Hobbs

Paris is a city where the very refined mixes with the very rough—the high with the low. Hobbs, a boutique that I return to every year, epitomizes this. Patrick Lifshitz, its founder, was born in Egypt just before the Nasserian revolution (where his father, a film producer, discovered Omar Sharif) and spent his youth shuttling between Italy, England and Switzerland before landing a job in Paris ferrying around visiting rock stars like Bob Dylan, Donovan and Leonard Cohen. In 1982, after a career at Polydor, the record label, he founded Hobbs, which specializes in only the finest cashmere. But he hasn’t left rock stars behind. He adorns his cashmere sweaters (from $655) with iconic images of everyone from John Lennon, whose estate he has a contract with, to Mao to Che Guevara. Now his collection includes vibrant cable-knit sweaters (from $590), blazers (from $790) and cardigans (from $525) unadorned with revolutionaries. 45 Rue Pierre-Charron; hobbscashmere.com.