Toteme Opens Paris Flagship, Plans January Runway Show Expansion

PARIS – Coveted quiet luxury Swedish label Toteme has planted its flag on Paris’s rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré.

For the brand founded by husband-and-wife duo Karl Lindman and Elin Kling, the location of Toteme’s first stand-alone store in Paris is anything but quiet.

Instead, the 11-year-old brand is stepping into the global luxury arena.

The 2,400-square-foot, two-story flagship at 27 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré is housed in the former Valentino space, placing it alongside Chanel, Prada, and Hermès.

The store marks the next milestone in Toteme’s expansion across mainland Europe, reaffirming its ambition and growing international retail presence.

“Even though we have another price position than Chanel next door, we are ambitious with our stores, with our products — and our ambition is to offer the same feeling, the same level of service and the same overall branding experience,” Lindman told WWD.

The choice of rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré also aligns with Toteme’s global strategy of flagship positioning.

“It’s also sets the bar high,” he said. “And that’s something that me and Elin very much like the challenge of.”

Housed in a historic hôtel particulier, the store is a minimalist dream. Bathed in a creamy white, the space is designed with the architectural precision of an art gallery blended with Scandi cool.

Italian limestone floors, sleek shelving, and a geometric staircase built to echo the house’s monogram reflect the core design notes of the space. Upstairs is designed as an apartment-style private retreat from the city, where guests can lounge on vintage Liljevalchs sofas by Svenskt Tenn, redone in white, with soft light filtered through a handmade stained-glass window by Stockholm-based French artist Lucie Gottlieb.

Art pieces play a central role — no surprise as the interior design was led by Lindman, former design director of Interview magazine. A collection of black-and-white photos by Mikael Jansson, a personal friend and longtime brand collaborator, depict Swedish landscapes and culture, while key pieces include chairs from Jonas Bohlin, Paola Navone and Hans Wegner, as well as an imposing carved marble shelf by Marc Newson.

Historical and sculptural elements, including an 18th-century doorframe repurposed into one dramatic floor mirror and a re-painted Baroque dining table, puncture the stark minimalist bubble.

“We’ve been thinking carefully about how to fine-tune each detail,” said Lindman.

The brand secured the space before its first Paris Fashion Week show in January 2024. It has two stand-alone stores in New York City, two in London and others in Copenhagen, L.A., and Stockholm.

But Paris has long been a goal. “For us, Paris is the center for fashion, and it’s a source of inspiration for us,” said Lindman. The brand had been searching for a space for years. “It took us a long time to find something that we thought could tell our story — and that we could afford.”

Outerwear remains the largest proportion of sales and is core to the brand’s identity, although handbags and shoes are key categories.

Jewelry, on display here in sleek glass-and-silver cabinets, is also a small-but-steadily-growing segment. “These aren’t trend-led pieces; they’re signatures. We picture our woman and how we can sort of cater to all her needs, with jewelry alongside shoes and bags, which have been very important categories for us to define who we are,” Lindman said.

The bestselling T-lock bag, for example, evolves seasonally with new textures or colors. “We don’t believe in changing the cut of a trenchcoat every season,” said Lindman. “We focus on perfecting ideas and keeping them alive, so our classic pieces endure.”

The company’s expansion into Paris highlights its bigger growth ambitions. Annual reported sales for the brand reached 180 million euros in 2024. While the U.S. remains the brand’s largest market, the Paris store is expected to accelerate brand visibility as well as spur growth in the European market.

With outposts in Galeries Lafayette and Le Bon Marché, “we were already seeing a lot of traction here,” he said. But the prime rue Saint-Honoré spot will give the brand extra traction with tourists, too.

Toteme planting its flag in Paris also sheds light on its runway ambitions. It staged its first runway show off-calendar in January 2024, presenting its fall ready-to-wear collection during couture week. The brand went on to show on New York’s official schedule last September.

For now, it intends to keep its dual presence.

“Everyone has asked us why we’re doing both, and it’s simply because we can,” said Lindman. “It’s two markets that we respect equally.”

Plus, the team “became quite addicted to the process,” Lindman said. “Although it’s quite draining, it’s a very creative and important outlet. The crescendo leading up to the [runway show] has really helped us to constantly improve our collections.

“So in that sense it’s very important,” he said. “And then it’s just a lot of fun.”