing that actually more rather than less covered their muscular bodies -- think janet jackson rhythm nation era.

colette's collection of sneakers has always been incomparable. the jeremy scott-adidas collab does not fail to impress here either.

my sneaker freak sighs at the sight of these icarus high tops which come either gilt or in pure white perfection. they're a masculine version on minna parikka's winged beauties but just as likely to make you airborne.

while i hanker after the fringe top and golden high tops, i must settle for these colette beauties that arrived in the mail yesterday: nike high tops in smoothly transitioning monochrome patent leather. simply wearable, but with an additional vigor factor, they will guide me towards spring quite effortlessly.