The Lazy Dog: Urban Culture Reference in the Capital

Text: Rooksana Hossenally

In the back streets of Bastille is a small hideaway that will shake your senses as soon as you cross the threshold.  Contrary to its name, The Lazy Dog is a multifaceted hang out for dynamic creative types, a bookshop, boutique, and "concept store" all rolled into one.

English-speakers will soon become addicted to this little cave of books, magazines, posters, postcards, stickers, t-shirts, gadgets and designer toys. Most of the stock is in English so for you arty types out there, no more having to brave the Centre Pompidou bookshop and its mounds of books (although The Lazy Dog does not pretend to rival Beaubourg). Tor the most part the inventory is dedicated to contemporary art, illustration, graffiti, music, photography, fashion and design.

Aesthetically pleasing to the eye and mind, The Lazy Dog is open to all. Unpretentious, the atmosphere is chilled out and the guys who work behind the counter are always happy to help and by no means exude an ‘I am too cool to answer your questions’ attitude that can be off-putting in these kinds of stores.

The Lazy Dog was opened in 2024 by the founders, Romuald and his wife Aurélie, who just wanted to open a place which contained all the things that they liked and were interested in. Later on in 2024 they opened a second branch at the Citadium in Opéra and the following year the Lazy Dog Gallery graced the streets just around the corner from the Bastille store, at number 2 Passage Thiéré. Despite this expansion, the store has retained its intimate atmosphere, which makes you feel privileged to be in on the secret.

The gallery opens its doors to various urban artists from So-me, the illustrator of the Ed Banger label, to Pierre Vanni, currently exhibiting, and Parra, the talented designer of The Lazy Dog’s logo, which is an immediately recognisable typography. His work is somewhere in between the realms of the urban and the psychedelic, full of humour and colour. Parra has since worked in collaboration with Carhartt to produce the store’s signature t-shirt based on the well-known paragram, The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog, which is available at both stores.  

The gallery comprises of two floors and a large shop-front bay window, which works well at luring in passers-by. The show openings are open to all and are usually full of trendy interesting and friendly people. The next exhibition, GRAFIKA, a collection of prints by the artists of Beautiful Losers, kicks off later on this week on March 18th and will run until March 27th. The exhibition aims to explore the progress of urban culture in the United States from the 70s to the present day. This will be a big event and an exclusive for Paris, as it will reunite the works of 30 renowned artists such as the likes of Henry Chalfant, Barry McGee (Twister), Shepard Fairey (OBEY), and Harmony Korine, the scriptwriter of KIDS. The artists presented have emerged from various streams of urban culture  (skateboarding, graffiti, punk, hip-hop…), which are to converge on the white walls of The Lazy Dog Gallery.  The common denominator will be a strong ‘DIY’ attitude throughout the works on show.

The exhibitions tend to be slightly on the freestyle side, which can lead to a lack of information about the work and the artists, however the gallery is definitely worth a look in. The Lazy Dog concept is a welcome breath of fresh air in the smog of high profile Parisian galleries and museums.

The Lazy Dog Original store - open Mon 2pm-7pm, Tue-Fri 11.30am-7.30pm, Sat 11am-7.30pm.

25 rue de Charonne Paris 75011.

The Lazy Dog Gallery - open Tue-Sat 1pm-7pm. 2 Passage Thiéré Paris 75011.

The Lazy Dog Citadium store  -open Mon-Sat 10am-8pm, Thu open until 9pm.

50 rue de Caumartin Paris 75009.

The Lazy Dog also has a very comprehensive website announcing new products and upcoming events which you can check out before making the journey.

Comments

[parisimperfect]

This sounds great! Thanks for letting me know about this place. Think I'm due to check it out...

[7jades]

Thanks for posting this information!

Bises,
7jades.

[charlie]

No address anywhere - even on the links! :-(

[Rooksana]

Hi there Charlie! Indeed, it would be much handier with the address!

Bastille store: The Lazy Dog, 25 rue de Charonne, Paris 75011.
Gallery: 2 Passage Thiéré, Paris 75011.
Citadium store: 50 rue de Caumartin, Paris 75009.

There we are! Have a good bank holiday!