Balenciaga Opened Its Largest Store in China

Balenciaga is betting big on China, opening its largest store in the world in Beijing’s Taikoo Li Sanlitun shopping complex on Wednesday.The 13,000-square-foot unit comes in tandem with six exclusive product launches, and an exhibition of eight archival looks from “The Subtleties of a Dialogue” show at Kering headquarters in Paris last September.
The store showcases the brand’s latest ready-to-wear for women and men, handbags, shoes, jewelry, eyewear and other accessories.
Empty of products, the sprawling boutique has a ghostly, futuristic atmosphere heightened by all the raw concrete and crumpled leather sofas, bringing to mind some of the sets in “Blade Runner 2049.”

It bears the Paris-based house’s “raw architecture” concept incorporating textured concrete, retrofitted metal fixtures, exposed ceiling grids, extruded aluminum shelving, and stone tiles. According to the house, “the construction process respects existing construction elements, making it inherently sustainable by using fewer virgin materials.”
The facade draws inspiration from Beijing’s turn-of-the-century office buildings, featuring weathered, translucent textile panels.The Beijing flagship houses a private shopping suite on the top floor that bears a resemblance to Balenciaga’s Couture Store in Paris with its smoked glass cabinets and low seating.