New collection
Barbara Bui
She never went to fashion school. She read literature at the Sorbonne, took a master's degree in English literature, and trained in theatre. Then one day in 1983, she started cutting leather.
Barbara Bui was born in Paris in 1956, to a Vietnamese father and a French mother. That dual heritage became the openly claimed foundation of her creative identity.
Her first address was called Kabuki, on rue de Turbigo: a boutique and atelier where she sold her own leather and suede pieces, made on site in limited runs. Actors and musicians quickly made it their own.
In 1987, she founded the label under her own name, presented her first show in Paris and opened her boutique on rue Étienne Marcel. Eleven years later, in 1998, she established her flagship at 50 avenue Montaigne. In 2003, she was elected to the Fédération française de la couture and joined the official Paris Fashion Week calendar, where she still shows today.
In February 2013, she received the Globe de Cristal for best fashion designer. In 2019, she signed her first menswear collection. And since 2024, she has officially dressed the women's team of Paris Saint-Germain.
Leather, rock, masculine-feminine
The house makes no secret of its references: Mick and Bianca Jagger, Ziggy Stardust, the photographers Newton, Bailey, Sieff. Its campaigns have in fact been shot by David Bailey, the photographer of the Rolling Stones and the Beatles.
Her vocabulary comes down to three words. Masculine-feminine first: taking the best of both, with no distinction of gender. Then tailoring: fitted blazers, checks, houndstooth, Prince of Wales. And finally leather, which the house describes as the noblest material of all, perforated, riveted, embroidered with sequins, a material that takes on a patina and becomes a second skin.
Barbara Bui puts it better than anyone: “I like to play with paradoxes, to encourage the clash of materials: the irreverence of leather or vinyl combined with the softness of silk or georgette.” And one rule, always the same: “Cut and quality are the foundation. You can allow yourself every kind of flourish afterwards, but only if you respect that standard.”
The house stands for evolution rather than revolution: pieces made to last. “Our clothes are not made to be thrown away the moment they are bought,” says the designer. It is a philosophy that speaks immediately to the clientele of Le Shop 17, in Cannes.
The Le Shop 17 selection
Fluid dresses, impeccable shirts, trousers cut with absolute precision: the Barbara Bui wardrobe is built in layers, and every piece stands on its own.
Khaki devoré satin dress
Devoré satin, exactly the clash of materials the house holds dear.
720 €
Mocha belted dress
Fluid crepe, a defined waist. The dress that carries a whole day.
750 €
Short flannel coat
Wool and cashmere, cropped cut. The house tailoring, in coat form.
1 150 €
White shirt dress
White poplin, the men's wardrobe borrowed without losing a thing.
350 €
Striped shirt dress
Fancy oxford stripes. The same idea, in a more graphic register.
450 €
Herringbone bootleg trousers
Sky blue crepe, bootleg cut. Trousers are the epicentre of this wardrobe.
550 €
Blue flared jeans
Raw denim, flared leg, a distinctly seventies Parisian attitude.
370 €
Khaki satin shorts
Viscose satin and linen. The summer piece that works after dark too.
550 €
See the full Barbara Bui collection
Come and try it on in Cannes
The Barbara Bui selection is there to be seen and tried on in store, at 15 rue Notre-Dame, 06400 Cannes, Monday to Saturday from 10am to 7pm. The Le Shop 17 team can be reached on +33 (0)4 93 39 46 46, by email at info@leshop17.com, or on WhatsApp. You can also follow the boutique on Instagram, @leshop17.
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