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The Latest Boutiques, Louis Vuitton, Rolex & Tom Ford
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An essential round-up of the latest boutique openings by luxury brands, including Mulberry, Meridian & Miu Miu, in New York, Singapore and Guangzhou The new Michael Kors lifestyle Flagship, located…
Over the last decade, collaborations between luxury brands and contemporary artists have gone beyond mere artistic partnerships towards a new kind of luxury branding.
PARIS – Art and fashion have always developed side by side, for fashion, like art, often gives visual expression to the cultural zeitgeist. During the 1920s, Salvador Dalí created dresses for Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiapparelli. In the 1930s, Ferragamo’s shoes commissioned designs for advertisements from Futurist painter Lucio Venna, while Gianni Versace commissioned works from artists such as Alighiero Boetti and Roy Lichtenstein for the launch of his collections. Yves Saint Laurent’s vast art collection, recently auctioned at Christie’s in Paris, testified to his great love of art and revealed the influence of a variety of artists on his own designs.
In the 1980s, relationships between luxury brands and artists were advanced when Alain Dominique Perrin created the Fondation Cartier. In the Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemporain, a book marking the foundation’s 20th anniversary, Perrin says he makes “a connection between all the different sorts of arts, and luxury goods are a kind of art. Luxury goods are handicrafts of art, applied art.”
The Fondation Cartier pour l’Art Contemparain building in Paris
An essential round-up of the latest boutique openings by luxury brands, including Mulberry, Meridian & Miu Miu, in New York, Singapore and Guangzhou
The new Michael Kors lifestyle Flagship, located within New York’s iconic Rockefeller Center
An essential round-up of the latest boutique openings by luxury brands, including Mulberry, Meridian & Miu Miu, in New York, Singapore and Guangzhou.
“Luxury market no longer safe” was just one of a myriad of less-than-optimistic headlines circulating the media last week. The Financial Times named Burberry as the biggest single faller on the FTSE 100, at the start of the final quarter of 2011, down 5.4%. Reuters speculated that falls of up to 11% in Tiffany & Co, Coach and Ralph Lauren stocks, were fuelled by concerns that a major engine of their growth – China’s fast-growing middle class – may be sputtering.
Tom Ford wasn’t so fazed. Speaking with Reuters at the launch of his latest Moscow boutique – Europe’s second womenswear location – he was confident his brand will again weather any impending storms. “I launched my business just at a time when it was a downturn, but that has not affected us, because as brand awareness has grown our figures have actually gone up,” he remarked. Mr. Ford remained confident that his consumers may not be buying a new house or car, but his figures suggest they are still buying new shirts and shoes.
Michael Kors, New York City
Spread across 650sqm, under luxurious 15ft ceilings, the largest Michael Kors store in the United States has opened in New York’s iconic Rockefeller Center. The store will house the country’s most comprehensive selection of watches, jewellery and footwear, each housed in their own dedicated spaces. To celebrate the occasion, Michael Kors has released a specially designed style of the brand’s Hamilton tote, made in claret coloured crocodile, for sale exclusively at the Rockefeller Center boutique.
Website & Source: michaelkors.com
Prada & Miu Miu, Guangzhou
Prada Group has opened two Roberto Baciocchi designed stores for Prada and Miu Miu in Guangzhou, within the TaiKoo Hui Mall, a new shopping centre devoted entirely to luxury goods. The openings will take the number of group owned outlets on Mainland China to twenty-two. The 840sqm Prada store hosts women’s apparel, bags, shoes and accessories, and a second floor dedicated to men’s fashion. Over at Miu Miu, women’s bags, shoes and accessories are presented over 250sqm, alongside a small selection of clothing.
Website & Source: prada.com
Spencer Hart, London
Situated within a period Neo-Georgian building in Mayfair, Spencer Hart’s flagship store has been designed in collaboration with Shed Design. The ‘fresh and modern retail world for men’ houses the full range of Spencer Hart apparel, alongside denim, underwear, luggage, shoes and scents. Shed have also designed a clandestine VIP space in a former basement vault, where guests can commission suits, shirts and even ties, or browse a selection of vintage watches, Swaine Adeney Brigg leather goods and custom Oliver Goldsmith eyewear.
Website: spencerhart.com
Source: shed-design.com
Mulberry, New York City
Mulberry has opened its third retail location in New York, offering for the first time, an entire collection in-store in the United States. The 460sqm space – the brands biggest in New York – is located on Spring Street, SoHo, and features white pillars, dark reclaimed wood flooring and high tin ceilings. The boutique will carry ready-to-wear, shoes, luggage, handbags and accessories.
Website: mulberry.com
Source: Luxuo
Meridian Audio, Singapore
Meridian Audio has opened doors on its first boutique in Singapore, to be operated and managed by distribution partner Absolute Sound Distribution Pte Ltd. The 127sqm store has been designed in the style of the Meridian global boutique network, dedicated to showcase the brand’s multi award-winning product lines across dedicated housing zones. A technical and design consultation area and a fully equipped Meridian theatre for one-to-one demonstrations of their home cinema products will complete the boutique layout.
Website & Source: meridian-audio.com
Rolex, Shanghai
Taking up residence on Shanghai’s luxury strip, The Bund, Rolex has launched an 800sqm boutique, providing a unique space for visitors to discover and rediscover the brand, its roots, its present and its vision of the future. The store has been organised into three key areas: The Heart of Rolex, The Pulse of Rolex, and The Gallery, incorporating plasma screens, 330 degree films, 3D animations, directional speakers, and an infrared system for navigating through menus with a simple movement of the hand.
Website: rolex.com
Source: China Daily
Dolce & Gabbana, Prague
Dolce & Gabbana have opened their first monobrand boutique in Prague, on Parížská 28, to house a full collection of women’s and men’s wear, including accessories and leatherwear.
Website & Source: dolcegabbana.com
Roberto Cavalli, London
Back in March, Retail Gazette reported that Roberto Cavalli and Fendi were to swap their respective properties on Sloane Street, London, in a unique and complex property deal. Cavalli have now officially taken over Fendi’s former 420sqm boutique, whilst Fendi has launched a new concept store in the smaller 260sqm space.
Website: robertocavalli.com
Source: Retail Gazette
Louis Vuitton, Incheon
Louis Vuitton has opened its first airport boutique in South Korea, within Incheon International Airport, in association with The Shilla Duty Free. The 550sqm store will carry the brand’s signature leather goods, women and men’s shoes, watches, belts, ties, textiles, fashion jewellery, sunglasses, watches and other accessories.
Website: louisvuitton.com
Source: The MO Down
Christian Louboutin, Paris
Christian Louboutin has opened his very first men’s store in Paris, enlisting designer Eric Clough to realise the store’s studded leather floors and embroidered leather walls. Vintage airplane seats, a tin ceiling, and a Star Trek table and chair were have been installed to ensure a masculine experience, whilst ‘The Tattoo Room’ will provide buyers the opportunity to design and customise made-to-order footwear.
Website: christianlouboutin.com
Source: Luxuo
Church’s, London
Over in the UK, Church’s opened their first ever dedicated women’s boutique, on one of London’s premiere luxury strips, New Bond Street. The British brand has entered a new phase of expansion, following its sale by Prada Group in 2008, opening fifteen monobrand stores worldwide. The store will house leatherwear, shoes and accessories for women.
Website: church-footwear.com
Source: CPP Luxury
Emporio Armani, Guangzhou
As Emporio Armani celebrated its 30th anniversary, the brand opened doors in Guangzhou’s Taikoo Hui luxury mall. The new 300sqm boutique carries men’s and women’s formal and casual wear collections, leather goods, accessories, watches and sunglasses. In keeping with the global design concept, the Taikoo Hui location features a monochrome, minimalist colour scheme, outfitted in transparent floor tiles, black glass walls and shelving, and subtle silver accents
Website: emporioarmani.com
Source: Jing Daily
Tom Ford, Moscow
Tom Ford has opened a second dedicated womenswear store at Tretyakov Passage, Moscow, to coincide with the launch of his latest perfume, Violet Blonde. The 150sqm store will operate under a franchising agreement by local retailer Mercury Group, and will house a selection of ready to wear and accessories. WWD has also reported that Ford will open doors on not one, but two boutiques in Korea, in the coming weeks.
Website: tomford.com
Source: Reuters
Omega, Houston
Opening over 250sqm, Omega has launched the Houston Galleria offering the brand’s entire product palette, including products flagship exclusives. The design is in keeping with that of the New York store, where the façade has been conceived around the themes of sun, water, earth and time.
Website: omegawatches.com
Source: International Business Times
Hermès, Berlin
Hermès has reinvigorated its Berlin retail presence, opening a new 150sqm, company-owned boutique in the KaDeWe department store, to replace the two-floor concession in Friedrichstrasse store, which was closed earlier in the year. Hermès have also expanded its 250sqm store on Kurfürstendamm, marking the tenth company owned boutique for the brand. WWD also revealed plans to open a new jewellery, watch and Art de Vivre in November, followed by a Maison furniture and carpet/tapestry showroom in January 2012, both in the Munich store.
Website: hermes.com
Source: WWD
For more in the series of The Latest Boutiques, please see our most recent editions as follows:
– The Latest Boutiques, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci & Lamborghini
– The Latest Boutiques, Céline, Aesop & Aston Martin
– The Latest Boutiques, Lanvin, Vera Wang & Boucheron
Creative Strategist, Digital
Sophie Doran is currently Senior Creative Strategist, Digital at Karla Otto. Prior to this role, she was the Paris-based editor-in-chief of Luxury Society. Prior to joining Luxury Society, Sophie completed her MBA in Melbourne, Australia, with a focus on luxury brand dynamics and leadership, whilst simultaneously working in management roles for several luxury retailers.
