Namesake’s Fabric Shopping Guide for Paris, France 🇫🇷
A fabric-lover's guide to wandering the textile neighborhoods of Paris's Right Bank.
100,000+ steps later, I feel I have just scratched the surface of all that Paris has to offer sewists, dressmakers, textile lovers, etc.
Even so…I have so much to share. Welcome to the Namesake Fabric Shopping Guide for Paris, France!
How to Find Fabric Shops in Paris, France
My husband and I just got back from our trip to Paris, the honeymoon a year+ in the making.
It’s a trip I’ll think back to for the rest of my life. And, unsurprisingly, included a full day dedicated to fabric shopping for Namesake. <3
Many of the fabric shops in Paris are consolidated within a couple of dedicated districts (which I write about in detail below).
I got some great recommendations from Namesake’s Instagram community for specific shops in these districts that I used to navigate us to each area.
Once we visited those, we easily wandered in and out of the countless shops nearby. This is the element of exploration unique to Paris’s vibrant creative community -worth leaning into as a traveler. Shopping can be hit or miss, but it makes the treasures found even more special.
Namesake’s Google Map for Fabric Shopping
Shopping for fabrics in Paris can be a bit overwhelming because there is just…so much. I recommend following a similar method: pick a handful of stores that definitely interest you, and then wander out from there to any that look interesting nearby!
Throughout our trip, I saved my landmark Parisian fabric shops and others of interest into a dedicated Google Map for this exact purpose:
Save this Google Map: Namesake’s Paris Fabric Shopping 🪡🧵🇫🇷 · K. Lee
My personal takes on the Paris fabric shopping hot spots based on my experiences:
1.) Bargain Coupon Shopping in Montmartre
The fabric shops in Montmartre were the most recommended by friends on Instagram for affordable fabric shopping.
There is a significant number of fabric shops in the textile district concentrated at the base of Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre. You’ll see many of these labeled as coupon shops.
Coupons refer to the pre-cut pieces of 1-3 meters of fabric available to purchase at discounted prices. The bigger shops here also have bolts available to cut by the meter upon request.
Among these shops, Tissu Reines, Coupons Saint Pierre, and Marché Saint-Pierre were most recommended.
I purchased a meter of French lace from Les Merveilles de Saint-Pierre (a small shop beside Tissu Reines with coupons and some designer deadstock), and 6 meters of pre-cut 100% cotton shirting at Marché Saint-Pierre.
Overall, I was a little underwhelmed by this area. I found some great stuff at really great prices, but I preferred browsing the designer deadstock options in the next neighborhood.
2.) Sentier’s Hidden Gems for Haute Couture
In the 2e is another Paris fabric district. The Sentier neighborhood seems to be the district preferred by students, designers, and sewists for high quality fabric finds in Paris.
Similar to Sacré-Coeur, this area is home to many shops which are very easy to explore by foot. Tiss’Art and Tissu Market were my favorites. Both also highly recommended from Instagram friends!
There is still lots of ‘hunting’ to be done here, as most shops are truly filled to the brim with bolts of fabrics. You won’t find as many bargain coupon shops as those in Montmartre, but you will find great deals on natural fibers and designer fabrics.
I didn’t buy anything in this neighborhood, but you could easily stock up on quality go-to fabrics at great prices.
In hindsight, I wish I had started in this neighborhood. The fabrics were more of what I like to work with. I had a bit of decision fatigue after spending most of the day in Montmartre, so I am sure there are many more stores worth exploring than just the ones we walked into! With the chance, I’d easily spend my next Paris fabric shopping day here.
3.) Artisan Textiles & Tweeds at Malhia Kent 🫶🏼
If you only have time to go to 1 fabric store in Paris, go to Malhia Kent!!!!
This was my favorite fabric store by far. When I travel, I try hard to only fly back fabrics that really creatively excite me and/or are unique to the place I’ve visited.
A French tweed designed, produced, and sold within a small radius of Paris was exactly the type of textile I sought to bring home. Malhia Kent is a celebrated manufacturer known for supplying signature tweeds to French designers like Chanel, Dior, John Galliano, and more. (This is a great article that highlights Malhia Kent’s commitment to craft. I love the anecdote in it, illustrating just how much their Creative Director, Eve Corrigan, believes in nurturing their apprentices’ talents.)
The textiles I purchased felt uniquely French, and perfectly expressive of our trip.
I never would have known about this gem if not for my sewing friends on Instagram, thank you so much to the ladies who recommended it! I left with 5.5 meters of my own wearable art. <3
Bonus: Find Vintage Trims and Notions at Haberdashery Shops and the Marché Vernaison Market in Saint Ouen.
We spent an additional day of our trip antiquing throughout the city, primarily among the markets in Saint Ouen. My favorite, Marché Vernaison, had great potential for hunting down vintage sewing notions if you’re willing to sift through (a theme for all my recommendations…). I marked a few other shops on my map that I didn’t get to, but looked great for trims, ribbons, buttons, etc!
You should know….I have this far off dream of one day collaborating on a creative retreat, dedicated to unearthing the history of craft within a place through sewing. How fun to theme one’s travel around this passion?!
One day, right?
is an ex-Influencer turned slow fashion enthusiast with a corporate marketing 9-5, and a million creative side projects keeping her busy 5-9 (plus, most other hours). The Namesake Journal shares her style notes, sewing project explorations, and reflections for the every-day artists crafting creative inner lives.
PS: Find the latest sewing projects at @namesakesewingstudio on Instagram <3
I couldn't have seen this article at a better time, I'm going to Paris next month thank you for compiling this! I'm absolutely obsessed with your dress making :)