Bastide [pronounced bas-teed]
Based in: Aix-en-Provence
Bastide is for anyone who dreams about sun-bleached villages, terracotta cottages and lavender fields in the South of France. After the French hairstylist Frédéric Fekkai sold his eponymous line to P&G in 2008, he began a new chapter alongside his wife and co-founder, Shirin von Wulffen by buying a 25-year-old brand called Côté Bastide in his hometown of Aix-en-Provence. To anyone who’s followed his storied career, it seemed like the most natural next step considering there’s always been a touch of the South of France in all of Fekkai’s products like the Apple Cider Clarifying Shampoo, which he created based on a recipe he watched his grandmother make in her kitchen when he was a child.
Bastide (which means “small country house”) is a love letter to Provence in the form of bath oils, soaps and fragrance. The brand only uses ingredients sourced from the South of France, natural formulations, and even works with a nose from Grasse.
The brand is also steadily expanding. This year, Bastide opened up its flagship boutique on 14 Rue Esparait in Aix-en-Provence where you can pick up Bastide products, alongside home decor items made by French artisans. You can even purchase a piece of Provence in North America. The brand landed in the U.S. earlier this year and made its debut in Canada this November at Holt Renfrew.