Biutiful Shop, Annecy. A mix of antique and new inside and out

words Amanda Ballerini

Often referred to as ‘the Venice of Savoie,’ this lakeside Alpine town, home to Biutiful Shop, is treasured for its sloping hillsides and the canals that wind their way through the streets

Annecy, France – The Pearl of French Alps

The city controls the northern entrance to the lake gorge. It was nicknamed by the french geographer Raoul Blanchard in his monograph describing its location between lake and mountains. Also, it is often referred to as ‘the Venice of Savoie’. This lakeside Alpine town is treasured for its sloping hillsides and the canals that wind their way through the streets. Its population might be bigger than this list’s other entries. Nevertheless, its cobblestone streets and pastel-coloured facades provide the same storybook feel that you’d find in some of France’s tiniest villages.

Located in this quite unique location we find the store Biutiful, precisely in Rue de la Poste. An aesthetically pleasing architecture featuring everyday’s village shops – typically french and portraying a mix of antique and new inside and out – characterizes the village. Biutiful is the place to go when looking for «nice things for everyday life». It has been an actual store since 2013, and a worldwide e-shop since shortly after.

Lampoon review: Products selection at Biutiful Shop

At the beginning of the whole idea there were Céline and Ludovic. Respectively a stylist and a photographer, who were working together on decoration, fashion and advertising photo projects. As professionals of image and branding they go on collaborating with brands and magazines.

Their creativity and will to make something of their own lead them to create this store. The fruit of a millionth project, a place that resembles them in and out. The idea is what modern stores today in cities and off locations try to offer. One single spot featuring a complete range of products and brands, where the consumer follows the selection, exploring new objects and finding beloved ones.

A store and an e-shop where you can find your Aesop shower gel as well as Astier de Villatte ceramics or a ring by Pascale Monvoisin. A place where high-range Maisons stand alongside independent designers. Where any customer can sense Annecy and yet explore the whole world at once. With an area dedicated to beauty, jewellery and accessories, clothes, decoration, plants, books, magazines and posters. A specialised and exclusive selection of what’s best according to C&L, continuously renewed with new items every week. Biutiful Shop also operates as a photo studio and a creation workshop.

La Superbe beauty salon

Céline and Ludovic launched the beauty salon La Superbe in 2018. La Superbe represents an hybrid spa salon which shares the same features of the products available in store. Local, relaxing, personalised for the costumer. It is first of all a unique place, adorned by a soothing plant atmosphere with spacious and bright cabins. But it is above all an intimate experience that awakens all senses. The refreshing taste of homemade detox water, a refined decoration, an alternative musical atmosphere, the delicate scent of a natural product, the expert touch of passionate practitioners.

In an era where taking care of your body is synonymous with taking care of your mind, La Superbe filled exactly that gap. The use of natural and organic products, like Honest and Tata Harper, characterizes the various activities. A massage can also be quite special with an anti-aging japanese technique inspired by Kobido. Either if you would like to book a massage or have a facial, have a Le Bol d’Air to get your oxygen levels up. More simply, if you would love to visit a beautiful, spacious spa with lots of wood and the usage of plants, La Superbe is just two steps away from Biutiful Shop.

In Annecy, where there’s nothing like three hours lines to visit any attraction, for it is a small town after all with just a handful of streets, you can perhaps find some peace too. However, it is this small town’s nature and its completely magical setting that captures and enchants those who come by to visit. It sits, in fact, at the mouth of Lake Annecy and the French Alps, with its streets lining the many canals. A vision that came from the two founders and that we can all experience, tasting Biutiful Shop’s selection of «beauty-à-porter».