Our Story
Two fathers, two continents, one shared vision: to create clothes worth keeping, passing on and enjoying long after a single season.
Two fathers, two continents, one shared vision
Maison Priam & Lila was born from the meeting of two enthusiasts living more than 9,000 kilometres apart.
On one side, Song, a designer based in Shanghai. On the other, Arthur, a French entrepreneur with a passion for the history of clothing, beautiful fabrics and timeless elegance.
Both share the experience of fatherhood. When looking for clothes that met their expectations for their children, they encountered the same problem: the dominant offer favoured rapid production, standardised fabrics and collections designed to be replaced a few months later.
They imagined a different approach.
Children’s clothing inspired by the past, made with care and designed to last well beyond the season in which it was created.
And so the Maison’s story began.
Arthur
A passion for clothing, beyond fashion
Long before Maison Priam & Lila, Arthur was already interested in vintage clothing, the history of tailoring and traditional craftsmanship. He is fascinated by a time when garments were made to last, to be repaired and sometimes passed from one generation to the next.
Every garment should be made to last, to be repaired and to be passed on.
This conviction led him to discover Song’s work in Shanghai. Where others see children’s clothes, Arthur sees the preservation of a textile heritage: forgotten cuts, rare construction details and beautiful fabrics that have almost disappeared from contemporary collections. Maison Priam & Lila became a way to share this vision with families in France and across Europe.
Song
The designer behind the collections
The story begins in Shanghai. When his daughter was born, Song realised that he could not find the clothes he wanted her to wear. Many products looked alike, and few expressed a distinctive cultural or aesthetic identity. So he began creating his own designs.
His inspiration comes from a unique period in Shanghai’s history: the 1920s and 1930s. His work reinterprets that era without turning it into costume, retaining the proportions, fabrics and details that have endured while adapting them to modern children’s lives.
Each collection grows out of an ongoing dialogue between heritage and contemporary life.
Shanghai
When East met West
At the beginning of the twentieth century, Shanghai was one of the world’s most fascinating cities. Known as the “Paris of the East” and sometimes the “New York of Asia”, it attracted merchants, travellers, artists and entrepreneurs from across the world.
Chinese, British, French and American influences came together in a remarkable cultural exchange. This energy shaped architecture, music and the arts, as well as fashion. Clothing from the period brought together European elegance, Asian refinement and technical innovation. It is this cosmopolitan city that gives Maison Priam & Lila its visual universe.
Our collections pay tribute to a singular era when elegance was not a trend, but a way of life.
Passing things on, rather than consuming
Clothes made to have more than one life
At Maison Priam & Lila, we do not believe in disposable clothing. We select beautiful fabrics, durable construction and timeless cuts so that each piece can accompany a child for years.
Better still, we love the idea that a jacket, coat or dress might be passed on to a younger brother or sister, a cousin or a friend.
True durability is not measured by the number of collections launched each year.
It is measured by the number of stories a garment can be part of.
This philosophy has never changed: our own children wear these clothes. We are the first to use what we offer.
Against fast fashion
Choosing to slow down
The clothing market is now dominated by constant renewal: faster, cheaper and more ephemeral. We have chosen the opposite approach.
We favour timeless collections over passing trends, the quality of fabrics over an ever-growing number of styles, and the belief that a beautiful garment should be worn, loved, repaired when necessary and then passed on.
Going against the current can be harder. Yet we believe it is possible to create fashion that is more responsible and more respectful of the artisans who make it, the families who buy it and the children who wear it.
“We create the clothes we wished we could find for our own children.”
Priam & Lila
This has been the purpose of Maison Priam & Lila from the very beginning.
The Maison’s symbols
The lion, the lilac and the lantern also tell our story: a family heritage, a sensibility and the meeting of two cultures.