a distinctive clientele of people who are independently minded, it’s a bonus being tucked away. They prefer it being somewhat “inconvenient” and inaccessible. It’s exclusive by mentality not by cash. To see another person in a suit you recognise could only have been obtained by going on that same quest is instantly attractive.” At Pokit, luxury looks and tastes a little different. There’s no champagne when you visit. “We’ve invested in a great coffee machine for espresso martinis,” says Oduwole. The social element to private retail is what balances exclusivity with excitement. Dryce Lahssan has been a consultant for LVMH and Bulgari and described by Vogue as a “fashion whisperer”. Two years ago, he furnished a tiny space in Paris like a chic lounge, fragranced it with Santa Maria Novella’s purposely oldfashioned Melograno scent (soaked into an ornamental terracotta pomegranate) and sells just one design out of the space that isn’t even on display. It’s a vinyl trench coat, with gold buttons by Goossens, the jeweller to Chanel. “When I was at Goossens having them made,” he says, “they told me they’d only created them once before – a private order for Mr Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé, for their own clothes.” There’s no branding on the façade of Lahssan’s store at 24 Rue Molière, and it’s often closed. But then, it’s often open … at night. “I might be having dinner at the Japanese restaurant close by, get talking to someone, then we end up back at the store and they want a coat,” he says. While unpredictability and unavailability are part of Lahssan’s strategy, the end result is what counts. “When I bring that one coat out, it’s like a kind of ceremony,” he says. “I hang it from the ceiling, and the person sitting there always says the same thing: ‘WOW!’” PHOTO OLLIE HARROP Pokit founders Bayode Oduwole and Claire Pringle 71
