Pop-up stores not to miss between the Paris Olympics events

The Paris Olympics will be kicking off in a few days, and many fashion and accessories labels, keen to tap the influx of local and foreign tourists in the French capital this summer, are opening seasonal pop-up stores. Melissa, Guess Jeans, Palladium and Sundek are among the labels that have set up a temporary presence in Paris during the Olympic extravaganza, as reported in the curated list that follows.

A few months after unveiling a vibrant pop-up store at the Milan Furniture Fair, Brazilian footwear brand Melissa is setting up shop in the Marais from July 22 to August 22, with an immersive activation labelled ‘Melissa Frizzante’.

Melissa will be showcasing its jelly sandals in cheerfully coloured plastic at 23 rue du Pont-aux-Choux in Paris, promising an experience involving all five senses, thanks also to a selection of non-alcoholic fruit drinks.

Melissa will present its best-selling Possession sandal’s new shades, with cheeky names like ‘Don’t Worry Be Berry’, ‘Jelly Spritz’ and ‘Watermelon Haze’. The brand, founded in 1979, is also present in the French capital at the Galeries Lafayette’s Haussmann flagship, with a window-display initiative running from June 6 to July 30.

This summer, Guess Jeans has set up an impressive temporary display in the main atrium and entrance tunnel of the Galeries Lafayette’s Champs-Elysées branch, tracing the denim label’s heritage and introducing its new manifesto, ‘The Next 40 years of Denim’.

After stopping off at the department store’s boulevard Haussmann flagship in June, Guess Jeans has now moved to the branch at 60 avenue des Champs-Elysées. The pop-up store is open from July 2 to August 18, and it showcases Guess Jeans’s first women’s and men’s items developed with ‘Guess Airwash’, the label’s new laser wash technology.

The Californian label is also offering its customers the opportunity to personalise their jeans, denim shirts and jackets with a laser machine replicating washed-out effects.

Global superstar Hello Kitty is celebrating its 50th birthday. For the occasion, the brand has teamed up with the Galeries Lafayette Haussmann in Paris with a fun, ultra-colourful and slightly retro pop-up store open from July 18 to August 26.

Expect a hefty dose of kawaii! To celebrate its 50th anniversary in style, the cute kittenish character invented by Japanese entertainment company Sanrio has opened a temporary store on the third floor of the Galeries Lafayette flagship at 40 boulevard Haussmann, with a setting inspired by some of Paris’s most famous landmarks. Customers and tourists will be able to take selfies with the Japanese pop culture icon in front of a miniature Eiffel Tower.

Catering to pleasant childish whims, the store features the new exclusive Hello Kitty X Galeries Lafayette range (including mugs with charming designs), as well as products developed in collaboration with French brands like emerging sustainable label Flotte, leather goods brand Marie Martens, lifestyle label Le Bijou Parisien, and directional fashion label Balzac Paris.

To celebrate the Olympic flame’s arrival in Paris, French footwear brand Palladium is tapping its aeronautical heritage with pop-up stores at Galeries Lafayette Haussmann (open from July 31 to August 28) and at the BHV department store (from July 22 to August 12).

Destination adventure. Palladium, founded in 1947, has teamed up with two Parisian department stores to create an immersive urban exploration experience, in a setting featuring metal shelving and wooden arches inspired by an aircraft cabin’s interior, showcasing the brand’s products in an original and inventive way.

Palladium is also introducing a capsule collection of apparel, accessories and canvas booties designed as an homage to Paris. The line includes a sky-blue windbreaker, a pair of ultra-lightweight nylon and polyester shorts, and a skirt made in breathable fabric and fitted with drawstrings. As a bonus, the French brand will be distributing 30,000 t-shirts in the streets of Paris while the pop-up stores are open.

Sundek, an Italian beachwear brand founded in 1958, has headed for Paris during the Games to present a decidedly sporty collection decked out in the colours of the Olympic nations. The destination is the Galeries Lafayette’s Haussmann flagship.

Sundek’s sporty pop-up store is open from July 2 to July 22, showcasing a new, Olympics-inspired capsule collection. It features 14 different beach shorts models (made in taffeta and recycled polyester sourced from regenerated plastic bottles) in the colours of the flags of France, Italy, Spain, Japan, Canada and Australia, as well as a selection of super-colourful t-shirts with the ‘We surf all over the world since 1958’ [sic] slogan.