Paris insiders know the best place to go for inspiration is
not the Louvre, and the best place to go to buy something
fabuleux is not the Boulevard St.-Germain: it is the famous
antiques markets of St. Ouen. Many of the most influential
artists, designers, stylists, and decorators—Christian Dior,
Coco Chanel, André Breton, Rudolf Nureyev, Madeleine
Castaing—had their appetites whetted by their early finds at
the Marché Serpette, Biron, Paul Bert, or any of the 16
clusters of dealers that today make up the largest
marketplace of secondhand furniture, clothing, books,
housewares, and art objects in the world.
Where farmers and ragpickers once plied their finds, today
the highly curated stalls outside the Porte de Clignancourt
attract up to 150,000 visitors each weekend. Paris is a city
that richly rewards its wanderers and seekers, and in
Antiquaires, author Laure Verchere and photographer Laziz
Hamani play flanêurs to capture the treasures of St. Ouen's
appealing mélange of furniture, books, decorative objects,
and curiosities—and the dedicated sellers who endow them
with life.
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