Yohji Yamamoto Store in Paris

[ahlefeldt]

"Yohji Yamamoto’s flagship is the latest store to hit Paris’ notorious Rue Cambon. Designed by Sophie Hicks, an architect and former stylist for Alaia, it carries both women’s and men’s collections. Special wood panelling lines the entrance, while seamless mannequins give the illusion of clothes hanging in the air. It’s a serene, luxurious environment with metal rails for the collections, and Japanese paper birds adding to the installation-like display. Part gallery, part Japanese inn, the flagship is spread over three levels and it reflects Yohji’s signature concept: The White Box."

From: Dazed Digital

[Faust]

Is this now bigger than the Antwerp store?

[Avantster]

This looks awesome.

Apparently not larger, Faust, but it's still pretty big!

September 21, 2008 - A new Yohji Yamamoto boutique will open in Paris in Autumn 2008. At the corner of rue Cambon and rue du Mont Thabor, the new 600 square meter Yohji Yamamoto flagship, designed by architect Sophie Hicks, will house Yohji Yamamoto Women’s and Men’s collections. The three-level corner façade will reflect the signature concept of Yohji Yamamoto boutiques: a white box. While preserving the original moldings, the outside is whitewashed: a subtle update to the historical exterior. The interior architecture functions to insulate the shopper from the bustling street outside. Upon entering one is transported into a “uniquely luxurious, comfortable and aesthetically Japanese” environment, says architect Sophie Hicks.

A PARISIAN ADDRESS
The location itself is a nod to fashion history. Known as rue “Mademoiselle Chanel,” rue Cambon is world renowned for a thoroughly luxurious and Parisian shopping experience. Yohji Yamamoto has said that rue Cambon has always had a place in his dreams.

A WORLD OF DETAIL
The new address marks the return of an exclusively Yohji Yamamoto shop, offering only the Yohji Yamamoto Femmeand Homme collections. Personal clothing racks are available for perusing in the greatest ease and comfort. All three levels of the shop are accessible by elevator. The ritual of packaging purchases is displayed on a long white table: a singular touch of refinement and a nod to traditional Japanese custom. A special wood panelling lines the entrance wall, suggesting the welcoming atmosphere of a traditional Japanese inn. Made in Japan and crafted from the thinnest of chestnut veneers, the panels echo bird-like shapes and lead the visitor into the main space.

A BREATH OF FRESH AIR
An underscored flaunting of commercial efforts, the main floor functions as a gallery of sorts: at once calm, intimate and serene. Visitors are enveloped by elegant spaciousness that spans the 195 square meters. The vastness of the space was conceived as a special luxury to allow guests to truly experience the universe of Yohji Yamamoto. It is more an interactive installation of sculpture and Yohji Yamamoto’s clothing, each giving the other new depth and meaning. Seamless white mannequins seem to disappear, giving an unreal and ethereal sensation of the clothing floating in air, referencing Yamamoto’s constant interest of the space between clothing and the body.

Japanese Shojigami (shoji screen paper) crafted into bird-like shapes are suspended in the windows from the ceiling to the basement, creating an opaque sculpture wall of light and shape which allows the passer-by a glimpse of the clothing displayed beyond. Two curving staircases punctuate the ground floor. The Menswear collection is housed in the basement, a 110 square meter area. The Shojigami extend to this floor filling the space with atmosphere. At 145 square meters, the second floor houses the Yohji Yamamoto Women’s collection.

THE WHITE BOX
Matte white, an emblematic and impalpable color permeates the space: the white Shojigamito the white concrete speckled with white marble floors, to the fluid shaped staircases of the same material, white curtains concealing the cashiers, the long white table for packing purchases, and matte white subtle furnishings. The White Box metaphor connects all Yohji Yamamoto boutiques since 2007; the Y’s shop at 25, rue du Louvre and Y-3 at 47, rue Etienne Marcel. The White Box at 4, rue Cambon is indicative of the dynamic development of the brand following the 1000 square meter shop in Antwerp in the ModeNatie building, which opened in October 2007, and the 120 square meter shop on Gansevoort Street in New York, which opened in February 2008.

[Faust]

Yohji is out of control!!!!!!!!!!

[Gunjah]

was there when i was in paris.
the interior is completely white
on the ground floor there's complete women, y's and femme disordered
in the basement there's men, also y's and homme disordered

pretty great selection, but they don't had all parts of the show. the greatest, like the checked jackets with "scarves" attached, they had though

[Faust]

Did they have Y's Red Label and Limi Feu?

[Gunjah]

red label they had, about limi feu i am not sure, i mainly looked for pour homme.

maybe chant knows ? i only went there from 3rd to 7th of october to visit 2 friends of mine so didn't want to be too long in shops with them cause they're not so interested in fashion, or better not in high end fashion, more in second hand and such stuff :)

[Fade to Black]

i've never seen Limi Feu sold at any YY outposts, usually department stores carry her stuff.

that said, based on the pic in the OP this space looks unreal...although feels more like a conceptual museum/gallery space than a store.

[Faust]

The Antwerp store carries Limi Feu, and this season the Soho store does too, IIRC.

[jcotteri]

i want to go to Paris again

[Chant]

that said, based on the pic in the OP this space looks unreal...although feels more like a conceptual museum/gallery space than a store.

Picture increases the impression of space. Store is big, with a high clearance, but not so much. It's actually an empty (you could easily play hockey here : no obstacle would disturb your track) and quite cold space. Clothes are lined up along the shorter wall, longer one is the shop window.

Men's and women's collection are regularly switching their places : once they're on the ground floor, once in the basement.

Shop carries Y's and YY, and another store, just behind, shows Y-3.

[Fade to Black]

Picture increases the impression of space.

yeah i've noticed this is quite a recurring gimmick in most marketing photographs...yet i fall for it every time.