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Isabelle Klein has always been fascinated by “objects from the past”. The founder of Les Merveilles de Babellou, a second-hand luxury shop in Paris’s Puces de Saint-Ouen, recalls her excitement at travelling to Burgundy every summer as a child, where her grandparents’ attic awaited her, “filled with vintage treasures… I would find myself opening all the trunks and old wardrobes, pulling out hats, clothes and accessories”. The first item she ever bought herself was a 1920s black silk dress, embroidered with 5kg of pearls, from a small boutique near their house.
Klein, a vivacious character with a faint air of Brigitte Bardot about her, credits the beginning of her career to an encounter with a Paris antique dealer in the ’80s. “This dealer liked me and convinced me that I was made for this line of work.” They particularly remarked on her eye for curating. After years of working on the flea-market circuit, where her stands were revered for their theatrical flair in grand, apartment-like settings, she had a “songe” (dream) calling her to open her own store in 2008.
Today, Klein boasts two permanent outposts of Les Merveilles de Babellou (“Wonders of Babellou”, in reference to her family nickname): one for ready-to-wear and accessories; a second, directly opposite, houses haute couture. Her 20 or so employees serve a client list that includes Demi Moore, Zendaya, Amal Clooney and A$AP Rocky, who came in to pick up rare Chanel jewels for Rihanna.
For first-timers, stepping into either of Klein’s red-painted shopfronts is like entering a fantastical world. “It’s very ’50s-’60s boudoir,” says Klein. She points to one of the seating areas in the ready-to-wear section arrayed with candelabras and plush velvet couches (which she designed for “doting husbands”) and a grand central podium for fittings (upstairs, an in-house seamstress is on hand for alterations). Glass vitrines glow with finds from Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent and French costume-jewellery dynasty Gripoix. Clothes and accessories are displayed along labyrinthine rows. Weaving your way through the shop leads to a cabinet dedicated to Birkin bags, available in a dozen rainbow hues (the sight of which often results in a moment of silence from customers).
Clients come to Klein for her “eccentric” selection, her warmth and her unparalleled level of credibility: she works closely with experts Dominique Chombert and Jean-Sébastien Moisy to authenticate all items, which she sources from a network of collectors, insisting she’ll “never buy anything that’s not in amazing condition”. Her specialism is occasionwear from the big French designers, and she has one of the most extensive collections of vintage Chanel out of any vintage shop in Paris (the brand’s Foundation recently came knocking looking to acquire pieces for its archive); but she is also known for clothing with a lot of workmanship. “I’m very attentive to the ‘little hands’ [or couturiers] who have collaborated with the big designers,” she says, recalling a SS96 crystal-embellished Christian Lacroix bustier flaunting more than 500 hours of bead-work that she once sourced and was later worn by Beyoncé in her 2013 Partition music video. It recently sold at auction for about $170,000 (Klein won’t disclose how much she originally sold it for).
Current stock includes a floor-length “Bouleverse” sheath dress in ivory taffeta from Dior (£8,431) and – the oldest piece in the store, dating back to the ’60s – a gold-plated, mother-of-pearl drop jewellery set created by Robert Goossens’ workshop for Coco Chanel (€35,000). Next in her sights: “I am trying to source a [John] Galliano dress from his time at Dior. He’s now very fashionable again. One of my clients has an exceptional piece, but she hasn’t come down enough on the price,” she jokes. And she does occasionally keep treats for herself. A limited-edition Lady Dior handbag proved too difficult to part with, and she also admits a weakness for chunky costume-style earrings and “beautiful coats”.
Amal Clooney once told Klein that “there’s not another vintage store like this anywhere else in the world”, she remembers proudly. And despite Babellou’s dazzling online store, the owner is a firm believer that vintage fashion is best experienced in person. At the end of the day, she says, “I just want to make my clients dream.”
