Let the fashion fanatics and Francophiles among us rejoice, for Saint Laurent have heard our prayers for a new store and have answered in kind.
Enter: Saint Laurent’s brand new flagship boutique, situated in the ‘Paris End’ of Melbourne’s renowned Collins Street shopping precinct.
Fresh from the Avenue Montaigne lies a treasure trove of Lou Lou chain bags, perfectly oversized Icare shopper totes and Hailey Bieber-approved cat eye acetate sunglasses.
The pandemic has fuelled our cravings for brick and mortar shopping experiences, and Saint Laurent has created the perfect playroom to live our inner Carrie Bradshaw fantasies.
For the browsers inclined, allow yourself to bask in floor-to-wall ivory statuario marble, smooth leather fixtures and art-deco inspired fixtures while you feast on the latest ready-to-wear offering. We know you have your eyes on your very own YSL catsuit.
For the more serious shopper, a truly unrivalled experience awaits you beyond the store’s shiny and sophisticated façade.
Worry not about fighting for the last pair of Opyum heels à la Rebecca Bloomwood, for the real experience begins on the third flight of the store.
Take a short ride up the private elevator to your private, personal dressing salon. Indulge in vintage furniture and brutalist-inspired architecture while you try on piece after piece.
Afterall, nothing compares to the sensation of taking home your very own Saint Laurent black box.
What’s inside you’re wondering? That’s one secret we’ll never tell.
The store’s pièce de résistance comes in the form of a suite of artwork personally commissioned by Creative Director Anthony Vaccarello.
Entitled ‘Paris End’, a nod to the colloquial name for the street’s Eastern end, artist Thomas Jeppe examines “a notion of split geography and a fragmented globe” through the piece.
“The cleaved sphere of the Paris skylights are both elemental protection and a glass ceiling … these hemispheres return as the duelling walls of a ravine,” explains Jeppe in a press release.
But to see the artwork first hand you must be quick as the piece will only exhibit in Saint Laurent’s boutique until June 9. We know how we’re spending the next few weekends.
