Paris is one of the world’s most influential capitals of fashion, culture, and art. It is also a city where Arab presence is deeply embedded in everyday life—yet still constantly debated, politicized, and interpreted through external narratives. In this context, Habibi Plz’s Paris launch did not arrive as a typical fashion brand activation. It arrived as a cultural statement.
In January 2026, Habibi Plz hosted its first-ever Paris pop-up and panel discussion, marking a major milestone in the brand’s international expansion. The event brought together a curated retail experience and a public conversation titled UNAPOLOGETIC Arab IDENTITIES, focused on Arab representation, authorship, and power in Western cultural spaces.
The goal was not to introduce Arab identity to Europe.
The goal was to state it clearly: Arab identity does not require permission, translation, or softening to exist in public space.
Habibi Plz: More Than a Fashion Brand
From its creation, Habibi Plz has never positioned itself as a conventional streetwear or fashion label. The brand operates as a cultural platform that uses clothing, design, and public activations to explore deeper questions of identity, representation, power, and belonging.
The Paris activation was a direct extension of this mission. It moved the conversation away from social media and into a physical, public, and unavoidable space—where identity is not curated for algorithms, but lived, seen, and negotiated in real time.
Why Launch Habibi Plz in Paris?
Paris sits at the center of global conversations about fashion, culture, and creative authority. It is also home to large Arab and SWANA communities whose presence is highly visible—but whose narratives are still rarely controlled by themselves.
In this environment, visibility does not automatically equal agency. Arab identity is often aestheticized, politicized, or framed by institutions that do not live it.
Habibi Plz did not come to Paris to be included in this system.
It came to challenge it.
The activation was intentionally focused and minimal in form:
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A Habibi Plz pop-up in Paris showcasing the brand’s work
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A public panel discussion opening a direct conversation about Arab identity in Western public space
No spectacle. No dilution. No performance for comfort.
UNAPOLOGETIC Arab IDENTITIES: From Representation to Ownership
The panel discussion formed the intellectual and emotional core of the Paris launch.
Rather than celebrating representation as an end goal, the conversation focused on who controls narratives, who sets the terms of visibility, and who owns cultural platforms.
Key questions included:
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Who decides which Arab stories are funded, exhibited, and promoted?
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What is the real cost of being asked to soften or simplify identity?
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Is inclusion meaningful without decision-making power?
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What does it take to build independent Arab cultural infrastructure?
These were not abstract ideas. They reflected the lived experiences of the speakers and the audience. The room was not there to consume culture—it was there to recognize itself inside it.
More Than a Paris Pop-Up Store
While the Paris pop-up presented Habibi Plz products, the impact went far beyond retail.
The space became a meeting point for conversations about:
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Belonging and displacement
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Language and memory
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Code-switching and self-censorship
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The daily negotiation of identity in Western public space
People stayed, talked, and shared their own stories.
Habibi Plz resonates because it does not try to be universal.
It is built for people who already know what it means to have their presence questioned, their history simplified, or their culture turned into an aesthetic.
Measuring Real Impact
In fashion and culture, success is usually measured in traffic, sales, and media coverage.
But the real impact of the Habibi Plz Paris launch was measured differently:
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In conversations that continued long after the event
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In people who felt seen without needing to explain themselves
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In the shared realization that taking space is not aggression—it is authorship
A New Chapter for Habibi Plz in Europe
What Paris confirmed is not only demand, but timing.
There is a growing shift—especially among younger generations—from seeking representation to building ownership. There is less interest in performing palatability, and more interest in creating independent platforms rooted in lived identity.
The Habibi Plz Paris activation was not a one-off event.
It was a proof of concept.
Not just for a pop-up in Paris.
But for a new way of occupying cultural space in Europe and beyond.
Habibi Plz did not come to Paris to be included.
It came to exist on its own terms.