Chanel Flagship Store

By Luca Maria Francesco Fabris - 13 December 2019

Acknowledged the world over as the doyen of refinement and luxury, New York architect Peter Marino has designed boutique stores for the famous French fashion label Chanel for more than 25 years. Over that time, he has been constantly innovative, originating trends in the hazardous globalized fashion industry while, at the same time, echoing the uniquely minimalist tailored style invented by Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel at the beginning of the last century. The unchallenged icon of sophisticated good taste, the Chanel style has been able to capture and integrate the talents of strong personalities like the late Karl Lagerfeld who reinterpreted the Coco spirit, taking the Chanel myth into the new millennium and making it one of the most recognized fashion labels for haute couture, ready-made fashions and a vast array of accessories.

Tasked with redefining the Maison’s point-of-sale concept, Marino has been given a weighty responsibility. He is currently engaged in two parallel operations: the refurbishment of Chanel’s historic stores similar to what he did in Paris, London and New York, and the design of new flagship stores in many corners of Planet Earth, creating portals giving access to the fascinating, uniquely luxurious Planet Coco. The latest “spaceship” arrived last March in Seoul’s Cheongdam-dong neighborhood. The building itself is a monument to style: a three-dimensional contemporary sculpture in which rationalism becomes pure minimalism. Exteriors and interiors are seamlessly attuned, the color and density of the materials used creating an uninterrupted continuum throughout.

As already mentioned, the location is Seoul, currently one of the world’s fastest growing markets for luxury goods. In a recent interview, Peter Marino pointed out that since only one in every four people entering a Chanel store actually make a purchase, his job was to create spaces that induced the other three to...