L’Illustre Boutique window display by French illustrator Hélène Druvert (Photo: Michel Jakobi)

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you enjoyed the festivities and made the most of a few days vacation. We stayed at home in our little village in the South of France this year, and it was lovely – a “slow” Christmas celebrated with French family and friends.

Feeling rested and refreshed after a few days unplugged, I’m eager to share some inspiring finds with you. Today, I am going to whisk you away to Paris to discover a gem of a shop called “L’Illustre Boutique.” This is a must-see store if you love illustration, adore anything papery, and happen to be in the French capital. I’ve been following their blog for a while now and really admire their selection of products. Let’s take a quick tour to get a feel of the place.

Detail of Hélène Druvert’s papercut window display for L’Illustre Boutique.

L’Illustre Boutique opened in early 2012. Run by Marguerite Villotte, it was the first Parisian shop to specialize in contemporary illustration. It offers an ever-changing, ever-growing collection of limited-edition prints, posters, stationery and paper objects crafted mostly by local French illustrators.

A collection of original pop-up cards by Julia Spiers for L’Illustre Boutique.

Marguerite Villotte has a great eye and is clearly an excellent talent scout. L’Illustre Boutique is a treasure trove, full to the brim with work by both up-and-coming and established French illustrators and small brands like Steffie Brocoli, Douglace, Knapfla, Season Paper, Les Colocataires and Papier Tigre. The list is long!

Window display at L’Illustre Boutique by French illustrator Knapfla.

Window display at L’Illustre Boutique by French illustrator Steffie Brocoli.

As these few images hopefully show, Marguerite Villotte is passionate about her work and puts her heart and soul into making her boutique as enticing and as inspiring as possible. She regularly invites illustrators to create the most amazing window displays, enhancing the magic and charm of the shop.

If you love color, enjoy surprises, and are always on the lookout for new, original artwork and decorative objects for your home, L’Illustre Boutique is the the place for you. Even from the outside looking in, it’s clear that the boutique is filled with French eye candy for the home. I have discovered some fabulous, modern kids’ prints through their blog (Les Vieux Ours for example), so take time the time to browse their site and Facebook page, or perhaps even take a virtual tour of the store (you may need to use an online translation tool). Feel free to shoot Marguerite an email if there’s anything that strikes your fancy. Can you say, s’il vous plaît?

See for yourself!
L’Illustre Boutique
1 Passage du Grand Cerf
75002 Paris