Highsnobiety to Open Pop-up in Paris for Third Edition of Not in Paris
For the third iteration of its Not in Paris exhibit, Highsnobiety has created a capsule collection in collaboration with brands including Thom Browne, Bape and Bstroy, and will host a pop-up during Paris Men’s Fashion Week.
Highsnobiety first introduced Not in Paris, a multimedia fashion, art and music showcase, in June 2020 to bring brands and their audiences together after physical shows were canceled, turning Paris Fashion Week into a digital event. It has introduced new facets with each edition.
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This season, Highsnobiety is releasing exclusive content and product collaborations such as suits, apparel, accessories and NFTs with 15 designers. Among the other participating brands are A.P.C., Kenneth Ize and RTFKT Studios for product and content by Gucci, Rick Owens, Patta and more. The pop-up offering the product collaborations is scheduled to open from June 19 to 26 at 198 Rue de Rivoli.
“In the first two editions, our collaborations with brands and artists happened on the level of content, but when you incorporate physical items into the mix it adds a whole new layer to the project,” said Highsnobiety editor in chief Thom Bettridge. “Everything we do with Not in Paris is about pushing the boundaries of what fashion can be — and even pushing the boundaries of reality itself — so we tried to take that energy into the products we’re putting forward.”
Bettridge noted some boundary-pushing collaborations like skateboard decks made with The Skateroom commemorating Paul McCarthy’s “Tree,” a sculpture shaped like a butt plug that was installed on Place Vendôme and vandalized shortly afterward, forcing the artist to withdraw it. Highsnobiety has also made products with Café de Flore, a popular Paris hangout for its editors and peers, and its first NFTs with RTFKT Studios, the digital fashion company that produces sneakers as NFTs.
“We were super excited about the extent to which the drops we did for Not in Paris 1 and 2 sold out. We were very confident in the project and the products we were creating, but making merchandise for a digital exhibition isn’t exactly a well-trodden path,” Bettridge explained. “I think the spirit of Not in Paris — and this idea that creativity can exist anywhere — is something that people connected to. Now that we’re collaborating on products with other brands and creators as part of the program, we see that as a way of continuing to spread this idea.”
Bettridge described the pop-up Not in Paris souvenir shop as a “physical extension” of the concept.
“Aside from launching products as part of the program, we decided that this was going to be the edition where we would bring Not in Paris back to Paris,” Bettridge said. “This is our first time doing it. To have Not in Paris return to Paris in the form of this souvenir shop is ironic considering the name, but it’s also something we celebrate because it’s a sign that the world is in a better place and that the shared experiences that we love are becoming possible again.”
He continued, “The concept of Not In Paris launched during the first Paris Men’s Fashion Week post-COVID-19. Normally, June was a time when many of us at Highsnobiety would go to Paris to cover the shows, but with in-person presentations cancelled, we created Not In Paris as a way of recreating the explosion of creativity that we would usually see on the runway.”
Will Not in Paris head to other cities? Bettridge said, “Being borderless and being anywhere and everywhere at the same time is central to Not In Paris, so I could totally see it happening in other cities. I could see it happening in the middle of the ocean, or on top of a mountain as well.”
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