Shop Profile: Thanx God I'm a V.I.P. — The Colour-Coded Archive

The shop sits on Rue de Lancry in the 10th arrondissement, a block from the Canal Saint-Martin, in a neighbourhood that has become the city's quiet centre of independent vintage. The space is larger than it looks from the street — a long corridor of a boutique that opens into a back room stocked with accessories, shoes, and a surprisingly deep menswear section. The lighting is warm, the music is good, and the staff leave you alone unless you ask for help. This is not luxury-as-intimidation. This is luxury-as-pleasure, and it draws a crowd that skews younger, more playful, more willing to wear a 1970s YSL floral blouse with contemporary denim.

The Burberry trench selection deserves its own paragraph. Thanx God I'm a V.I.P. has one of the largest vintage Burberry edits in Paris — trenches from the 1960s through the 1990s, in cotton gabardine and wool blends, priced between €200 and €500. The older pieces, with the checked lining still crisp and the leather buckles intact, are the ones worth hunting. Check the label: pre-1999 trenches have "Burberrys" with an 's', before the brand dropped it. Check the stitching on the collar — hand-finished on pieces made before 1985. These are the details that separate a €400 investment from a €150 eBay gamble, and the staff here know them.

The Hermès scarf selection is equally strong. The glass cabinet near the entrance typically holds 30-40 carrés, arranged — naturally — by colour family. Prices run €150-350 depending on design, condition, and rarity. The classic "Brides de Gala" (Hugo Grygkar, 1957) surfaces regularly. So do the Philippe Ledoux equestrian prints, the Kermit Oliver Americana scarves, and the occasional Annie Faivre design with its signature monkey hidden in the pattern. The staff will unfold any scarf, let you inspect the hand-rolled edges, point out the artist's signature worked into the design. This is not Hermès boutique-level service, but it is close, and the prices are a fraction.

The Yves Saint Laurent section is the sleeper strength of the store. Rive Gauche silk blouses from the 1970s, in prints that reference Matisse and Mondrian and the Ballets Russes, run €120-250. The cut is narrow through the shoulder, generous through the sleeve, designed to be worn untucked and unbuttoned at the collar. Saint Laurent's dialogue with art — the 1965 Mondrian dresses, the 1988 Van Gogh jackets, the 1976 Russian Collection — is one of the richest narratives in fashion history, and Thanx God I'm a V.I.P. stocks the ready-to-wear pieces that reference those runways without being direct copies.

Menswear is concentrated in the back room: Comme des Garçons blazers, Issey Miyake pleated trousers, vintage Levis 501s, French workwear jackets in heavy cotton moleskin. The Japanese avant-garde pieces are the highlight — CDG Homme Plus jackets from the 1990s at €250-500, occasionally a Yohji Yamamoto coat that feels like architecture translated into wool. These pieces attract a different customer: the Parisian creative director, the visiting Tokyo buyer, the architecture student who saved for six months to buy one perfect black jacket.

Prices at Thanx God I'm a V.I.P. sit in the accessible-luxury range: €80 for a silk scarf, €120-250 for a blouse, €200-500 for a jacket, €400-900 for a standout coat. This is not flea-market pricing. But it is fair for the curation, the condition, and the staff knowledge. The shop is a regular stop for stylists working on editorial shoots, and the inventory turns over fast. If you see something you want, buy it. It will not be there next week.

Thanx God I'm a V.I.P., 12 Rue de Lancry, 75010 Paris. Open Monday-Saturday 11:00-20:00, Sunday 13:00-19:00. @thanxgodimavip on Instagram.

Tags: thanx-god-im-a-vip, canal-saint-martin-vintage, paris-vintage-burberry, paris-vintage-ysl