Like its Parisian neighbors Colette and L’Eclaireur, The Broken Arm boutique has quickly amassed a stylish cult following since opening last year. Its founders, Romain Joste, Guillaume Steinmetz and Anaïs Lafarge, operate under a simple philosophy: They only sell what they truly love. Joste, Steinmetz and Lafarge know a good matchup when they see one — they currently stock items like a Camper and Bernhard Willhelm-designed sandal and sneakers by Carven for No Name — and the trio has lately teamed up with the shoe label Adieu, also based in Paris, to produce Adieu’s first collaborative design. Founded by longtime friends Benjamin Caron and Isabel Guédon, previously a designer with Lanvin and Saint Laurent, Adieu is a favorite of the Broken Arm team. “Adieu reinvents each season while keeping the spirit and codes of the brand,” Steinmetz says. “Their work is uncompromising, raw and true to what they are intrinsically.”
The result is a remix of Adieu’s signature design, the divisive creeper shoe, named the Type 28. Made with green pony hair and leather and available in both men’s and women’s sizes, the shoes “symbolize the perfect balance between clean lines and a very radical style,” Steinmetz says. The two brands are simpatico in that sort of aesthetic, which Adieu’s Guédon describes aptly: “something magical through strong contrasts, very quiet and poetic, that brings together an innovative energy.”
545 euros (about $697) at The Broken Arm, 12, rue Perrée, Paris, the-broken-arm.com.
