Paris Street Style: Club rats and fashion goths battle for the crown

While many might be hung up on some outdated notion of what Parisian street style is, the city’s youth are always there to set the record straight. Of course, that typical rendering of French style – all Breton tops and “chic décontracté” – still permeates the culture, but nowadays it’s considered more of a stereotype than anything, nudged to the side in favour of something a bit more explorative. This has never been more clear than in the capital’s club rat population, occupying haunts like Station Gare Des Mines on Paris’ outskirts, or nights like LA CREOLE that champion the city’s diverse queer community. It’s during various fashion weeks that they all scurry to the surface, mutating into peacocks and strutting the streets in their sundry plumes.

This winter, we caught them in their droves. Faux-fur headgear protected them from the elements, while wraparound Dior sunnies shaded their beady eyes from small flashes of sun. One showgoer walked the streets carrying her stickered Macbook (probably with Rekordbox still running), dressed in moto-pants, pigtails and some kitty-kat make-up. Elsewhere, diamond grills were firmly placed in mouths and clear beads tacked on the end of braids, while you practically couldn’t move for men wearing skirts over their trousers. Whether in elaborate metal bodices, carrying tubes of Pringles as accessories, or leaving the house with eye masks still on face, the city’s club kids had arrived, doing everything in their power to announce that they were here.

But – besides those mesh tops and sets of pearls – another type of creature also made itself known. The high-fashion goth was also patrolling the streets of Paris, wrapped in too many layers and battling the rats for the capital’s crown. As expected, a black-on-black palette was the choice of many, with voluminous puffers covering their frames and stacked stompers down below. One attendee came with a full sleeve of safety pins attached to his blazer arm, while another was spotted with pale, Elizabethan makeup and an auburn wig whose hairline began at the back of her head. If all of this is still confusing you, and you’re still stuck on that French style stereotype, just remember that Rick Owens has been showing here since 2003, and everything should make a little more sense.