Luxury stores with the most beautiful interiors 

Arushi Sakhuja and Jade Crasto 

The link between retail stores and architecture has always been very strong. For this reason, many brands have taken the help of several famous designers to design their luxury stores to make it an experience. The result? A series of boutiques around the world that look like art installations. LuxeBook takes you through the most remarkable and intriguing shop interiors – from pool-inspired designs to opulent chandeliers and sculptures. Are you a design enthusiast? A traveller? Then these stores will leave you awe-inspired.  

Burberry Mykonos, Greece  

The Burberry pop-up store in Nammos Village gives you a glimpse of true Mediterranean aesthetic. Immersed in nature, the structure is presented with a palette of pistachio green and beige and is enriched with blue and pink summer shades. Throughout the store, fixtures and details are built with a variety of materials and textures, from plywood to mirrored, glossy finishes and a dash of greenery. The outdoor terrace features a wooden pergola inspired by traditional Mykonos buildings, with TB Summer Monogram blue siding. The ground floor features a blank canvas wall where visitors can add illustrations and custom tags, similar to the Burberry Bond Street store. 

Glossier, Seattle 

Located in the Capitol Hill neighbourhood and designed by Glossier’s in-house team, the 2,800-square-foot retail space is the brand’s largest physical store to date. A large sculpture at the centre of the space is designed to look like a boulder covered in moss and colourful mushrooms, influenced by the flora of the Pacific Northwest region. This is based on a landscape installation created by designer Lily Kwong for the pop-up and a terraced hill is evoked by a stack of flat thin cushions upholstered in various green textiles and leathers along the large store windows. Walls around the store are finished in light-toned textured walls and beige and dusty-pink tiles cover the floor. On the exterior, doors and window trims are painted a dark blush hue to match the Glossier logo and contrast the building’s cream brickwork, making it look palatial.

Aesop, Hong Kong  

Aesop has added yet another store to its extensive retail network in Hong Kong. The store features an interior design by architecture practice Nadaaa from Boston. Evoking a refined state of construction, Aesop reflects an immersive sense of calm, by drawing on a neutral, natural palette. With extensive use of raw materials and exposed finishes, the store uses beams of reclaimed Oak shelves set on blackened steel frames, offering a wonderful textual interplay. An elongated sink of oxidised copper punctuates the sophisticated industrial aesthetic. 

Dolce & Gabbana Rome, Italy   

Dolce & Gabbana is well known for its exaggerated designs that steer clear of sobriety. Over the years the brand has designed the image of a new Italian aesthetic in the world. Their boutique in Piazza di Spagna, in Rome, the heart of the Eternal City, the capital of Italian history and culture, could not be less. Housed within the walls of a majestic sixteenth-century palace, the shop looks like a real Roman temple made of marble, mosaics and frescoes. A digitalised fresco depicting Greek gods is the focal point of luxury fashion brands’ store.  Set within a 16th-century palazzo the store reflects a city synonymous with magnificence and uniqueness. Circular mosaics have also been embedded into the high-gloss floors, inscribed with the words paradise, love and beauty. 

 
Selexyz Dominicanen Maastricht, Netherlands 

The contemporary building interior of the Bookstore Selexyz Dominicanen was designed by Merkx+Girod architects in Maastricht, Netherlands for the Dutch booksellers Selexyz Dominicanen. Merkx+Girod were commissioned by the Dutch booksellers to convert the interior of the former Dominican Church in Maastricht into a modern bookstore. The interior design takes advantage of the spatial magnificence of the church’s architecture. To satisfy BGN’s need for 1,200 m2 of selling space and given that the church’s floor area is of only 750 m2, Evelyn Merkx and Patrice Girod thought to insert an oversized walk-in bookcase. In order to preserve the character of the church while achieving the desired commercial square footage, the architects decided to insert an oversized walk-in bookcase where the books are kept. The lighting, which is an all but integral part of the store’s design, manifests itself in the chorus by way of a traditional chandelier above the crucifix-shaped table located in the café area. 

Gavello Nel Blu, Mykonos, Greece  

Gavello Nel Blu, designed by SAINT OF ATHENS, is a jewellery store with an interior that resembles a real swimming pool: light blue tiles. This jewellery shop on the Greek island of Mykonos was designed to resemble a 1960s swimming pool. Creative agency Saint of Athens worked with Dive Architects on the project for Italian brand Gavello to make the store stand out from its neighbours. 

As you enter the shop, you get the impression that you are swimming in an empty pool. The walls and floors are made of light blue tiles, and a ladder and beach balls stamped with the brand’s logo decorate this soothing world. There are also lockers to store your things and red and white striped cushions. The architects have also included other accessories such as mirrors, display cases, and display cones for an even greater vacation feel! Innovative, isn’t it? The jewelry is displayed on a rectangular table in the centre of the store as well as inside four niches embedded into the blue tiled walls.  The goal behind the design of this store was to show that with a few square meters, you can create a surreal and innovative space while still representing the image of a brand. That you can create a store in which you want to enter into. 

Moniker, Oslo 

Moniker Fashion Universe, in Oslo, is a 1,500-square-metre concept store that Norwegian design studio Snøhetta said is supposed to feel like a treasure hunt. Called Moniker Fashion Universe the 1,500-metre-square concept store is located in the heart of Oslo’s shopping district, near the newly renovated Valkyrien Square. Fixed partition walls create a maze of rooms set within a different visual universe built around different personality traits and based on, for example, space travel, motor racing and the French Riviera. Just like the womenswear department, which is split into five zones that are built around five different personality traits, Moniker Man is split into two distinct zones built around the character traits of “sensitive” and “ambitious”. Featuring striped fabrics, plenty of foliage and a lilac and yellow colour palette, Delon’s zone takes its design cues from the French Riviera. According to the studio, the playful design of this zone is designed to challenge our conception of what falls into the categories of feminine and masculine. In the ambitious zone, which pays homage to Paul Newman, the design team created a classic ambience through a luxurious material palette.  This is contrasted with industrial materials that nod to the racing industry.  

Idli by Thierry Journo Jaipur, India 

Experience Jaipur through a contemporary lens at lifestyle boutique Idli, the brainchild of French designer Thierry Journo. The theatrical space features trompe l’oeil canopy and breezy palm tree murals, where handmade furnishings and hand-painted vases mingle with colourful fashion creations. The new store, on Subhash Marg, in C-Scheme—the city’s poshest residential area—is filled with light and showcases his work at stints as a copyist at the Louvre, in collaborations with Thierry Mugler and Andrée Putman, and as an illustrator for John Galliano.  

The space comes alive with doorways that are framed by striped, trompe l’oeil canopies, tropical palms and grass on the wall and paper lanterns in a rainbow of colours hanging from the ceiling. The entire effect is fantastical, quintessentially French.  

Sabyasachi, New York 

Sabyasachi built its first international store in the United States in the West Village of New York. The store is intended to depict Mukherjee’s trip from Kolkata to New York and to showcase the opulent richness for which his creations are recognised. The store reflects a classic look, suited to the modern customer, and is inspired by historic residences and palaces of the Indian metropolis. The corridors are filled from floor to ceiling with framed paintings influenced by Persian dynasty Qajar art, 16th-century Mughal miniatures, Indian Pichhwais, and antique pictures. Glass chandeliers hung low from the ceiling illuminated this decked-out maze, where tables were overflowing with food served on silver—a custom arrangement for the event. 

JJ Valaya, Aerocity 

Far from the frantic throng, the flagship shop has various design schools. The master couturier created, developed and designed everything in the store, which takes a maximalist but never gaudy approach to design.  The store contains a tiny reception area and a jewellery department featuring Aulerth and the new bridge-to-luxury brand, JJV. A winding staircase brings you to the actual treasure, which has equal room for his couture and home lines. The shop is adorned with the designer’s photographic works, and his home space is an expression of his passion for photography, travel, and all things luxurious. With over three decades of experience in the business, the designer is an institution in his own right, and his designs have a luxurious, old feel to them. A room is dedicated to some of his most expensive and complex bridal lehengas, which are displayed in a museum-style setting and coupled with beautiful dupattas and shawls. He recognises the need for a bridge or pret companies that cater to other minor events, as well as curate travel outfits. JJ Valaya’s charm is that it is maximalist yet the needlework is ageless. 

Arjun Kilachand, Mumbai 

Complementing Arjun Kilachand’s distinctive style lexicon, the store’s facade and interiors were treated with a monotone sandy palette for his larger-than-life creations to do all the talking. Understated but never overpowering. Warm and approachable but never intimidating. The skilful usage of a joint-less in-situ flooring and wall texture allows the whole space to feel uninterrupted and unified. Arjun worked with Ayesha over a period of months where they brainstormed on how best to make sure the store interior truly brings his vision to life. The design ethos was a blend of earthy elements such as stone, jute, copper, walnut wood and glass to keep a neutral palette throughout. Every rack, mirror, item of furniture and light was all custom designed by the architect specifically for the brand keeping every detail unique. Staying true to his core ethos of understated elegance, the store exemplifies contemporary minimalism and lets the creations be the storytelling subjects. 

Loewe, Barcelona 

Loewe launched its largest flagship store in Barcelona, which has been praised globally for its rare leather items that are produced to perfection. And, because the dynamic and multicultural Catalan metropolis is teeming with architectural beauties, the shop is located on the exquisite Passeig de Gràcia, in a stunning Modernista edifice created by Art Nouveau artist Llus Domènech  Montaner. The shop is much more than simply a magnificent display, with a wonderful interior design by famed Peter Marino; it is Loewe’s first retail location committed to bespoke tailoring. 

Louis Vuitton, Tokyo 

The new Louis Vuitton boutique building in Tokyo, designed by Jun Aoki and Peter Marino, was launched in early 2021. The new building is located in Ginza’s historic district, on the same street corner that the brand’s boutique has occupied since 1981. It has an external glass surface that imitates the waves of water with iridescent reflections, and the same aquatic and wavy theme is reproduced in the interiors, which are decorated by a giant jellyfish sculpture and equipped with a staircase in the same wavy style. Inside, the store is divided into four stories, the last of which has a VIP lounge. 

Dior, Seoul 

The Dior flagship store in Seoul, South Korea, is diametrically opposed to the summer shop in Capri, which blends in amid the creepers of the Mediterranean scrub. On the contrary, it is a far more opulent and imposing structure. The shop, which opened in the summer of 2015, features a white sculptural front constructed on a sail-shaped structure composed of resin glass and fibreglass. A stairway leads clients through the numerous collections to the top level, where the shopping day concludes with a drink in Café Dior. 

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