If you could distill the feeling of a rosé-soaked vacation in the South of France into a clothing line, it would look something like Octobre Éditions. Launched in 2016 by Sézane founder Morgane Sézalory, the Parisian menswear label has earned a global following for its breezy, earth-toned button-downs, tees, and trousers made from luxurious natural fabrics. “Something with really good quality, not too expensive, with modern style, but not too fashion,” explains Arthur Person, Octobre’s brand director.
Despite not being particularly interested in capital-F fashion, Person is obsessed with the look, feel, and emotional resonance of clothes, a perspective that has shaped Octobre Éditions over the last decade. “I’m not following the catwalk or shows or anything,” he says, “but I’m really attached to the quality of fabric, to know how it’s made, and the story behind the product.” The day before the brand’s Paris Fashion Week presentation, instead of simply walking me through the racks containing his latest collection, Person offered to spend the day showing me some of his favorite spots in the city. The result was an ultimate insider’s tour of Paris, from a sumptuously decorated Art Nouveau hotel to Person’s favorite lunch spot.
Person doesn’t usually do breakfast, but he insisted on stopping at Hotel Rochechouart for a quick coffee and to show me the lush Belle Epoque interior of this Montmarte boutique hotel. Built in 1929, it was redesigned by Festen, the architecture studio that devised the first Octobre Éditions store in Paris. “There is a natural connection between us, with the colors, tones, fabric, and mood,” he says. “We did a shoot here three years ago, and it’s one of the best we’ve done.”
Lafayette Saltiel, a fabric merchant that’s occupied the same space since 1925, is one of Person’s favorite places to get inspired—which is convenient, since it’s located around the corner from Octobre’s offices. Now run by Virgil Viret, the great-grandson of the shop’s founder, Lafayette Saltiel remains the exclusive agent in France for Zegna and Harris Tweed, and supplies Octobre Éditions with much of the fabric used in its collections.
At the Octobre Éditions atelier and showroom, Person shows me the mood board for the brand’s upcoming collections, and the leather-bound notebook he fills with fabric swatches, sketches, and assorted inspo. Unconstrained by the typical spring-summer and fall-winter collection cycle, Octobre Éditions releases 10 hyper-seasonal capsule collections each year.
The northern Paris suburb of Saint-Ouen-sur-Seine is known as the home of the famed Saint-Ouen Flea Market, the largest antiques marketplace in the world, but it’s also home to a growing number of bars and restaurants. Among the oldest of these is Bonne Aventure, a bistro with a top-tier selection of natural wines where Person is a regular.
The brand presented its 10th-anniversary collection at l’Appartement Octobre Éditions, a swanky apartment-turned showroom decorated with antiques and artwork that complemented the colors and textures of the clothes. New for next fall is a collab with sustainable running brand Circle Sportswear, new lines of sneakers and jewelry, and a restock of the sold-out collab with French artist Clovis Rétif. Following the successful launch of its Seattle boutique last month, Person says Octobre Éditions plans to open its first store in New York sometime next year. “Each time we come to New York, we feel that we have a place there,” he says.
Following a glass of champagne at Octobre Éditions’ Paris Fashion Week show, Person decamped with a group of media and friends for an outdoor dinner in the middle of Sentier’s Rue d’Uzès. Surrounded by the street’s 19th-century architecture, the group sat at a long table flanked by a vintage Citroën DS sedan and a Porsche 911. It was a quintessentially Parisian moment, one of many curated by Arthur Person, and a perfect way to end our day together.