Yohji Yamamoto Flagship Store, Paris
The new flagship store of Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto has opened in Paris. Although based in Tokyo, Yamamoto has an affinity with the French capital having debuted his Pret a Porter collection there in 1981. He now adds to list of stores in Tokyo, New York and Antwerp with a signature white box on Rue Cambon – a mix of gallery and shop designed in collaboration with architect Sophie Hicks. In her first career Hicks was fashion editor at Vogue and Tatler in the 80s. Since qualifying as an architect she has maximised on her expertise by designing an illustrious list of clothing stores for the likes of Paul Smith, Sigerson Morrison, Boden, Chloe and now Yamamoto.
The white box effect begins outside – with the moulded façade of the existing building whitewashed at ground level to indicate the extent of the store to the street. The windows are partially obscured from the inside with oversized origami, allowing passersby a tantalising glimpse of the space beyond, as well as offering privacy and an exclusive shopping experience to customers. The oversized origami is actually a contemporary and beautiful take on the ‘Shoji’ feature of traditional Japanese buildings – the translucent paper screen. The concept of appreciating things in glimpses, fragments and half-light is one mused on by Junichiro Tanizaki in his cult text ‘In Praise of Shadows’, which Yamamoto cites as an influence on his own aesthetic. Given this, dazzlingly bright white seems an odd colour to choose; however the sculptural Shojigami pattern is repeated near the entrance in carved chestnut panels that more aptly evoke the feel of a traditional Japanese inn.
Inside, the shop is a meld of the sculptural background of Hicks’s design and Yamamoto’s creations. Dressed on white mannequins that merge into the white background, the clothes are intended to have the appearance of floating in space, and resemble artworks in a gallery more than clothes in a shop. The store covers a huge floor area and the vastness of the space is an expression of luxury in itself. As Hicks says, the store aims to transport customers to a “uniquely luxurious, comfortable and aesthetically Japanese” environment, right in the heart of Paris.
