A day in the life of Pierre Boiselle

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After many years spent between Basel, Lyon, and flights around the world, Pierre has finally settled in the very heart of French gastronomy’s capital city, making the most of this relocation to move into a new, spacious flat with his newborn daughter. We sat down with the self-taught fashion specialist in his lounge, where a painting by his friend Patrick Guidot and his Supreme decks are still waiting to be hanged.

Hello, can you introduce yourself to our readers?

My name is Pierre Boiselle, I’m 31 and I live in Lyon. I’m also the father to five-month-old Mia and I absolutely love it!

What do you do for a living?

I’m currently setting up a men’s prêt-à-porter showroom in Paris called Resident Showroom. It’s a new concept. Because many brands need to stay in Paris for more than three days during the Fashion Week, we’ve tried to combine a trade show and a showroom to accommodate their needs. I’ve partnered with Craig Ford and Mark Baptista who launched Jacket Required in London. We bring in 32 brands from all around the world, such as Enharmonic Tavern, FDMTL, Thunders or TSPTR. It’s a relatively niche market. They have few clients but are sold internationally.

What does your job consist in?

We’re a tiny company so I’m a jack-of-all-trades. We started off by going through a period of business development which is now over. For me, it’s one of the most exciting aspects of the job because you get to meet plenty of small clothing brands, and people. It’s really stimulating; it’s very close to the role a buyer would play, without being restricted by any actual purchasing. Meeting all these people is not something I ever got to do before as I used to work for just one brand. So that’s what I’ve just finished doing. Now I’m entering a step of the process which has me much more worried, as I’ve never really done anything similar before. It’s full-on event-organising with a healthy dose of logistics: finding the bakery that will prepare your croissants in the morning, finding extra storage space, closing off the street on the day the brands will be moving in, etc.

Can you tell us about your background? What did you do before starting Resident Showroom?

I’ve been extremely lucky to be honest. I don’t have a strong academic background. After dropping out of school in Lyon, I moved to Paris to study fashion design, but I quickly gave up because it turns out I have two left hands (laughs). I was lucky enough to be given a few good opportunities. I started working for Clark Magazine, where I was in charge of the shopping section. The aim was to source little known products and brands. It was very interesting because I was given a lot of freedom. Then I left for Sweden with the intention of settling there. At this point, the friend of a friend offered me a job at Edwin as the assistant to Rey Gautier, who was the brand’s Creative Director at that time. So I packed my bags and left for Basel.

Where you stayed for seven years.

Yes. We were a really small team. It was extremely complicated at the beginning due to my skills in English; while I thought my level was quite adequate, it turns out that was far from being the case. This made any form of communication difficult, and I found it hard to get people to listen to me. After some time it got better and my position and responsibilities evolved. I was constantly learning on the job. We had approximately 40 representatives in Europe and I communicated very easily with them. I was very interested in the sales side and I rather naturally ended up managing the network of sales representatives.

Walk us through the rest of your progression within Edwin.

As I was saying before, it was a really small company, despite the brand’s image and reputation in Europe and even more so in Japan. We had a tiny production team and I tried to be as involved as possible in the clothes making process. I was also very much into number crunching and market analysis, I was naturally drawn to merchandising and I became a key stakeholder in the creation of the collections. In 2014, Rey Gautier decided to leave Edwin. It came as a bit of a shock, and at the same it created a huge opening for me. I was lucky enough to become Edwin’s Brand Director for a year until I left the company twelve months ago. The position’s title is self-important but it gave me the opportunity to oversee everything, and that was amazing. It was extremely interesting and rewarding.

You travel a lot for professional reasons. Where did your last business trip take you?

My last trip was to Tokyo, Japan. I was there for a week. When I was still working for Edwin I visited the country on a regular basis. My most recent trip was my ninth time in the country. Tokyo is a breath-taking city. My greatest luxury is to have habits in cities I’m not really familiar with. I always return to the same places. While these addresses might not be the best in town, I have my routines there and I love it.

What’s your Tokyo routine like?

On landing - after a 14-hour long haul flight - I start by going for a walk. I often stay in a hotel in Shibuya. From there I walk to Yoyogi Park. Then I walk to Daikanyama and towards Nakameguro. It’s a very pleasant route. The architecture is harmonious; it’s very posh and rather stunning. After my walk I go to this small restaurant which doesn’t look like much but which I love, for a meal. I can never remember what it’s called. I’m always alone. There’s not much sharing happening but I like it like that. The food is good, and the fish fresh from the sea. Their sashimis literally melt in the mouth. When I worked at Edwin we also often ate in a small neighbourhood restaurant next to our office in the famous Nippori textile district. The place was minuscule. An elderly lady took the orders. Their soba dishes were delicious.

Where does your love for clothing come from?

I can’t really explain it. I think it started at an early age. I’ve always loved clothes. It has a lot to do with my fascination with aesthetics and materials. I wouldn’t like clothes if I couldn’t feel them. It’s also about charisma, allure and everything clothing can represent. It’s a true, unwavering passion. I know this will be the case my entire life, and that makes me luckier than most.

Now that you work from home in Lyon, what is your morning routine like?

In general my day starts around 8am when my daughter wakes me up. I’ll take care of her and then have a coffee, smoke a cigarette while checking my emails and Instagram feed on my phone. It’s the first thing I do. It lasts about 20 minutes, after which I have a shower. In the shower I use the Horace face cleanser. I then use the Horace prickly pear oil moisturiser and brush my teeth with the binchotan toothbrush. I style my hair with Baxter of California’s clay pomade, and then check Instagram again.

Would you describe yourself as an Instagram addict?

Yes, I‘m quite addicted to Instagram. I find it amazing. It’s a great way to keep an eye on worldwide trends. Instagram grants you direct access to thousands of shops and brands throughout the world, and hence new trends, based on the shops you follow. I spend at least an hour on the app each day, divided into five to ten minute sessions.

But you don’t really use any other social networks?

No, but that’s a good thing. I’ve found a proper use for social networks. I think that social networks, used personally - unless you’re an artist - have absolutely no value. It makes me really uncomfortable. It’s blatant self-promotion. There’s nothing natural about it, I find it irrelevant.

What are you other media sources?

As far as online sources are concerned, I read Highsnobiety, Hypebeast, Sportswear International, and Business of Fashion everyday. I only read fashion-related news. I’d really like to broaden my interests a little, but that’s all I’m into. I always need to know what shop bought which collections, analyse different stores’ offerings, see what’s out there, try to compare, etc. I’m always interested in seeing what people choose and buy. I find it fascinating, and in my line of work it’s a daily necessity. It’s extremely time-consuming, but it enables me to build a global view and analyse the market. At the end of the line though, what I’m most interested in is the clothes themselves, and except for the odd interview, digital media have very few editorial articles. If I want meatier editorial articles I have to turn to old school printed magazines such as Inventory, New Order, and Intelligence magazine. When I’m in Japan, I buy Fudge, 2ND or Popeye, also excellent sources when it comes to clothing.

Would you mind telling us what your current favourite trends are to close off this interview?

While it’s not something that would qualify as extraordinary or particularly innovative, I really like all the small streetwear brands that are inspired by the 90s skateboarding scene such as Alltimers, Bronze or Bianca Chandôn. Skateboarding is my first influence. Although I wouldn’t say I was ever any good at it, I spent hours skateboarding as a kid, and made most of my childhood friends in the process. I find all the tee-shirts with goofy logos and reworked codes great. It’s the first time I get to see a fashion trend I lived through come back and be the source of something new. It means a lot to me.

Photos : Jean Granon

Interview : Martin Lacroix