The company has opened a newly renovated space in the Japanese capital, Tokyo, specifically retailing the luxury brand’s men’s collections.
Located inside the Shinjuku Isetan department store, the reopened Balenciaga men’s store features interior design that follows the brand’s experiential ‘Raw Architecture’ concept, with intentionally rough structures and details such as simulated corrosion.
Signage – a suspended Balenciaga logo in discrete, white-lit lettering – sits back within the space’s open plan, on a concrete façade over a bisecting beam, while the cross-section mark glows from above, with pocket lighting along its top perimeter. No doors or window panes separate the store from its relatively polished surroundings: brushed concrete floors resemble sidewalk tiles, while walls and shelving units are made of untreated concrete as well, creating the illusion of a liminal indoor/outdoor space. Ceiling grids, industrial lighting systems and other technical fixtures are visible overhead, while aged aluminium tables and recycled leather benches are intended to simulate warehouse fixtures. Finally, LED-lined shelving and racks display latest men’s collections from the Kering-owned brand.
Inside, shoppers will find Balenciaga men’s ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, accessories and eyewear collections, as well as exclusives. The store relocation comes just four months after Balenciaga opened a new flagship store in Taiwan’s capital city Taipei City, opening inside the nation’s tallest building, Taipei 101.
