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Outdoor Swimming

Text: Nick Forrester Image: Grenouille O_O

Swimming isn’t really the same in summer unless you can do it outside. But where can one possibly hope to find outdoor swimming in central Paris? 

There are 30 or so public swimming pools located within the Périphérique, all very well priced at around 3 Euros for a one-off entry. However, most of them are serious indoor exercise areas; many boast hostile 70’s facades; and attract such little publicity that most visitors to the capital wouldn’t know a Parisian pool if it was staring them in the face. 

All but the Piscine Josephine Baker.  The only swimming pool to be built in Paris in the last 18 years, which is spectacularly set on the River Seine. It floats on the river, just next to the Quai François Mauriac and the retractable roof allows for prime sunbathing territory. Priced at a relatively modest 5 euros for a 2 hour dip and open until 10-11pm during the week, it is surely the jewel in the crown of Parisian swimming pools.

Noël en Bio in the Marais

Text: Stephanie Wells

With the whole world a-twitter over the Copenhagen summit, get into the spirit with a little organic holiday shopping in the Marais. The Noël de Bio holiday fair convenes Friday, December 11 through Saturday, December 13 in the Espace des Blancs Manteaux. According to experts, the most effective way to climate change is on the citizen level. What better way than finding 100% organic cotton footed pyjamas for your boyfriend?

The cavernous showroom of Blancs Manteaux will be packed to the poutres with clothing and textile designers, beauty and body care products, and artisanal delicacies. Cruising for organic slippers and cruelty free leather totes, you might be able to wrangle a healing crystal realignment or a free ayurvedic massage. The holidays are a time for receiving and giving. This year, give consciously, and with Parisian style.

Espace d’animation des Blancs Manteaux
Friday, Dec. 11 – Saturday, Dec. 13
11h – 20h
48 rue Vieille du Temple, Paris 4e
Metro: St. Paul
Free entry

Rykiel Homme: Does an End Mean Forever?

Daniel Scheffler writing for I V Y paris

Collections of colourful understanding and ingenuity encompass Rykiel Hommes' contribution to life, the world, the fashion industry, and the France.

It allows one to regain faith in the beauty of perfect aesthetic, symmetry and of course,  beautiful stripes. The faultless item of one's own wardrobe, perfect for any juncture and any crowd is indeed a Rykiel.

The Queen of knitwear, Sonia Rykiel has always taken her menswear to more sophisticated levels than others can endeavour.  The sense of movement in her design, the comprehension of touch-on-skin and the understated selective advertising all form a riveting brand synergy. The colours seem unsullied, the greys more expressive and the stripes craftier than ever before.

April 77

Daniel Scheffler writing for I V Y paris

Everything is black -- well almost everything at April77...

 

The launch of the April77 Winter 2008 line in Paris excites entices enthralls and captures the spirit of today - where we are running. The brand originates and revels in the music fashion genre, hanging with Jesus and Mary Chain and the brand evangelists screaming grunge. It's so late 80s early 90s I cannot see neon anymore, and the simplicity of the 90s minimalism hasn't squared up to me yet.

So close your eyes, see working class heros and anti-London. I am hearing an English Nirvana; a suburban state school going Kurt Cobain.  

The brand lends itself towards being on trend and very much where the times are; neither post, nor pre, nor anywhere else but here. The look ranges from dreamy longer sleeves to cuddle-your-emotionally-distressed-self-into-a-cosy-enclave-of-love.

Tucking or cuddling yourself around this label is as comforting as the clothes are easy to wear with the line focusing on prêt-a-porter and being affordably chic.  

Nirvana style plaid print with white wash jeans and heavy coats embed this collection into a wired up mesh of hazy fantasy. The music blares, the clothes rock and you are traveling beyond the obvious. The cuts are either slightly tapered or outlandishly large. The latter, par for the fashion course.