Store Spotlight: By Sophie
I like to take different routes when walking my daughter to the halte garderie or running my errands. Changing things up is a great way to stumble upon new places or beautiful corners of Paris. It was on one of these days meandering home with the toddler that I discovered By Sophie, a cute boutique on rue Jean Pierre Timbaud that had adorable Liberty print dresses and my favorite stationery by the Rifle Paper Co. in the window. I had to go in! Thirty minutes later I left with new striped toy bins and a Rifle print for Noomi’s room, a few notebooks and cards for myself, and a present for an upcoming birthday party.
After several visits now (I can’t resist good window displays), I decided it was time to get to know the owner a bit more. Sophie Ternard, mother of two tween boys, grew up on the outskirts of Paris and studied to be a statistician. She abandoned numbers to work in publishing for ten years before studying fashion design. When her first son was born she started buying vintage fabrics and found herself either spending time with her children or sewing. She finally took the plunge five years ago and opened her eponymous store, a few doors down from her apartment. A resident of Jean Pierre Timbaud for 14 years, she knew there was no better place to open up shop. (Proximity to her family was a big plus also!)
There are lots of little toy and children’s shops in Paris that mostly carry similar things or a random collection of brands that don’t really work together. I usually find myself walking in and walking out feeling stressed and uninspired by the chaos. However, I am really drawn to Sophie’s selection. By Sophie is a balance of limited edition womenswear and children’s pieces designed and made by Sophie as well as a perfectly curated selection of clothes from other brands, gifts, decoration, toys, jewelry, stationery, leather goods, and dishes. Great brands like Rifle (which I already mentioned— j’adore!), Polder, Charlotte Auzou, Collegien, Judith Benita, Blune, and House Doctor make it hard for me to walk by without popping in to shop or lust after things. It is the ideal spot to find a gift and a little sumthing sumthing for yourself and your little one.
By Sophie was recently featured in Lindsey Tramuta’s guide to Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud in the New York Times. So after visiting her store you can scroll the street and check out the rest.
By Sophie
50 Rue Jean-Pierre Timbaud, 75011
www.yumestore.com
Facebook: By Sophie
Instagram: @bysophieparis
Photos by Delphine Le Berre
