you'll never win monopoly with policies like that

Zadig + Voltaire’s Parisian Hotel Won’t Take Reservations From ‘Chinese Tourists’

Photo: Corbis

After showcasing the label’s latest collection at a “private mansion” in Paris’s Left Bank, Zadig + Voltaire founder Thierry Gillier announced that the space would be renovated to become a high-end hotel. Set to open in 2014, the mansion’s renovation is “a project dear to our hearts,” Gillier says, so much so that he can’t bear the thought of just anyone staying there. WWD’s Joelle Diderich quotes him as continuing, “We are going to select guests. It won’t be open to Chinese tourists, for example. There is a lot of demand in Paris — many people are looking for quiet hotels with a certain privacy.” Quiet, private, and with a side of casual racism laid out there like a stale mint on your pillow.

Since its publication this morning, Diderich’s article has been quietly amended — the quote in question now reads simply “busloads of tourists,” no ethnicity specified. After all, they’ll be getting lost on the Metro and taking too many photos regardless, right? (Comments on the article still note the “no Chinese tourists” line’s original presence, however — as does British Vogue’s recap of the event.) We reached out to WWD for comment, but have yet to hear back.

Zadig + Voltaire’s Hotel Bans ‘Chinese Tourists’