Have you found the Paris End yet? Does Canberra even have a Paris End? Yes, it does!

The Paris End is the brain-child of Anthony and Rebecca, of Hummingbird Vintage, whom most of you know from ThreeSixty Fashion Market, and who were instrumental in organising the brilliant vintage and swing dance segment at FASHFEST last year.

As you would expect, the Paris End includes vintage fashion, accessories, art, and bric-a-brac, and brings everything together in a one-stop permanent outlet in Mitchell. “We had been thinking about consolidating for some time,” says Anthony, “and by the end of last year we’d finally worked out what we wanted, and, more importantly, how we wanted it to look and work.

 

“This place used to be a music shop, with nooks and crannies, and separate little rooms, and the previous owner didn’t want the ambience to change, and that was fine with us. So we worked with the spaces available to bring a little bit of Paris to Canberra.” And if you’ve ever fossicked around in the old shops of Montmartre, you’ll see the resemblance.

But the Paris End is not all vintage and vogue. “Come upstairs and I’ll show you the top of the Paris End,” says Anthony. Upstairs? The stairs are somewhat hidden behind racks at the moment, but once there, the floor space is actually larger than the downstairs and is split into a number of separate rooms. The first room is beautifully light and bright, and although it overlooks the street it’s serenely quiet and calm. With polished timber floors and strategic lighting, this room is destined to be a small art gallery; launching and showing small exhibitions of local artists and creators—again somewhat reminiscent of the little galleries in artists’ collectives in the older 18^th Arrondissement.

Along the hallway there are four more rooms which will offer relaxing aromatherapy treatments, where you can wind down, and have all your stresses massaged away while sipping on a peppermint tea.

The upstairs rooms are not quite finished and the top of the Paris End will not be fully operational for a few more weeks. So watch this space!

All it now needs is a moody café next door with a husky voiced singer installed, and you’ll think you really are in Paris!

You can get your Paris on at: The Paris End, 1/56 Heffernan Street, Mitchell. Open now, and Hummingbird Vintage, The Paris End, ThreeSixty Fashion Markets, and other local and regional markets as advertised.