MAISON de SABRÉ TAKES PARIS: AUSTRALIA’S MODERN LUXURY BRAND ARRIVES AT LE BON MARCHÉ
Eight years after launching from Brisbane, MAISON de SABRÉ has made its Paris debut at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche, confirming its place among the world’s new generation of luxury houses.
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Australian design house MAISON de SABRÉ has opened a pop-up at Le Bon Marché Rive Gauche, marking its first Paris appearance and celebrating eight years of extraordinary growth for the brand founded by brothers Omar and Zane Sabré.
The residency, running from October 25, 2025, to January 3, 2026, positions the self-funded label within one of the world’s most exclusive retail destinations — a milestone that cements its status as one of Australia’s most successful global luxury exports.
Since its founding in 2017, MAISON de SABRÉ has evolved from a personalised phone case start-up into a $100 million modern luxury business, now shipping to more than 150 countries.
Around 80 per cent of its sales come from international markets, proof that its clean, design-led aesthetic and commitment to craftsmanship have global appeal.
At the centre of the Paris showcase is The Palais, the brand’s flagship handbag and new icon. Conceived over eight years, its architectural form represents MAISON de SABRÉ’s shift from personalised accessories to the rarefied territory of luxury fashion.
“The industry loves to romanticise heritage,” says co-founder Zane Sabré. “But heritage doesn’t guarantee relevance. The Palais proves you don’t need a century of history to create something iconic – you need conviction, execution, and a brand people actually believe in.”
Brother and creative director Omar Sabré adds, “Hermès has the Birkin. We have The Palais.”
Following its global sell-out debut earlier this year, The Palais now leads the brand’s international assortment and signals its arrival in the global handbag market.
The Le Bon Marché installation features multiple sizes of the bag, alongside the full collection of handbags and small leather goods. A Charm Bar offering on-site personalisation brings the brand’s signature interactive retail experience to the Paris stage.
The pop-up follows a string of high-profile activations in Tokyo, New York and Milan, where MAISON de SABRÉ has demonstrated its ability to reinterpret traditional luxury through a modern, design-forward lens.
Its recent flagship experience at Tokyo’s Miyashita Park placed the brand alongside Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada and Balenciaga — a move that signalled its ambition to compete at the highest level.
Underpinning MAISON de SABRÉ’s rise is a quiet but resolute commitment to sustainability and responsible production. The brand sources all leather from Leather Working Group Gold-Rated tanneries, including a Dutch partner pioneering waterless tanning technology that saves up to 20 litres of freshwater per hide.
Its charm collections are crafted from upcycled leather offcuts, demonstrating that environmental awareness can coexist with luxury design.
For a brand that began in Australia with a single monogrammed accessory, the Paris debut at Le Bon Marché is more than a retail event. It’s a statement — that modern luxury can be born anywhere, thrive without legacy, and redefine craftsmanship for a global audience.
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Apple’s first foldable, the $1,999 iPhone Duo, combines an iPhone and iPad Mini experience—but its size, weight and price come with compromises.
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As I watched a Netflix show on Apple’s first foldable, the iPhone Duo, I had two surprising thoughts.
The first: Maybe I don’t need my iPad Mini anymore.
The second: Uh oh, am I about to spend $1,999 on a phone?
I didn’t think folding phones were for me. I’ve been testing Android versions from Samsung and Google since 2019, and those early editions came with too much screen and too many compromises.
Fast forward seven years, and the technology has come a long way. Apple—in its very Apple way—has also come up with some hardware and software trickery to make up for some shortcomings of the basic design. My desire for a folding phone before today was zero. After today, it’s a lot more than zero.
I’m not ready to recommend the Duo, which ships on Oct. 23, just yet. Not until I am able to test it more fully, so be on the lookout for that review in a few weeks. But from what I experienced at Apple Park on Wednesday, I could actually picture myself using this new half-phone, half-tablet hybrid.
Crease camouflage
For months, I’ve been using Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 8, a similarly squat, passport-shaped foldable that opens up to a larger screen. It’s impressively thin and can easily fit into the infuriatingly tiny pockets in women’s pants and dresses. Samsung did a lot of work to minimize the crease—the dip between the two halves of the big interior display—but it’s still clearly there.
When I held the iPhone Duo open, the crease was barely visible. As I slid my finger across the display, I could feel it, but it’s more subtle than Samsung’s. Most of the time, the screen looked as flat and smooth as the one on an iPad.
Apple employed both software and hardware techniques to camouflage the crease. The matte surface of the interior 7.6-inch screen minimizes reflections to hide it. (Samsung’s Fold 8 screen is shiny.)
And as you begin to open or close the iPhone Duo, the interface shifts the controls and content away from the center crease. If, say, you’re watching a video on the outer screen, you can open the Duo to switch to the bigger display within. A black fade marks the transition. You don’t see the video full screen until the phone is completely flat.
Heavy handed
My second observation was that, when the Duo is closed, in phone mode, it was harder to use one-handed than I expected.
In the keynote trailer and press release, Apple touted how thin the Duo is. It’s marketed as the thinnest iPhone ever—when open.
But it’s actually thicker and heavier than most of its Android competitors. The Duo weighs 254 grams, and is 11.3 millimeters thick when closed. The Samsung Galaxy Fold 8 is just 201 grams, with a thickness of 9.7 millimeters. Google’s Pixel 11 Pro Fold is 239 grams and 10.1 millimeters.
Because the Duo is also wider than a standard iPhone, I found it quite a challenge to type.
I admit, I do have smaller-than-average hands. So I consulted my colleague Rolfe Winkler, who has a larger grip. He agreed the Duo feels big.
Apple rearranged the interface on the outer screen so it looks different than traditional iPhones. The dock and control center are off to the right to be more reachable. Committing to the Duo as your main device will require adjustments in your handling. You will have to learn a new way to use and type.
Work and play
My most surprising takeaway? I feel a pull toward this device.
I always thought that combining an iPhone and an iPad would mean bigger compromises. The battery life is about the same as the 18 Pro (up to 24 hours of “regular use” on a single charge), though I’ll need to verify that in my real-world testing. And it’s also as durable, with the same IP68 dust- and water-resistance rating as the rest of the iPhone lineup.
There are trade-offs, for sure. Trying out the camera, I immediately missed the 8X zoom in my Pro model. The Duo has just 2X zoom, which wouldn’t cut it for the dozens of pictures I take of my kid every day.
But the dual screens unlock new photo functionality. You can see what your shot looks like from the outside screen. As someone who has tried tirelessly to self-direct a family photo—or a spouse—I am very eager to try this out more.
Foldables, I initially thought, were for classic mobile-warrior jet-setter types, who never sit at a desk and are always on calls. For that crowd, the Duo can run two apps side-by-side.
Me, I’m more of a bed binge-watcher and ebook reader. That’s what my beloved iPad Mini is for.
Watching videos on the Duo is a nice experience—nice enough that you forget the screen is 0.7 inches smaller than the iPad Mini’s. The main screen is also a 4:3 aspect ratio. Very similar, by the way, to the IMAX edition of the Odyssey.
Because I wasn’t able to snag a ticket to one of the sold-out screenings, I will be watching Christopher Nolan’s version of Homer’s epic on the Duo, just as the director intended. (Just kidding! Sort of.)
The Duo costs $800 more than an iPhone 18 Pro, and I’m not sure I want to spend that premium on a first-generation Apple device. But I’m not ruling out the idea that a Duo might one day be in my future. Stay tuned for my full review.
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