Balenciaga’s biggest global store is designed to give customers the feeling of shopping in an abandoned warehouse or multi-level car park.
Luxury brands have always been synonymous with opulence, elegance, and refinement. It is evident in their spacious, illuminated boutiques inviting you to grab their products orderly arranged on polished surfaces complemented by stylish furniture.
Many of these designer boutiques have become tourist attractions for their imposing architecture or majestic interiors. But Spanish fashion powerhouse Balenciaga has been proving that luxury can also be seen in the rugged and raw, with the recent launch of its biggest store in the world.
Located in Beijing, China, the store is a reimagined version of a designer boutique’s usual format wherein everything is polished and refined. It has a futuristic yet ghostly aesthetic defined by textured concrete, crumpled leather sofas, exposed ceiling grids, stained metal fixtures, and stone tiles.
It stands as Balenciaga’s biggest global store to date after its Beijing flagship was extended to four floors, spanning a total of 1,204 square meters, in the Taikoo Li Sanlitun complex. And here, the concrete structures are the main highlight of the store. It is the latest in the luxury label’s “Raw Architecture” store concept, which, according to Wallpaper Magazine, sees new and renovated Balenciaga stores designed in a purposefully stripped-back manner.
Unlike any luxury boutique, Balenciaga’s biggest global store is designed to give customers the feeling of shopping in an abandoned warehouse or multi-level car park. The entire project was visualized by Balenciaga creative director Demna, who says that the idea is to reevaluate the “codes of luxury.”
The façade draws inspiration from Beijing’s turn-of-the-century office buildings that feature weathered, translucent textile panels. Meanwhile, on the top floor is a private shopping suite resembling Balenciaga’s couture store in Paris.
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The space’s monochromatic interiors complement the emphatic lines and exaggerated shapes of the eight archival ensembles showcased in the area. These garments were part of “The Subtleties of a Dialogue” show at the Kering headquarters in Paris last September. Of this, four were crafted by the brand’s founder Cristóbal Balenciaga, while the rest were created by Demna.
Both their masterpieces and the space’s look speak of their common love for architecturally complex structures, exaggerated volumes, garments with emphatic lines, and monochromatic abstraction, and a focus on anonymity. Among the highlights of their showcased work are green couture evening gowns from 1959 and 2022, embroidered gowns from 1960 and 2021 that were inspired by the Manila shawl, a skirt suit from the 1960s and a 2017 long-sleeved dress with carnations, as well as black silk column gowns from 1962 and 2024. Balenciaga said that each look reflects the ongoing dialogue between the founder and its current creative director, bridging heritage and innovation.
Apart from its archival exhibit, the store showcases Balenciaga’s latest ready-to-wear collection for men and women, handbags, jewelry, eyewear, and other accessories. It also comes with six exclusive product launches, including an oversized “Metalheads” shirt inspired by the hand-painted garments in Balenciaga’s latest couture collection.
Last but not the least, the luxury brand’s biggest store features Apple Vision headsets, which allow visitors to explore the latest in Balenciaga x Apple Vision Pro’s ongoing innovations.
Balenciaga’s newly refurbished Beijing flagship is located at No. 11 Taikoo Li Sanlitun North, Sanlitun Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China.
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