starcow · N^o7931

On our last trip to Paris, we discovered Starcow, a streetwear shop on Rue Saint Honore. The shop features a well-edited selection of products from some of our favorite brands such as New Balance, Tantum, Fuct and Ignorant People. In addition to Starcow, founder and owner Michael Piovesan also maintains Starcow Skate and Cyclope, a skateshop and fixed gear shop, respectively. In this interview with Citizens of Humanity, Michael discusses the origins and aesthetics of his shops.


Why did you open Starcow?
The first shop, Justcow, was opened in 1996 in a Parisian suburb, and we started Starcow in 2000 in Paris. It was the right move as nobody there was really mixing skate and hip-hop cultures and styles.



Why did you open Cyclope?
Opening Cyclope was like opening Starcow at first: We wanted to open something new as nobody was providing all that stuff in Paris and the fixed-gear movement wasn't as known as it is now. There were only a few customers at first but the buzz started to build, and people liked the fact that the shop was really different from other shops, and it was like being in your own garage.



How do you pick the brands and products sold at Starcow?
We try to do a mix of what we like with some new brands. We like to provide emerging labels with quality, and we're always lurking around, not especially during tradeshows. It's also a mix of what we have here in France as well as international labels. We like to make our move first—sometimes brands come to us to make some buzz or whatever, but it's already too late, we're onto something else.



Why did you depart from clothing retail, and open a fixed-gear bike shop?
We always have been into the riding culture, first skate, then with the fixed gear culture going mainstream too it was important to us to open a shop providing a cool selection. It was a continuity, actually: We have Starcow, just two doors away there's Starcow skate, and Cyclope is 10 minutes away in another Parisian neighborhood.



Is there a point of view that connects all of the stores?
Our taste, our culture from streetwear, our passions, we like to find, collect and share, that's the connection, it’s just us.



Photos by Mathieu Vilasco for Citizens of Humanity