PARIS — Waving the bleu, blanc and rouge colors of the French flag, hometown brand Ami Paris is taking over Galeries Lafayette for the summer with a series of pop-ups, a capsule collection and a beach-themed rooftop terrace just in time for the Olympics.
Galeries Lafayette is the historical partner of the brand. “They contacted us to say, let’s do something crazy during the Olympics,” said Ami chief executive officer Nicolas Santi-Weil. “And that’s what we love to do — to surprise a client, to surprise a partner, and to surprise ourselves.”
Dubbed “La Plage AMI,” the first of activations of the brand founded by Alexandre Mattiussi will kick off on Wednesday and run through the summer until Sept. 2.
First the brand will take over three street-level windows, two devoted to the summer capsule and a third showcasing the spring 2024 collection.
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The capsule will be available in three key locations — one in the menswear section, which will run until July 22; another in the womenswear section, while a third will be perched on the rooftop.
The rooftop takeover is set to bring the beach vibes to the center of town, complete with colorful huts inspired by Deauville and striped deck chairs where guests can take in the view of the Eiffel Tower and newly renovated Opera Garnier.
The brand has partnered with chef Julien Sebbag for crepes, and will feature an ice cream stand and is complete with a selfie space. There will be activations open to the public on the rooftop throughout the summer.
The capsule collection features the tricolors and stripes of the French flag with beach-ready wear of T-shirts, shorts and windbreakers, as well as beach towels, tote bags and socks, all with Ami’s signature heart symbol.
Other items including hoodies and baseball caps in the capsule collection recall the brand’s first big item when it launched a decade ago. “We wanted to play around and are going to use this historic logo — the A, M, I — and bring it back, something we haven’t done for years,” said Santi-Weil.
They are also introducing smaller lifestyle items that aim to raise brand awareness to tourists coming to Paris for the Olympics. “We are a friend. You will always remember you were there,” he said. Those items include branded water bottles as well as card games, pétanque and Mölkky bowling sets to offer as take-home souvenirs for tourists.
Ami decided on the pop-up with its historical partner Galeries Lafayette, following its major installation there in 2021.
With the understanding they are not a large conglomerate or sponsor, they wanted to create an installation that was outside the norm of shop windows and decided to bring Paris Plage — the city’s annual riverside summer walk — to the rooftop.
The installation was designed to take place during the Olympics, with both retailer and brand unsure of what to expect in terms of turnout as the city preps for a wave of visitors.
“They know that the traffic will be huge,” Santi-Weil said, but can’t ballpark what tourist spend will be as there is no precedent for a similarly set urban games. “We don’t know how dense the traffic will be. We don’t know how people will behave. What we know, what we hope, is that they will be surprised, they will have fun and see one of the best views of Paris during the Olympics.”
Galeries Lafayette Haussmann sits outside of the main security areas, which will require pre-approved QR codes for some passersby.
Whatever the turnout, it will be a win for Santi-Weil and Mattiussi.
“Our goal is not to make money, our goal is to make something fun. It’s an amazing event we won’t have twice in our lifetime to have the Olympics in our city, in our country. So it has to be about style. It has to be something fun, something positive,” the brand executive continued.
“This will be a strong statement of who we are, to work with our historical partner on the rooftop, which is a stronger signal of trust,” said Santi-Weil. “We’ve invested a lot in time, in work, in person, in events, to make it special.”
