PARIS — Ramdane Touhami, the prolific world builder behind the relaunches of candlemaker Cire Trudon and beauty brand Officine Universelle Buly, not to mention his luxurious Swiss mountain retreat Drei Berge Hotel, has expanded his own universe with a new boutique in Paris.
Called Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes, the Marais shop is just steps away from where he housed his first boutique, L’Épicerie in the late ’90s. Touhami says he is “returning to his first love” with retail, but the 4,300-square-foot space is so much more than a shop.
Passionate about retail, Touhami is careful not to call it a concept store. Instead it’s a home for the some 18 companies and brands he currently runs. “For the first time, we are under one roof,” he said. “It’s not a concept store, no. It’s really a window into what we can do.”
“It’s not just stuff,” said Touhami. “And it’s just the beginning.”
Half a block long and located at 10 Rue Perrée, it houses Société Parisienne d’Impression Typographique, the oldest active engraver in Europe, which the font fanatic acquired during the early days of the pandemic. For those that eschew keeping a QR code on their phone, the store offers classic business cards and letterhead stationery.
It’s also home to the first outpost of Café Utopia Drei Berge, the culinary offshoot of his Swiss hotel, with creations overseen by chef Ryutaro Kobayashi, which features hot drinks and pastries.
The Drei Berge café kiosk inside WSCS.
Quentin Lacombe / Courtesy Courtesy Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes
There’s a cavernous sublevel housing the Radical Media Archive, which houses more than 2,000 rare and historical books, magazines and posters from the counterculture era of the ’50s to the ’80s, as well as contemporary tomes on graphic designs and photography.
The Permanent Gallery art space completes the layout, which will welcome exhibits from contemporary artists, curated by Touhami and “Epoch Review” creative director Léonard Vernhet. “Epoch Review” is another of Touhami’s endeavors, a magazine featuring a roster of international artists.
Alpine touches inside WSCS.
Quentin Lacombe / Courtesy Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes
Touhami’s own Die Drei Berge apparel, another offshoot from his hotel, has a home here. The line is a complete collection featuring jewelry, hats, shirts, knits, jackets, pants and shoes, and leans into the seasonless trend: he plans to only present items when they are ready, instead of sticking to any fashion calendar. There’s also an emphasis on individuality, as one can create their own personal monogram to be embroidered on pieces.
The brand has “absolutely no plastic, not a single product,” said Touhami. He is both looking to century-old techniques and artisan craftsmanship as well as working with experimental dyes and waterproof cotton technologies to create the line.
The brand also launched a handcrafted, sustainable hiking boot made from canvas with rubber from the same supplier that outfits firefighters in Japan at a price point of 650 euros.
WSCS serves as a testing ground for these products as he seeks to expand the line. “We want to show our work and want to talk directly to our customers,” he said on creating the space.
His fashion-forward outdoor apparel retail concept A Young Hiker, which originally set up shop at the Palais-Royal to bring together brands from Japan, Korea, the U.S. and Paris all under one roof, has also migrated to the WSCS space with its wares. “Useless Fighters,” his new mountain exploration magazine, is also on offer here.
The Permanent Gallery space inside WSCS.
Quentin Lacombe / Courtesy Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes
Touhami is a brand builder who relaunched Officine Universelle Buly in 2014 and sold it to LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in 2021 for an undisclosed sum. He also created the skate brand King Size and streetwear label Résistance, among many other entrepreneurial endeavors. Under his Art Recherche Industrie agency, Touhami has collaborated with several luxury brands including Moynat, Christofle and Gucci.
Under his agency, he continues to design retail concepts for other brands (which must remain under wraps, he said), and knew exactly what he wanted in the space. The bright space is without bells and whistles, but filled with small traditional touches. The upstairs is heavy on warm wood and brass fixtures with mountaineering cues and photographs, while the lower level is the more modern gallery space.
“Paris has no place for exhibition. Colette left — there’s a big hole,” he said. With plenty of floor area, it’s expansive. “We have space to invite friends to exhibit. Paris needs a place like that. There’s nothing going on right now…but honestly, we were surprised there’s nothing going on in Paris to talk about culture and everything like that for a long time.”
The bookstore area inside WSCS.
Quentin Lacombe / Courtesy Words, Sounds, Colors and Shapes
Seeing that gap, Touhami and his collaborators set out to create it. The store will be a place of constant motion, he said. “Nonstop changing, nonstop opening, pop-ups, everything nonstop,” he said, teasing that the next round of brands and creations will debut in January. He’s also prepping a project with British artist Luke Edward Hall.
He is planning to export the A Young Hiker concept to Japan, and will also open an outpost of the Café Utopia Drei Berge in Tokyo in November.
