Watches In The Wild Paris, Episode 3: The Fashion And Watch Communities

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The digital space controls everybody's narrative. A lot of us like it that way. We are delivered a sense of community through unlimited access to information and an abundance of other people's ideas: a tightly knit network of people behind screens. Which by the way, is totally legitimate. I actively work for and participate in an online community. I came to this hobby through the Internet. I learn obscure things, I scroll through digital archives with back issues of discontinued fashion magazines, I make new friends and live my best life on the Internet.

But it does leave many of us craving a sense of physical community. This is why trade shows like Watches & Wonders or industry events like Fashion Month are more than essential in bringing communities within their respective industries together. The yearly or seasonal meeting of the minds is what keeps things moving. I know I crave that human connection in both the watch and fashion spaces. I can only describe watching a fashion show as pure adrenalin – it makes you giddy, it's a thrill. A bit like buzzing around the trade show floor of the Palexpo and finally seeing all of your Internet friends under one roof to talk about the one thing you all love the most. We need to see things in person, we need to share ideas and swap stories to feel satisfied.

Traffic outside a busy Paris street corner. The front entrance of the building reads "MABROUK"

Today, digital culture also dictates the way we consume. But, feeling the weight and texture of fabric or snapping shut the clasp of a bracelet is unparalleled. I love nothing more than meandering around flea markets, vintage shops, and antique jewelry stores. It's deliciously tactile consumption. You don't actually have to buy anything, it's all about the rummaging and the abundance of texture and color and atmosphere.

Whether you are into watches, or fashion, or both, there are clear overlaps in approach to community and consumption. There are of course differences too, but discounting fashion as frivolous is short-sighted. Fashion holds sway and influence in almost every area of pop culture. The way I see it, the watch industry could certainly borrow some of the more contemporary approaches taken on by the fashion space. Why shouldn't watches be a bigger part of the zeitgeist? Why shouldn't watches be just as influential?

Malaika (right) holds a watch and discusses the collection of her friend Arthur (left)

Two Rolex King Midas watches with different sized crowns side by side

Malaika (left) smiles while discussing the watch collection of her friend Julien (right)

Collecting can be approached from a myriad of different angles. Talking to individuals in Paris who have an inherent sensibility for style and design has helped me to reaffirm my own beliefs that we need those people in the wider watch community. There is no hierarchy of importance when it comes to watch collecting. Whether you appreciate watches for the mechanical aspect or the design, it should be a level playing field. And there is no strict binary, you can be somewhere in the middle and appreciate both engineering and good looks.