Didier Parakian

Didier Parakian (born 5 March 1964) is a French businessman and politician. He made his fortune from ready-to-wear clothing. He was elected to Marseille city council in 2008 and became a deputy in the National Assembly in 2023.

Biography
Parakian was born in Marseille. His Armenian grandparents migrated to France in 1920 from the Turkish cities of Bursa and Kütahya.

Parakian set up an eponymous fashion brand with his sister Marjorie. He sold the majority of the shares to the Thomas family in 2015. The following year, an unsuccessful attempt at becoming more upmarket led to the company going into receivership. In March 2017, the company was rescued by Chinese corporation Zhejiang Dunnu.

In 2008, Parakian was elected to the city council. He became a deputy to right-wing mayor Jean-Claude Gaudin.

In July 2020, Parakian was appointed to the council of the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis and named in the executive led by Martine Vassal. He was put in charge of European funds.

Formerly a member of The Republicans (LR), Parakian ran for Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance in the 2022 French legislative election, as the substitute for Sabrina Agresti-Roubache's candidacy in Bouches-du-Rhône's 1st constituency. In July 2023, Agresti-Roubache was nominated for a ministerial post, and Parakian succeeded her as a deputy in the National Assembly.