The New Galeries Lafayette Flagship Store in Paris Is Our Kind of Retail Therapy
Paris is always a good idea — especially when it comes to new-season shopping. And thanks to the vision of Danish architect Bjarke Ingels, the fashion capital’s landmark retail destination recently grew even more glam. Galeries Lafayette, a French institution since 1912, took the wraps off a new flagship on the Champs-Élysées just in time for browsing the fall collections.
The marble- and gold-filled department store spotlights the art-deco glory of its building, a 1930s bank, while also incorporating show-stopping modern touches like cantilevered glass podiums and “magic carpets” that flow up off the floor to form display podiums for sneakers.
And after you’ve restocked your wardrobe, the in-store coffee bar — complete with an indoor lemon-tree orchard dreamt up by French designer Simon Porte Jacquemus — is the place to be seen.
