Vivienne Westwood World fashion icon opens first Paris store
International fashion icon Vivienne Westwood has opened her first standalone store in Paris with a flourish – showcasing a distinctive new design concept for the brand in this most stylish of cities.
Located within a historic building, in the stylish Rue Saint-Honore in the 1st Arrondissement, the 1,200 sq ft store it set across two floors, and stocks Westwood’s three brand labels – Vivienne Westwood Femme and Homme, Anglomania, and Andreas Kronthaler for Vivienne Westwood – as well as a full range of accessories and bridal and evening wear selections.
The design concept for the new store combines sustainable, raw and natural materials such as resin, steel and plywood and will soon be applied to the brand’s other stores worldwide.
The Paris store was designed by Fortebis Group.
Speaking of the new store concept, Simona Franci design director and partner of Fortebis Group said: “We started to work with Vivienne Westwood on their new brand concept and created the Vivienne Westwood Café in 2014. They were delighted with the response from customers and from then on we started to work closely with their team on their new brand image for the boutique.
“In Paris, the six storey building occupied by Vivienne Westwood includes two floors of retail, with the remaining areas including a showroom a tailor made area and offices.
“Coming up with the store concept involved a lengthy design process in consultation with the Vivienne Westwood team, during which we explored the DNA of the brand, including its history. We had previously created a design concept for a small Vivienne Westwood store in Milan, Italy, which worked very well and used this as the basis of this for the Paris store.
“The design we came up with uses many raw, simple natural and basic materials such as plywood and handmade carpets, creating a feeling of relaxed comfort and luxury without using standard luxurious materials.
“We also wanted to give the impression of a work in progress and to create an environment in which people can feel at home.
“The store opened on 1st October and feedback from the client has been great. They are particularly pleased with the warm, comfortable and friendly ambience which the design has created.
“The biggest challenge of the project was working within a historical building in the heart of Paris with stores and apartments all around.
“This meant that the removal of stripped out materials required careful planning and consideration – as did the subsequent reconstruction work within the building, which had to be carefully carried out ensuring the retention of the building’s historical facade. For these reasons we undertook the works on a floor by floor basis.
“It was great to work closely with the Vivienne Westwood team on an independent brand such as this and the project gave us the chance to explore their world in great detail and to help them evolve their brand in such a way that we became interpreters of their concept as well as architects. This was a source of great satisfaction to me at the end of the job.
“We are also working on a similar design for a 780 sq m Vivienne Westwood store in New York.”
Vivienne Westwood is a fashion brand for all ages that transcends generations. It is for those with a rebellious spirit who dare to be different and want to be ahead of their time.
Through an extensive distribution network Vivienne Westwood Products are today sold in 86 countries across five continents with over 20 lines of products
Vivienne Westwood is now both recognised as a global brand and Vivienne herself is one of the most influential fashion designers in the world.
