I met Sandie, Bruno’s London-based partner at Chaussignand Lunettes, through one of the brand’s ambassadors, Erik Munro (see in series of pictures to the bottom of this feature). In fact I believe Erik was wearing his Bruno Chaussignand glasses when I met him. Shortly after I had a good chat with Sandie at one of our recent events (see video for her interview), and we had a very exciting talk. Sandie came to the SQUA.RE office for a full insight of her brand’s inspiring range and history.

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If anything, Davies Street, located in the midst of my home of Mayfair, London, seems to be the street for innovation, or at least of two very notable ones: the store version of one of our favourite eCommerce websites Couture Lab, and the newly launched BOKKS London retail space. It is nice to see such concepts burgeoning in a street also strong with traditional luxury as this is where Claridge’s side entrance is located, where Berkeley Square and its private clubs lay to the bottom and where the sumptuous store/home of Alfred Dunhill can be found.

“It’s a genius idea.” Karl Lagerfeld

Clearly BOKKS is more than a shop, it is the slick and stylish headquarter of a global luxury gifting service. As I met with CEO Walter Bugno, he shared with me that what I saw was only a stepping stone for the concept store in the making. The next version of the shop will have three private consultation areas for Very Personal Assistants (VPA), a term invented by BOKKS, who are already present to assist buyers in their choices — while Gift Imagineers go away with briefs collected from the customers by the VPAs and invent whole new collections. Read the rest of this entry »

Fabergé, the name synonymous with the renowned jewel-encrusted Easter egg collections of Russian Tsars, have opened a store in Geneva. Madrid-born, London-based architect Jaime Hayon who won the Maison & Objet award for Interior Design in Paris last month was chosen to create this retail experience for the House of Fabergé.

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In my recent trip to London, I’ve discovered many new jewels, as is expected from this city. One of these new jewels speaks directly one of my ultimate passions; dark chocolate… Actually, mouthwatering-gourmet dark chocolate.

I was walking around and shopping for magazines amongst other things in Selfridges, and I see these very simple and chic looking chocolate bars on display around the corner, with names such as Wild, Smoke, Love, Orange, Wine, Chili, Blackberry & Cinnamon, Organic, Ultimate, Mint, Popcorn… (are you salivating yet?!)

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For those of you whom, just like us, believe in classic heritage, craftsmanship and timeless style, the world of vintage fashion must certainly be no stranger. As you might have read in my previous chronicle, Atelier Mayer brings you all of the above, along with the convenience of sending the items right to your door. In fact this week has been a fascinating tour of fashion history for me as I have had the chance to discover the online store’s latest additions, during their private preview on Saint James’ Street in London.

Just see below for a series of exciting insights.

Yong’s classic white dress at the centre above was part of a glamourous series in the main room, and it represents a symbolic part of the spirit of the store: “being a star for the night“. Moreover, it seems we are not the only ones saying it, as Vogue was photographing the dress that very morning. Yong Hei Fong is a special case on Atelier Mayer: a new London-based designer, he is championed on Vogue and is the 2002 winner of the American Express Innovation Award. Yong recreated exclusively for Atelier Mayer these three classic dresses — of which just the names are already inspiring: the Artemis, Athena and Apollo dresses. Read the rest of this entry »

As a follow up to our introduction on the topic, we thought we would show you an overview of the first of two shows which happened yesterday night. Pictures of the Relève de la Garde feature the Crazy Horse dancers as British horse guards (a classic) right into the Printemps shop window in Paris, and music on this post is courtesy of the Crazy Horse (read more to hear)!

A fantastic adventure, which continues tomorrow, of Parisian burlesque and fashion — the unique connection between two different sides of the city from which we always wish to see more.

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Paris’ most avant-garde cabaret, the legendary Crazy Horse is one of the city’s top nightly attractions. Also, we were agreeably surprised to receive an invitation from Printemps Paris to their latest Crazy Horse on Show series at the Printemps department store on Boulevard Haussman.

The event, presented by Philippe Decouflé and Ali Mahdavi, supports the Printemps Passions special operation this month, which celebrates seduction and women’s most glamorous trump cards, namely lingerie and beauty. Read the rest of this entry »

A great Paris event which we only missed because of our busy schedule in London has been the launch of the Maria Luisa boutique in Printemps. What is so interesting about this shop-within-the-shop is the full endorsement and integration of style legend Maria Luisa’s concept: a space to discover and acquire selected works by new talents and new designers only.

Indeed, Maria Luisa has always been at the forefront of cutting-edge fashion. She was the initiator of the multi-brand stores in her boutiques on the rue du Mont Thabor supporting an impressive list of young talents before they were big names: Alexander McQueen, Helmut Lang, John Galliano, Ann Demeulemeester, Martin Margiela, Nicolas Ghesquiére, Olivier Theyskens, Rick Owens, Riccardo Tisci, Christopher Kane, and many more. For some even, such as Manolo Blahnik, the style boutique was appointed the exclusive distribution in France. Read the rest of this entry »

This week was the last chance to obtain the stunning Hermès scarves exclusively designed for the prestigious brand’s Liberty pop up store, opened for over a month in London’s long-established department store.

If anything, pop up stores have been the new trend, as we have seen with Prada, initiated by Comme des Garçons’ guerilla stores, one of the series of creative inventions of the brand’s creator Rei Kawakubo since the 1980s. And beyond this, another trend is at the essence here and it is the meeting point of art and luxury, in that case the creativity of pop culture and the luxury heritage of the brands involved, or for lack of other words, as we like to call it: Pop Luxury. Read the rest of this entry »

The iconic fashion house of Prada has recently opened a “pop-up” store at Place Beauvau 92, Paris. The exterior of the store, designed by Roberto Baciocchi, is reminiscent of the famous Parisian landmark, Le Pont Mirabeau, which was the first metal bridge to be constructed in Paris. French poet, Guillaume Apollinaire, immortalized the Mirabeau bridge through one of his poems.

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The newest store by Louis Vuitton is a great illustration of the meeting point between architecture and style: inspired by the ‘folds of a scarf’, the boutique is the largest in Southeast Asia. Located in Singapore’s ION Orchard, the 905 square meter concept store was designed by Front Inc. of New York while the interiors were developed by the Louis Vuitton Malletier’s architecture team.

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Luxury

From July 16th to August 29th, Printemps steps into the spotlight and becomes Printemps Palace, the only department store transformed into a luxury hotel, and explores the art of traveling in luxury Parisian hotels.

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