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"Chic ! meets" Patrick Blanc - "A potted history" of table-football - "Rising trends" : Open casting calls - "What to do with" langoustine ? - "Insights" : Etablished & Sons, 100% British

"Chic ! meets" Patrick Blanc
A botanist who specialises in tropical undergrowth, Patrick Blanc is also a researcher, a town planner and above all, a wonderful inventor! For Chic !, he reveals the dreams and town planning projects he has for the capital. He also takes us to the suburbs, and to the centre of Paris, where he has found a series of façades he would like to work on. For the sheer pleasure of seeing foliage spring forth in the middle of the stone and concrete, but also so that nature can work its calming influence on man, and can rebuild social ties, where they have disappeared. An encounter with a man with infectious enthusiasm.

"A potted history" of table-football
The story starts with a man, Lucien Rosengart, an employee at the Citroën factories in France. He was responsible for the front wheel drive and the safety belt. One rainy day, Lucien Rosengart was at a loose end, not knowing how to occupy his grandchildren. Living in the region of Marseille, where football is a sacred sport, he decided to create a miniature football game to amuse them. And so, in the 1930s, the first table football game was born. In the inter-war period, table-football appeared in cafés, affording relaxation and conviviality. The players looked like humans and wore red, white and blue to remind people it was a French invention. The board used for the pitch was green, and people had fun sending the balls into the air. But it wasn't until the hippy years that table-football became universally popular all over the world. Then table-football left bars and cafés for people's homes. Today it is no longer just a leisure activity but a competitive sport. For the last six years, France have been world champions, but they could one day be beaten by the Chinese, who have been taking the game very seriously for some time now.

"Rising trends" : Open casting calls
Enthusiasts, take note! Fashion shows are no longer limited to professional models. A pack of avant-garde designers prefer ordinary people. To find the right face, they call in casting directors, who organise "open casting calls", searching city streets in search of the right face, or a striking appearance.

"What to do with" langoustine ?
Langoustine, a pink, iodine-containing delicacy. We entrusted some of these delicious crustaceans to Rougui Dia, the young chef of "144", the Pétrossian-run restaurant in Paris. Rougui Dia of Fula origin, cooks fish and shellfish instinctively and elegantly. She concocts an easy and exotic recipe for us.

"Insights" : Etablished & Sons, 100% British
We take a trip to London, to Established & Sons, a totally British designer. Founded by a team of four in their thirties, with complementary talents, the young agency edits the top names in British design.