Paris, Summer 2012. Just before it reaches the rue Mouffetard in Paris, the rue Pascal crosses the rue Claude Bernard, which then climbs towards the Jardin de Luxembourg. The intersection of these two streets is punctuated by the coming and going of the #27 bus, of the bicycles parked right in front, of the regulars greeting each other as they head to the boulangérie near the fountain… It is here that you can find the Café Léa, my very favorite café in the neighborhood. With its typical Parisian woodwork tempered by the warm colors of the south, Café Léa is a friendly meeting place where the food is consistently good. My fellow atelier members, as well as many local workers and students, meet there often. Café Léa is all about the ambience – the physical environment, the variety of people who frequent the place, the rich personalities of the people who work there. Over the years friendships have developed and it was not difficult to persuade the staff to play the game with me. In a relaxed atmosphere of fun and spontaneity, Pierre, Melinda and Samia chose different cities to wear, continuing to work unperturbed while serving a salad, a glass of red wine or a coffee, changing city when they felt like it. I loved watching my men’s shirts with cityscapes of Brooklyn or the High Line, moving deftly across the bar’s zinc counter top; or the New York Perspective dress leaning gracefully against a table, its urban facades softened by sun and wind.

Mathilde Fuzeau documented the ensuing tableaux with her keen observer’s eye.