STYLE INSPIRATION - camilleriparismode Malta

design FLAIR JULY 09 ISSUE 22 69
Style inSpiration
Some businesses turn themselves into a way of life, and when that life is beautiful,
other people want a part of it. FLAIR talks to the Camilleri Paris Mode family about
their stunning new premises in Rabat and about the long but steady road from a shop
in 19 th -century St John’s Square, Valletta to this. Photography: ALAN CARVILLE

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We know them as Camilleri Paris Mode, a quaintly old-fashioned
name for an operation that is anything but. The Camilleri family
business, which sold clothes and accessories, handbags, hats
and haberdashery, started out in 1890 when Paolo Camilleri
opened up shop and start trading under the name of A la Ville de
Lyon. The shop entrance was tucked into the façade of st John’s
Cathedral in Valletta, with a door and window round the corner
on Merchants street.
There is a description of the shop in Malta and gibraltar
illustrated, compiled and edited by Allister Macmillan and
published during the First World War (it was approved by the
military press censor in London):
“To all with whom economy is a matter of ever-recurrent thought
much depends on knowing where to buy, that is, where money is
made to go the farthest – where expects, guided by knowledge of
the requirements of the moment, and of the best and most suitable
sources of supply, set in array before the public the latest and
choicest articles available. such an establishment is that of Mr Paolo
Camilleri, which is very popular because of the opportunities and
facilities it affords of acquiring dress materials of every description
at prices that please. general drapery and clothing cannot be
dispensed with as can articles of luxury and ornamentation. They
are indispensible in seasons of financial depletion as well as in
times of well-filled exchequers, and it is to people who are under
the necessity of exercising economy in every direction that Mr
Camilleri appeals by his goods. The extent of his importation would
probably astonish most people in the island, and he has always in
stock the latest patterns and novelties associated with the trade.”
CArMeLo’s grAndson AnTHony CA
BoosT AFTerWArds. THere WAs so M
Paolo Camilleri died young, when only in his 40s. His sons Carmelo
and giuseppe continued to run the shop after their father died, but in
the 1920s they parted amicably. Carmelo, whose grandsons Victor,
Anthony and Franco run the business today along with some of their
children, needed a new name. Because France was still the height
of glamour then, he chose Camilleri Paris Mode. A dividing wall
was built inside the shop, and giuseppe kept the cathedral façade
entrance while Carmelo kept that on Merchants street, where it
remains today. Things could have been very different. Carmelo had
been 17, facing an uncertain future of few opportunities and on the
verge of emigrating to Argentina when his father died and he decided
to stay on. Just before the war he added another shop – 23 Merchant
street – where he sold hats, broderie Anglaise and men’s drapery.
The two brothers had 16 children between them, yet those two
shops kept them all fed, clothed and educated, which says much

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MiLLeri sAys: “THe Business Took A Very HArd knoCk during THe WAr, BuT A
uCH desTruCTion. PeoPLe HAd To sTArT AFresH, To reBuiLd, reFiT And reFurnisH.”
for the acumen and hard work of those who ran them. Like almost
all others, the business was hit hard during the second World War,
particularly during the blitz when Valletta was evacuated as bombs
rained down every day.
Carmelo’s grandson Anthony Camilleri says: “The business took a very
hard knock during the war, but a boost afterwards. There was so much
destruction. People had to start afresh, to rebuild, refit and refurnish.”
A la Ville de Lyon ceased trading in the 1960s, but Camilleri Paris
Mode kept going. Another of Carmelo’s grandsons, Victor Camilleri,
joined the business in the early 1970s. “We still had some leftover
stock then of raincoats for priests – all of them extra large,” he says.
given the marked absence of customers in the form of extra-large
priests, the business diversified into wedding dresses and increased
its stocks of dress-materials. The shop had stopped carrying readymade
clothes around 20 years earlier. >p72

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MeMBers oF THe CAMiLLeri
F A M i L y, V A r i o u s e M P L o y e e s
A n d B u s i n e s s C o n T A C T s
T H r o u g H T H e y e A r s .
>With the family growing down the
generations, Camilleri Paris Mode recognised
the need to expand both in terms of premises
and the range of stock it carried. eighteen
years ago, they opened their eponymous shop
in sliema’s Annunciation square, selling top-of-
the-range furnishing fabrics, gifts, ornaments
and italian toiletries like Acqua di Parma.
The shop was run by yet another of Carmelo’s
grandsons, Franco Camilleri, with Victor’s son
Paul and now, Franco’s daughter Mara.
“We needed to grow,” Paul Camilleri says. “But
in growing, we changed the whole concept of what
we do. Before 1999, we sold only select furnishings.
The obvious next step was to add accessories for
the home, and to grow the range by adding on only

iconic and very sophisticated brands. We sought out special things
that we saw were missed by the market in Malta.”
it is a far cry from the days back in 1915 when A la Ville de Lyon’s
boast was that it catered to the needs of those who wished to
make their money go farthest. Camilleri Paris Mode has over the
last decade built up a very good working relationship with interior
designers and architects, working closely with them to provide
a complete service and adding new products as they became
essential or desirable. even before opening the sliema shop, the
company had bought renowned sofa-maker gk interiors, which was
based in rabat, and continued to hand-build sofas to classic and
contemporary designs for private clients. The rabat premises have
since been gutted and completely restructured internally and are
now a new three-storey shop, fabulously decorated and laid out
with all manner of furniture, furnishings, ornaments and the most
spectacular, gorgeous materials for curtains and sofas. >p75
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FroM LeFT To rigHT: ViCTor CAMiLLeri, FrAnCo CAMiLLeri, His dAugHTer MArA CAMiLLeri, AndreW CAMiLLeri, PAuL CAMiLLeri, MArk CAMiLLeri WHo Looks AFTer BACk oFFiCe And AdMinisTrATion, And AnTHony CAMiLLeri.
BeFore 1999, We
soLd onLy seLeCT
FurnisHings. THe
oBVious nexT
sTeP WAs To Add
ACCessories For
THe HoMe, And To
groW THe rAnge
By Adding on onLy
iConiC And Very
soPHisTiCATed
BrAnds. We sougHT
ouT sPeCiAL THings
THAT We sAW Were
Missed By THe
MArkeT in MALTA.”

“We travel regularly to discover new products that might be of
interest to our clients, and i make a point of learning all there is to
know about each thing we sell,” Paul says. “We visit the factories
and speak to the creators. i believe that you can’t sell something
properly unless you understand it thoroughly. That way, even if
clients come in unaccompanied by a designer, we can help them.”
Camilleri Paris Mode doesn’t sell or make fitted furniture, but
only the sort of keynote pieces that make a room. examples of such
pieces are dotted all over the rabat premises, which are decked out
in a user-friendly way. “This is definitely not a showroom, and we
don’t see it as one,” Franco says. “We want people to walk around
and touch things, to sit on the chairs and lean on the tables. We just
didn’t want that stiff look.”
nor did they get it. on the uppermost storey there’s an open-plan
kitchen where coffee is served to clients as they browse, and where
the Camilleris plan to cook quick meals if the process of choosing and
discussing takes even longer. despite only being up and running for a
few months, the place has come together brilliantly and feels lived in.
The sofa-building side of the business is now run by Andrew
Camilleri, and it also produces all manner of blinds, including blinds
made under licence for silent gliss and Mottura. “We’ve invested
in new methods and technology, but we’ve retained the hand-built
craftsmanship for which gk interiors was known,” he says. “When
you buy a sofa, you’re buying a closed box. >p76
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“THis is deFiniTeLy noT A sHoWrooM, And We don’T see iT As one,” FrAnCo sAys. “We WAnT PeoPLe To WALk
Around And TouCH THings, To siT on THe CHAirs And LeAn on THe TABLes. We JusT didn’T WAnT THAT sTiFF Look.

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>you really don’t know what’s going on inside, what it’s been
made from. We see so many sofas that have been cobbled
together from leftovers. With ours you have a guarantee of
solid workmanship. it takes about 60 hours to make one sofa
and everything is made to order, including the legs. it’s all
done in our workshops, with strict quality control, and we
source the materials ourselves.”

The sliema shop is now run by Mara Camilleri. With the whole range
of furnishing materials having been moved to rabat, where they
are sumptuously displayed over an entire floor, the small sliema
boutique operates as a very sophisticated source of gifts, including
wedding lists, and presents to oneself on good (or bad) days when
we feel in need of a reward or treat. its clientele is fiercely loyal,
driving to an area where there is absolutely no legal parking so as
to go there. What are they looking for? “People love the atmosphere
and the service,” Mara says. “They like the wrapping, and the fact
that a present that comes from our shop shows that you’ve made so
much more of an effort. it’s not only our customers who feel special,
but the end recipients, too. That’s a very valuable part of what we
do. we maintain a personal relationship with all our sliema clients.
We help them choose what they’re looking for. We give really oldfashioned
service that is at the same time highly contemporary.”
What does she think about working with her father, uncles and
cousins? “if i didn’t get along with them, i wouldn’t work with them.
But we all get along well. My parents are very strict and they make
sure that we work hard and maintain standards. But of course, when
you love what you do then it’s so much easier.
camilleriparismode
St Catherine Street, Rabat
Annunciation Square, Sliema
Merchants Street, Valletta
www.camilleriparismode.com
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