Celine’s new store was opened at 40 New Bond Street, a prominent location in London. Designed by Celine’s creative, artistic and image director Hedi Slimane, the store is an art project that aims to create an interaction and spark a dialogue between the building and the artworks inside. The space stretches across 466m², the 345m² ground floor is devoted to women and articulated around the idea of French elegance and vintage aura.
The store looks like a Parisian salon of Collectible brutalist design pieces from Jean Touret and Verner Panton together with a collection of contemporary art pieces, two of which are by Nika Neelova, Leilah Babirye, commissioned for the New Bond Street store.
The octagonal room is dedicated to the Celine’s Haute Parfumerie and Maison Celine line, designed to be somewhere between a “cabinet de curiosités” and a jewelry box.
The floor is covered in black marble, providing a depth of contrast in the colour and tone. The shelves, racks, fitting rooms, and other elements unhook from the existing molded walls and float in space.
The 121m² basement men’s department evoke the feeling of an art gallery, the floor is concrete and the walls are white. It provides a white cube for the added elements; the furniture, the fitting rooms, and the art pieces – these are in stark contrast to their context. Both fitting rooms on this floor are designed as a huge wooden screen that opens to reveal a library.
Customers are invited to change in the midst of these many books. Situated within one of the fitting rooms, is a classic oil painting: “Portrait of Maximilien de Béthune Duc de Sully,” of the Flemish school from 1670. In addition to the portrait, there are 2 other works in the basement, one of which is suspended from the existing ceiling.
Info courtesy of Celine