A Pakistani immigrant turned millionaire in Paris

Mehmood Bhatti came to France from Pakistan 34 years ago to start a new life. His first job was pushing carts in the Sentier district, where most of the textile companies in Paris are located, before he created his own brand and became a millionaire in a few years thanks to a faux leather jacket.

The man shows a photo of the faux leather jacket, made of 100% polyester, and says that he has managed to sell millions of them and that it has earned him an estimated thirty million euros. Bhatti has become a star for all Pakistani tourists visiting Paris who want to see the Pakistani immigrant who has conquered France. He is very proud that compatriots come to take pictures of his store and him, while in Pakistan nobody knew him.

The man has become rich and famous but he continues to be active and does not want to convert to Made in China but keep a Made in Sentier production. His goods are made near his store, in a handicraft workshop run by a Turkish entrepreneur. Bhatti regularly visits the workshop, mainly concerned by the quality but also by the respect of the French legislation in a district which has often been pointed out for its infringements of the regulations, in particular concerning the existence and the use of clandestine workshops of clothing.

Bhatti indicates that he asks for all the required French regulatory documents, the social security contributions made to the URSSAF, the Kbis, a document that attests to the existence of a company, the amount of the expenses paid, the insurance, the electricity, the lease or the rent receipts.

The workshop with which Bhatti works is chosen after the transmission of these documents in order not to have problems with either the justice or the police. Bhatti recalls that he started from scratch, beginning by sleeping in the metro when he arrived in Paris, before finding himself on the side of the wealthy, having dinner with the President of the Republic in the Saint-Germain district for example.

On the evening of the report, he has a drink with a friend, the aristocrat Hermine de Clermont-Tonnerre, in a palace on Place Vendôme. At the Park Hyatt, everyone knows Bhatti, a regular at the hotel, who likes to play the playboy and flaunt himself with pretty women. He considers his friend a teacher of good manners who taught him elegance, how to dress and how to behave at the table.

Thanks to Hermine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Bhatti feels that he has been introduced to the jet set, that he has been able to get to know Paris and its milieu very well and that he now considers himself 100% French. On a humorous note, his friend indicates that he still has to work on his pronunciation and to make himself understood without an accent.

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