Shopping Paris: Duke

A lovely neighborhood shop where every item is highly considered.

In a city of global luxury, I find a humble little shop filled with well-made things, and it sticks in my mind weeks later.

My Paris friend Arnaud gave me a list of stores to visit while I was in his town. He’s someone I admire and a man with incredible taste. I went to nearly all of his suggestions (Husbands Paris, Beige Habilleur, The Broken Arm, Antoine de Macedo and Le Bon Marché) and was inspired to see so many interesting specialty stores (and a thriving department store) after not having visited the city in years. It was hard not to contrast Paris with New York, where retail leans more toward mono-brand shops and the stores that seem to cater specifically to performative males. There are some exceptions of course, C’H’C’M, Ven. Space, Blue In Greene, Pilgrim Surf Supply. etc., which are interesting and unique, but on the whole Paris had more energy.

Later in my trip, I was looking at Bleu De Chauffe stockists because that’s the one thing I really wanted to buy in France during my visit. This led me to discover the shop Duke on the Rue Bréa in the 6th. When I asked Arnaud about Duke, he knew of it and said it’s a little neighborhood shop. It wasn’t far from our hotel, so I made my way over to see it, and what I found was unexpected but delightful. The shop’s owner Polin was there and was happy to talk to me about each brand and as you might expect, he had a deep understanding of every product.