Rue François Sibilli, rue Gambetta, place des Lices. Luxury names are landing everywhere this summer. And not just for two months.
Alo Yoga just opened its first French boutique in the village. Amiri, Fornasetti, Globe-Trotter follow with hybrid formats, somewhere between pop-up and permanent installation. The Shop on the Corner brings five brands under one roof, 255 square metres right in the centre, a dialogue between British heritage and Italian design. In short, the summer showcase stretches longer, and some windows no longer close.
The Gulf counts 768 fashion establishments for 1,260 jobs. In the centre, one shop in three sells clothing or accessories. Against 15% on average in the Var département. The number says it all: Saint-Tropez has become an open-air retail laboratory.
Except. Between the hand-stitched Rondini sandal on rue Georges-Clemenceau and the temporary store of an American brand that rents for three months and leaves, the difference isn't just about rent. It's about roots. Local craftspeople, nine with Métiers d'art labels in the village, benefit from the visibility of the big houses, true. But how many leases have been terminated to make way for the latest LVMH or Kering concept?
We gain prestige, maybe only prestige. The question remains: can a village still be a village when its streets look like a luxury duty-free, even open-air, even with a view of the port?
