Kiwi style upstart recognised in Paris

Paris House [NZ Business focus]

25.08.08 MEDIA RELEASE (For immediate release)

Kiwi style upstart recognised in Paris

Iconic Parisian style store Colette has chosen the Paris House range of wallets to sit among the worlds hippest designs on their style stocked shelves: a major vote of confidence for the quirky, iconoclastic brand created by New Zealand conceptual artist Sharon Paris.

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise commented on the selection, saying: Colette is one of the leading multi-label boutiques and concept stores in Paris. It’s the kind of shop that can potentially lead to the international ‘discovery’ of a new brand. Previous former lesser-knowns who have flourished from Colette’s fertile soil include New Zealand fashion luminary Karen Walker.

Paris’ products have a simple and endearing goal: to “Make people smile”. Her themed products showcase challenging or thought-provoking truisms, drawing the eye, a smile and often that all too elusive conversation starter.

“Each piece is a work of art in itself,” says Paris.

Paris is proud to be associated with the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise’s creative industry development initiative New Zealand New Thinking.

“New Zealand New Thinking enables Paris House to be part of a national brand, it defines future innovative successes and enables Paris House to leverage something bigger than ourselves.”

“New Zealand is such a small market for niche products and that forces us to look further away from home. Each international client is able to buy three or four times as much as our New Zealand clients. My vision is to take New Zealand to the world.

The road to selection at Colette was a long one that started with Paris making contact with a researcher at Colette whose task it is to find the coolest stuff globally, this time the cool stuff found her. Paris cemented the bond with an Air New Zealand Creative HQ Incubator award that included a trip to Paris. Almost a year later she was finally introduced to Sarah (daughter of the Colette namesake) and the deal was done.

The Paris House business is based in Wellington, New Zealand. Although she maintains a permanent representative in New Zealand, Paris is itinerant, traveling most of the year promoting her products around the world and keeping her finger on the pulse.

Paris House products are available in specialist design, fashion and art gallery stores in Paris, New York, Los Angeles, Edinburgh, Tel Aviv, Dubai, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Jakarta and Brussels, as well as in New Zealand from Hokianga to Invercargill.

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