paris

The Carwalk Renault: a tool for fostering emotional connection.

17 April 2026 by Flora

Open until 9 June, the Carwalk Renault has taken up residence on the Champs-Élysées as a hybrid space combining exhibition, dining and retail. The Lemens & Partners team visited the venue as part of their retail tours.

As soon as you enter, the space makes a striking impression with its sheer scale. Spanning several floors, the brand presents a vision it describes as a « visionary concept ».

First and foremost, the exhibition showcases a number of iconic models. The Renault Twingo, conceived in collaboration with Sabine Marcelis, a Dutch artist and designer, created in 2023 to celebrate the model’s 30th anniversary. Or the Renault Suite N° 4, designed with French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, a nomadic car conceived in the spirit of a hotel suite. Two collaborations that say a great deal about how Renault views its own brand culture.

The layout of the space naturally guides you towards the café-restaurant, then on to an area dedicated to the works of Icelandic painter Erro Gudmundur. This collaborative project with the brand reinterprets automotive culture through Renault models using pop art figures. The top floor is dedicated to relaxation: vinyl records to listen to and free-to-play arcade machines offer a leisurely way to round off your visit.

The brand’s latest models are on display throughout the exhibition, but never in an intrusive way. And for those who’d like to take home a souvenir, The Originals Store offers accessories, toys, clothing, miniatures and even a Renault-branded coffee machine.

Le Défilé Renault - Retail Tour - Lemens & Partners

Renault isn’t trying to sell cars here, at least not directly. The Carwalk Renault is, above all, a tool for building an emotional connection. People stay there, linger there, and come back. And that is precisely where the brand gains something far more lasting than a simple transaction: it gains the visitor’s emotional attachment to the brand.

By showcasing its heritage through artistic collaborations and iconic models, Renault is transforming retail into a canvas for expression. Pop Art meets automotive culture, the showroom becomes a gallery, and the brand leaves a lasting impression on visitors that goes far beyond the product itself.

This sends a strong signal to all brands wondering about the future of their physical retail operations.

Retail tours have become essential for tracking trends, innovating and drawing inspiration. Lemens & Partners analyses global retail movements through the lens of your strategic challenges, observing what works elsewhere to help shape the retail of tomorrow.

We design and lead bespoke retail tours with our international experts. The field is an endless source of ideas.

Get in touch to organise your next retail tour.

Airports: a brand’s playground for capturing attention in minutes

13 April 2026 by Flora

As part of our retail tours, the Lemens & Partners team recently visited several airport retail spaces. What we observed is well worth sharing.

Airports are places like no other. Millions of people pass through them every year, every nationality, every generation, every social background. Some wander unhurriedly for an hour; others rush through the terminal towards their gate. In this environment, brands have only a few seconds, sometimes a few minutes, to make their presence felt.

What struck us on our most recent visit is that the smartest brands are not simply trying to sell. They are trying to leave a mark.

Marc Jacobs x Murakami: catching every eye

The collaboration between Marc Jacobs and artist Takashi Murakami floods the space with colourful, smiling flowers. You do not need to know the brand to stop in your tracks. The art direction does all the work, instantly. This is one of the most valuable functions of design in retail: creating a universal hook that reaches well beyond the usual target audience.

Marc Jacobs - aéroport Orly Paris Retail Tour

Hermès: turning a moment into a memory

On its stand, Hermès offered an unexpected experience visitors could draw onto a card using a pencil “gun”, producing a tattoo-like effect on paper. No purchase required. Just a moment, a gesture, and an object to take away or leave behind. You walk off with something physical and an emotion attached to it. That, in itself, is a masterclass in retail.

Nuxe: a four-step beauty routine, in an entirely pink world

Nuxe transformed its space into a full-on pink studio, giant teddy bear, boxing gloves, lockers, and a clear message on display: “Create your Nuxe workout routine.” Four steps, four products, one promise. The universe is immediately recognisable, the approach both playful and educational. Within thirty seconds, you understand exactly who the brand is and what it stands for. That is precisely the strength of well-conceived retail: qualifying its audience as quickly as it attracts them.

Le Marché Parisien (The Parisian Market): selling a cliché, selling a memory

A customised yellow Citroën 2CV, lavender, vivid colours, French products front and centre. For a traveller in transit through Paris, this stand distils, in just a few square metres, everything they imagine France to be. It is not simply selling a product, it is selling a taste-memory, a story to bring home. In an international airport, this kind of deeply identity-driven storytelling is remarkably effective. Whether it is a biscuit or a French chocolate, it offers the last opportunity for a visitor to bring a piece of their journey back to the people they love or simply to themselves.

Le marché Parisien - aéroport Orly - Retail Tour

These four examples, very different in their approach, share the same conviction: in a transit space, experience takes precedence over transaction. Whether through an artistic installation, a creative workshop, an immersive universe, or cultural storytelling, the brands that stand out are those that have designed their space as something to be lived not merely a shelf to be filled.

At Lemens & Partners, we support you in two ways.

Our bespoke retail tours allow you to explore the finest brand experiences from around the world to fuel your strategic thinking, inspire your teams, and identify trends before they become mainstream.

Our creative recruitment missions help you find the talent capable of conceiving and embodying those experiences within your organisation.

Two approaches, one shared conviction: the brands that make a difference are those that invest in creativity and in the right people.

Retail tour, recruitment, or simply a conversation? Get in touch: contact@lemensandpartners.com

How Are New Brands Integrating into the Parisian Market?

27 February 2026 by Flora

Founded at the end of 2024, Firn is one of those young brands that has moved quickly into the Parisian market. By the end of 2025, it had already opened two boutiques, in Le Marais and on Rue Montorgueil. Two high-footfall districts that are particularly sought after by emerging premium yet accessible brands.

Behind Firn bring a strategic partnership with Dr Fred Zülli, a pioneer in cosmetic research who has worked with major luxury houses. This choice is central to the brand’s strategy: to build on strong scientific legitimacy from the outset.

The range focuses on skin regeneration. The message is clear, direct and easy to understand. Firn reassures through science.

The brand offers effective products at accessible price points by reducing traditional marketing costs. Firn stands out through three key pillars: transparency, expertise and fair pricing.

The boutique, designed by architect and designer Rudy Guenaire, perfectly reflects the brand’s DNA.

The universe evokes the mountains, more precisely the Alps. The name “Firn” refers, in Old English, to compacted snow, a material formed from ice and snow in transformation. It is a direct metaphor for skin regeneration.

The space is neutral, with rounded edges and curved lines. The packaging follows the same logic, with soft shapes and clean visuals.

Firn integrates into the Parisian market through strong scientific consistency and an immersive yet minimalist retail environment. The brand positions itself between scientific luxury and contemporary accessibility.

Founded in 2025, L’Entropiste operates in a completely different segment: unisex luxury fragrance, made in France.

The name “Entropiste” refers to entropy, disorder and chaos. The boutique, located in Le Marais, embraces these codes, with dominant shades of red and black. The atmosphere blends glamour, tension and controlled disorder.

Within the retail space, paintings echo the fragrances. The boutique becomes an art gallery. Customers do not simply come to purchase a perfume; they come to experience it.

The window display attracts, challenges and intrigues. It invites passers-by to stop. In a neighbourhood saturated with brands, this ability to capture attention is strategic.

The fragrances are unpredictable, surprising and full of character.
L’Entropiste does not aim to please everyone. It aims to leave a mark through a strong artistic direction, a powerful philosophical narrative, retail conceived as a manifesto, and the novelty that sparks curiosity.

L’Entropiste embraces contrast and character, attracting a clientele seeking exclusivity, emotion and identity.

Firn and L’Entropiste illustrate two different ways of integrating into the Parisian market:

Firn relies on science and accessibility.
L’Entropiste focuses on art, chaos and luxury desirability.

In both cases, retail is central, conceived from the outset as a strategic tool for establishing the brand within the market.

We design and lead bespoke retail tours with our international experts. The field is an endless source of ideas.

Get in touch to organise your next retail tour.

Lemens & Partners had the pleasure of returning to Paris Packaging Week and attending the talks hosted by Pentawards.

9 February 2026 by Flora

Led by key players from across industries, these conferences offered a privileged insight into how leading brands approach some of the most complex and demanding aspects of design. From strategic thinking to creative execution, the discussions highlighted the evolving challenges of packaging, innovation, and sustainability, while creating impactful design solutions.

A special shout-out to LEGO and its legacy for reminding us that we are all big little kids at heart, and a very special mention to Federico Casalegno for the powerful reminder that “technology without humanity is perfection without purpose.”

Vans Opens in Le Marais: More Than a Store, a Creative Community Space

29 January 2026 by Flora

At the end of November 2025, Vans opened a new store in Le Marais, at 14 rue du Temple. This famous Paris area is known for fashion and culture. With this new location, the California brand shows a new vision of retail: more about experience, community, and culture.

On Thursday, November 22, during Men’s Fashion Week, Vans organized a special event that caught a lot of attention. The brand hosted an exclusive giveaway and invited SZA, a major American artist (singer and songwriter), who has also been the artistic director of Vans since last summer. The event was a big success, both in the media and with the public, showing Vans’ strong ability to create excitement and engagement.

The store is almost 300 square meters and includes a large courtyard where events, meetings, and performances can take place. The design reflects Vans’ identity, inspired by skateparks, with raw materials and simple shapes.

The experience is enhanced by digital screens and lifestyle visuals that tell the brand’s story and highlight its cultural roots in skateboarding, music, and street culture. This is not just a store, you step into the Vans universe.

Beyond selling products, the store is designed as a real living space and a place for cultural expression. A rich program of events brings together creative communities, artists, and fans of the brand.

This is the only store in France offering the OTW by Vans collections, positioned at a higher-end level, as well as prestigious collaborations, such as the recent one with Valentino, released just two weeks ago.

The store is a community store, the second one in Europe after London. This choice clearly shows Vans’ ambition to make Paris a key city in its European strategy.

With this new store in Le Marais, Vans confirms a strong retail strategy: turning the store into a place to live, meet, and share culture, rather than just a place to shop. This approach matches today’s consumer expectations, focused on meaning, experience, and human connection.

Vans does not only sell products. The brand tells a story, builds a community, and strengthens its cultural presence in the heart of Paris.

Vans – 14 rue du Temple, Paris 4e
Monday to Saturday : 11am – 7.30 pm
Sunday : 12pm – 7pm

Swarovski: a golden pop-up facing the Arc de Triomphe

18 December 2025 by Flora

From 16 November 2025 to 4 January 2026, Swarovski unveils a temporary pop-up just steps away from the Arc de Triomphe. A highly strategic location in the heart of the Champs-Élysées, designed to capture the attention of passers-by, tourists and luxury lovers during the festive season.

PopUp Swarovski à Paris, près de l'Arc de Triomphe

From the outside, the pop-up stands out with its fully golden structure, visible from afar and reflecting light throughout the day and night. Rather than blending into its surroundings, Swarovski chooses to create a strong visual landmark, instantly recognisable within the Parisian landscape.

Inside, the brand’s codes are immediately apparent: gold finishes, carefully controlled lighting, geometric display cases and a precise, curated product presentation.

The pop-up showcases a festive collection built around iconic and celebratory figures, the Eiffel Tower, stars and a carousel. Symbols that are both deeply Parisian and universally associated with the magic of Christmas season.

From a retail perspective, this pop-up illustrates a highly effective strategy: a temporary format, an iconic location, an immersive scenography and a product offering clearly designed for gifting. In just a few weeks, Swarovski succeeds in creating a space that is desirable, visible and memorable.