Personal Shopper in Paris. Personal shopping with Diariata Niang, a former model
About me, your shopping guide in Paris
«Have a word-class model as your own Parisian personal shopper»
Born in a small village in Senegal, western Africa, Diariata became at the turn of 2000 one of the most wanted top-models in the fashion world.
She was favored by Dior, Jean-Paul Gauthier, Thierry Mugler, Emmanuel Ungaro, Gianfranco Ferré, to quote just a few of them. In 2009, she posed for the world-famous Pirelli calendar.
Being a Parisian at heart and passionate about fashion, there are very few things that Diariata prefers than to bring her friends in a discovery tour of the Parisian fashion designers.
Diariata, what kind of fashion is your favorite one?
I am not especially fond of the latest trends. Everybody in Paris follows the new trend and at the end of the day everyone ends up looking like everyone. I like using and wearing a slight touch from the latest collections, but I take care not to overdo it.
How do you work ?
I love finding clothes for both men and women. My method is to define your clothing identity from what I can observe from them. It’s no doubt what I like most: doing my best to make sure it is genuinely personal. I love surprising people when they look at their reflection in the mirror; a simple pair of shoes is sometimes enough to amaze them. That is why I like to begin my work with a lunch, or a breakfast. When I understand who the person in front of me is, it’s much easier for me; we then go for a walk, or drive around town, and we go shopping and try out some clothes. Sure, the goal is to find the perfect clothes for my clients, but also to have a good time together! We stroll, we chat with whomever we meet (I know quite a lot of people in this particular world), and I think that most of the time my clients are pretty happy by the end of the day…
Are there things that still surprise you in this job as a personal shopper ?
A lot of people think that money is everything. That with a very high budget, people are bound to be well-dressed. But from my personal experience it really is otherwise, better-off people aren’t the better dressed : they spend a lot for a mediocre result. If I have a significant budget, I might go to Dior’s, and I might go in a Zara store, where quality products can be found. I also happen to recommend to spend an important part of the budget on a single item, a handbag for example, for I know it will be the defining element of one’s looks: a jewel of some sort that will make the whole style stand out.
What type of budget do you work with ?
Frankly, there are all kinds of budget. Some people come to see me with a few hundreds of euros, and are very happy and almost always amazed by what I can do out of their budget. Others grant me unlimited expenses. In that case, I am committed to surprise them by helping them discover new luxury brands, and god knows how many there are !