I Feel Like Paris – Becoming a Buyer

If you follow me on Instagram and snapchat you’ll know that last weekend I was in Paris with Who’s Next and Premiere Classe. Who’s Next is a huge fashion trade show for people like buyers and press to attend. This year they worked with The Apārtment on a concept called ‘Villa M’ and they took a group of UK bloggers along for some activities and to take part in a very exciting competition. In this post I’m going to show you what I got up to, make some recommendations for Paris and explain the competition.

Also if you’re interested in art and design you can get inspired by Paperless Post here.

Tourisme

Although we were quite busy most of the time in Paris we did get a bit of free time to do whatever we wanted. Visiting the Eiffel Tower had to be done because even though I’ve been to Paris a few times in the past, I was either working or just passing through so I’ve never had the chance to stop and stare at this incredible view.

We stayed in the south west of Paris at Hotel Molitor (here) and if you’re looking for somewhere to stay then I highly recommend it. It might be a little far away from the hustle and bustle but It’s calm, relaxing and nothing an 10 minute uber ride can’t fix. Not only does it have a swimming pool, a rooftop bar/restaurant but also the rooms were beautiful and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful.

One evening we dined at the hotels restaurant and if you ever go then please please please get the truffle burger because it was delicious and I could have eaten two all to myself.

Où rester

The Apārtment definitely know how to look after their guests, on arrival we were all greeted by a personalised pillow in our hotel rooms (which Is now proudly on my pillow at home) alongside were tote bags filled with event information about the tradeshow and treats including a copy of my favourite Cereal Magazine.

The hotel room itself had everything you could ever need (including Clarins toiletries making me feel super fancy aha, they also had a Clarins vending machine in the lobby which was insane) and Iphone speakers which is a really nice touch.

Breakfast in bed was a very tempting option but I opted to eat in the restaurant each morning, I feel like If I had breakfast in my room I would be so late and I’m already pretty late for everything ever.

Suede Backpack (here)| Wayfarer Luggage (here)|McQueen Sneakers (here)

Nouveaux Amis

I’m sort of used to being the only guy on a lot of blogger trips, since there aren’t that many other male bloggers here in the UK. It’s really nice to be included and I was even more excited because I got to meet people who I’ve followed for a long time online in real life, shout out to Yanin ( you should check out her Blog, IG and YT) and another shout out to Zoe (Blog IG and YT). Both of whom I’ve followed online for awhile, meeting people in real life becomes so seamless nowadays because I genuinely felt like I already knew them to a certain degree? I know it sounds weird but it makes perfect sense to me. I also made a whole bunch of new friends, the whole group was awesome and I had such a great time getting to know everyone. I think travelling together or going on an adventure really helps people bond instantly.

La Compétition

So what is this competition? I hear you cry. Well basically, we had to think and act like buyers by wandering around the trade show, getting inspiration and taking pictures of clothing and accessories that we would like if we were to create our own store. We then had to create a mood board that channeled our concept and this would be judged by Tom Greyhound Paris. You can see snippets of my entry in the image above, I envisioned a stark white space invaded by cold textures of mountains and waves – the clothing and imagery that I used were based around genderless garments in a monochrome theme (what else?!) I was really happy with my entry but unfortunately I didn’t win – the Prize? A trip for 2 to Tokyo to make your store come to life by creating your very own installation. So it would have been an incredible experience if I had won but oh well, I stayed true to myself and that’s all that matters. (Except Tokyo, that matters too.)

Off-White T-Shirt (here)| Denim Shorts (here)| Y3 Pure Boost (here)

All in all I had an incredible time in Paris and I definitely want to go back to explore the city a little more, I want to say a big thank you to The Apartment, Hotel Molitor, Who’s Next and Premier Classe for having me – I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below or maybe any recommendations for next time I visit Paris? As always thank you for stopping by.

Au Revoir!