A style icon's expert guide to shopping in Paris

French "it girl" and creative director of Rouje, Jeanne Damas gives her insider Parisian shopping recommendations from art books at Ofr to lingerie at Yasmine Eslami.

You don't need to stan Emily in Paris to know that Paris is synonymous with fabulous shopping. The smash Netflix series' fourth season returns on 15 August and follows a fashion-obsessed American woman working in the Paris fashion industry.

The City of Light is the perfect backdrop for the series: its iconic tree-lined avenue Champs-Elysées glitters with luxury flagships, while the city's arrondissements (districts) brim with indie shops, tony department stores and exquisite brass and stained glass 19th-Century covered shopping galleries. It's no wonder then that Paris is the birthplace of seminal fashion brands Chanel, Hermès and Yves Saint Laurent. Even the word boutique is French. 

Visitors hoping to shop like Emily (or even just like a local) will find themselves spoiled for choice – perhaps even intimidated. To help you discover the chicest fashion, homewares and gifts, we asked real-life Parisian "it girl" Jeanne Damas, creative director of the fashion brand Rouje, for her picks.

A lifelong Parisian, Damas is known for embodying "French-girl" style with her romantic knits and viral flower-print Gabin wrap dress, found at the multiple locations of her Rouje boutiques. When she's off duty, she channels style inspiration by taking in her surroundings. "One of my favourite things to do is to sit in one of the typical corner cafes and watch the people passing by," she says, citing Café Le Nemours in Place Colette (1st arrondissement) as her people-watching go-to: "The best fashion show ever. It's a good way to spot trends and what people really wear."

Damas's personal favourite shops are mostly found in the atmospheric, artsy Saint-Germain-des-Près neighbourhood or the cobblestoned Le Marais, Paris' ancient Jewish quarter. "[When it comes to shopping], I think one of the nice things about Paris is its size," she says. "It's quite small compared to London or New York. You can actually move around by foot quite easily."

Here is where Damas goes shopping in the City of Light.

Where to even start shopping for fashion in the most fashionable city in the world? Damas is a fan of Paris' department stores, like the hip three-storey concept boutique Merci in Le Marais and the historical 19th-Century department store Le Bon Marché in the 7th arrondissement. "[It] has a great selection of brands," she says of the latter. She also likes to hunt for vintage pieces like silk slip dresses from the 1940s at luxe vintage retailer Chez Snow Bunny, and heads to Yasmine Eslami for lingerie: "[she's] one of the coolest lingerie designers in Paris."

For menswear, Damas's pick is Tricot, her friend Rémi de Laquintane's knitwear shop, due to open a second edition of its pop up store in Le Marais this 1 October. "He is specialised in recycled cashmere," she says. "The quality and the colours are amazing." 

Even if you can't fulfil your dream of living in Paris, you can bring some Parisian style home with you. For homewares worth checking a bag for, Damas' fashion pick Merci also has a vast range of furniture, decorations, candles and art.

She also recommends the design purveyor Boutique Maison de Campagne, known for its shabby-chic home furnishings and interior decor like whitewashed furniture and light fixtures. "[They] have beautiful kitchen linen and vintage vases," added Damas. Venturing further east towards the 1st arrondissement, Damas suggests visiting the Astier de Villate artisanal workshop; "a great place to find amazing ceramics." Astier de Villate's ceramics are all handmade in Paris, and the shop also sells fragrances, artisanal stationery and handsome art books.

Damas is just as well-known for her sophisticated "French girl" beauty as she is for her fashion sense. "I often wear what I call my 'uniform'," she said. "A very simple outfit. I highlight it with a big red lip or add a touch of fantasy with an accessory like a flower hair clip."

Her love for the seemingly effortless "big red lip" is evident in her clean beauty line, Les Filles en Rouje, which offers a variety of lipsticks and gorgeous makeup palettes as well as luxury skincare. The line is available through Damas' boutique and at her pick for beauty shopping, Oh My Cream, a French concept shop specialising in green beauty. Oh My Cream has several locations throughout Paris and sells a wide variety of eco-friendly brands, as well as luxe beauty tools and supplements.

For extravagant Italian fragrance and bath products, Damas also visits the Santa Maria Novella counter at Le Bon Marché, where she snaps up the melograno in scented terracotta home fragrance diffuser, which she likes for its spicy, pomegranate notes.

When it comes to buying for others, Damas likes to present her loved ones with books. Luckily, the famously literary city of Paris has no shortage of beautiful librairies (bookstores), like the beloved independent bookstore and event space Ofr in Le Marais. "You can always find a good present," said Damas of the neighbourhood mainstay that's known for drawing a hip literary crowd. "They have a beautiful selection of art books and essays."

When Damas wants to browse for literature, she heads to the historic English-language bookshop, Shakespeare and Company; the epicentre for 20th-Century literary luminaries like Ernest Hemingway, Allen Ginsberg and Henry Miller. "[It's] one of the most beautiful bookshops in Paris," she said.

The birthplace of legendary jewellers Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, Paris is a jewellery lovers' mecca. Shoppers can browse one-of-a-kind sparkly souvenirs at the extravagant counters in Paris' department stores, or up-and-coming artisanal boutiques helmed by contemporary Parisian jewellery designers. Damas’ is a fan of the sculptural, edgy designs by Charlotte Chesnais at her boutiques in Rive Gauche and Rive Droit, which double as contemporary art spaces. 

"I can't speak for everybody," said Damas. "But for me personally [Parisian style] has to do a lot with simplicity."

BBC Travel's The SpeciaList is a series of guides to popular and emerging destinations around the world, as seen through the eyes of local experts and tastemakers.

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