Lurker here - just wanted to post a quick recap of my own experience at FSH! By way of quick background, I visit Paris fairly regularly for a few days once every other month or so but don’t usually carve out time to go shopping and have fairly limited purchase history in Europe. Recently, I decided to bite the bullet and brave the new system (my last visit to FSH was right before the transition from the line up debacle to the current appointment system). Secured an appointment for mid-afternoon on my arrival date. Given flight delays, arrived straight from the airport (and looking like it too!) and was paired with an absolutely lovely SA after a quick browse through RTW after check-in. She asked me what I was looking for and I gave her very specific specs - B35 Togo Gris Asphalte PHW. She asked if I would entertain other neutrals and I said I would consider but was fairly set on that specific combination. She said she would do her best and went off to look. About ~10-15min elapsed and I was starting to get antsy and she reappeared with a large orange box! She wouldn’t tell me what she had found precisely, only that it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but led us to find a secluded spot. She finally unboxed it and it was a lovely B35 in Raisin PHW. Beautiful bag - tried it on - but not what I had in mind. The SA noted that she could tell that I wasn’t in love and urged me not to take a bag if I wasn’t 100% committed. I politely declined and asked if she had any bags at all in GA. She went off to look through the stock again and came back with another box - B35 in Etain GHW. I was sorely tempted now since this was probably my HG bag 2 years ago but it has since become a bit too dark for my taste. She encouraged me to try it on and think on it but she could tell I wasn’t 100% sold. Ultimately I declined again and she was super understanding, reiterating her stance that it should be perfect. The SA does tell me to try again - GA isn’t in season right down as it was a winter color but she does remember seeing some bags pop up in the past few months. At this point, I felt pretty insane to have turned down two Bs and headed over to SLGs to pick up a wallet. The story continues, however...
Fast forward a week and I’m back in Paris for my return flight after some travel during the week and I decide to give it another shot. I don’t have an appointment because of Haute Couture week but drop by the store around opening to see if I can squeeze myself in. As I’m queuing up, I overhear a (rather overdressed) man arguing with the hostesses, demanding to speak to their manager etc. They are being patient but it’s clearly straining their patience - no, sir, there are no appointments left; it’s Fashion Week; you can try for Monday. I nearly cave and walk off just out of sheer anticipated embarrassment (similar to my last appt, I’m not exactly dressed up) but end up sticking it out and sheepishly asking if there have been any cancellations. To my absolute surprise, they offer me a slot in ~30min. After milling around the store for a bit, I’m introduced to a new SA who leads me up to a station on the second floor. She asks what I’m looking for and again I give her my specs but emphasize that I am not looking for anything else. She takes note and comments that “you never know” and disappears for ~15min. When she comes back, I start feeling a bit lucky as she is carrying a large box and absolutely bubbling over with excitement! She sets them down on the table and notes that she needs to find a room but! she tilts the box slightly so that I can see the label. Gris Asphalte!! She ushers me into a room and unboxes it saying that she was able to get everything on my wishlist except the hardware. As it turns out, it’s Permabrass which is even better than the PHW on my wishlist as it’s silvery but with gold tones to bring out the warmth in the grey leather. I try it on but it’s a foregone conclusion - there is no decision to be made here. As I’m admiring the bag, she makes a comment that it was actually super helpful that I wanted such specific specs. Apparently when they are grabbing stock from inventory, it’s helpful to be able to argue that your client wants a specific color if another SA is also looking to grab the same bag. She also offers me a Fourbi which I accepted, more out of sheer shock than anything else. As she’s reboxing the bag, I notice the heat stamp looks off - it’s an HSS! I ask her if this is a SO that was rejected by another client and she actually noted that some craftsmen will choose to make SOs if the leather quality is there and they want to make something slightly diff. (My one point of confusion is that afterwards I’ve been reading up on SOs and it sounds like they only horseshoe stamp the bicolors? Not sure how my particular B came into existence then)
Overall, amazing experience at FSH on both days and the SAs were both absolutely lovely. Couldn’t have asked for anything different.
Realize this all sounds like a crazy lucky trip but I’m sitting here still in mild shock a few days later. Not sure that this is very helpful in terms of tactics as I didn’t feel comfortable utilizing any (and I was dressed pretty low key as well) but just wanted to share my story.
