Études Paris

Études was founded in 2012 in Paris by Aurélien Arbet, Jérémie Egry, and José Lamali as an art-publishing house first and a fashion brand second, with the original premise centered on photo-book publishing under the Études Books imprint and the clothing line emerging as a natural extension of the editorial program. The founders—two of whom came from photography and curatorial backgrounds rather than fashion—built the label up through Paris's intersection of art-world publishing, North-American skate culture, and European workwear, treating each season as a curatorial proposition rather than a commercial product cycle. The Études vocabulary settled around a quietly intellectual menswear and womenswear language: French-made wool overcoats, English-spun cotton oxford shirting, oversized t-shirts in heavy Portuguese jersey, denim cut from Japanese selvedge, and recurring print collaborations with contemporary artists, photographers, and graphic designers whose work would also appear in the Études Books catalog. The brand's "Étoile" wordmark and its sun-and-stars logo became consistent graphic anchors across the apparel, the publishing arm, and the brand's ongoing collaborations with institutions like LACMA, the Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson, and the Centre Pompidou's bookshop program. Études built its retail through wholesale into Dover Street Market Paris and London, Bergdorf Goodman, United Arrows, Beams, Antonioli, and SSENSE during the mid-2010s, then opened standalone Paris flagship space in the 11th arrondissement that doubles as a bookshop and gallery. The label's collaborations with Reebok on the Pump silhouette, with New Balance on the 990 series, and with photographers like Roe Ethridge, Coco Capitán, and Jamie Hawkesworth have consistently reinforced the brand's positioning at the intersection of contemporary art publishing and design-led menswear. By the early 2020s, Études had become one of the defining Paris labels of the post-Acne, post-Margiela generation, sitting alongside AMI, Lemaire, and Marine Serre in the category of French design houses that operate with curatorial rather than directional intent.