Ask any shopaholic: it’s the sheer volume and sophisticated variety of offerings that pulls them to London for unprecedented shopping sprees. Occasionally, a favourable exchange rate boosts sales even further, making shopping very often the sole purpose of foreign visitors to come here. Amidst the British capital’s flourishing retail environment, luxury brands do well, very well, and many have either set up shop or expanded their presence, including Balenciaga. Since 2015, the Paris-based fashion house has seen been led by designer Demna Gvasalia, resulting in an unprecedented popularity and global sales. Balenciaga already operates a standalone boutique in Mayfair and three additional shop-in-shops at top department stores, but clearly sees room for growth by opening another standalone retail space in the leafy Belgravia neighbourhood.
The store occupies a double ground floor unit and basement of a seven-storey 1950s building, and flaunts Balenciaga‘s latest utilitarian-inspired retail design codes, featuring metal shelving, display cabinets, suspended steel rails and modular ottomans, all framed by ceiling panel lighting and carpeting in a striking aquamarine shade. Large floor-to-ceiling mirrors optically enlarge the space, and the mannequins that were first introduced at the Balenciaga store on Avenue Montaigne in Paris, resurface here, modelled after the likes of cult models and Balenciaga faves Takato Harashima and Eliza Douglas. Downstairs, a similar setting can be found, albeit slightly tweaked, with an exposed ceiling and suspended lamps, in addition to deep orange carpeting. The new Balenciaga boutique carries the brand’s full range of women’s and men’s apparel, accessories, bags, shoes, small leather goods and sunglasses.
Balenciaga
203-204 Sloane Street (Belgravia)
London SW1X 9QX
Telephone: +44 20 34258000
Mon-Sat 10-7
Sun 12-6
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.
