As one of the most iconic thoroughfares on the planet, avenue des Champs-Elysées in Paris obviously is an address for the happy few. As of late, Saint Laurent has joined those ranks, and quite lavishly so, opening its biggest flagship store on the planet at number 123. The retail space is situated on no less than four floors of a redeveloped, late-19th century Haussmannian building and features a contrasting modern interior design created by Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello. Both raw and polished, captured by a myriad of different materials, such as marble, exposed bricks, lacquered timber and glazed deep blue ceramic, the retail space unapologetically signals the fashion house’s dynamic new era under the guidance of Vaccarello. The ground floor sees a double-height foyer with an imposing swirling staircase leading to the upper floors, in addition to a spectacular, suspended neon sculpture by Welsh artist Cerith Wyn Evans which might be the ground floor’s eye-catcher.
The actual retail space is semi-concealed behind a massive wall clad in large granite panels. Furnishings comprise large, chunky display tables, matching tiered shelving, and wall-mounted shelving units. The aforementioned staircase also swirls downwards to the men’s section, which, despite being below ground, feels light and spacious thanks to an entire ‘light wall’ on one side. Here, the setting includes understated furnishings created by none other than Donald Judd and paired with displays in dark timber. The top floor is home to a plush apartment-style setting where various of the previously mentioned design elements are set across an expansive off-white and blue speckled carpet. Needless to say, this place is for shopping by appointment only. The new Saint Laurent flagship store stocks the full range of women’s and men’s apparel, accessories, bags, shoes, small leather goods, eyewear and jewellery pieces.
Saint Laurent
123 avenue des Champs-Elysées
75008 Paris
Telephone +33 1 57950099
Mon-Sat 10.30am-8pm
Sun 11am-7pm
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
