Luxury fashion house Balenciaga opened on Wednesday its first standalone store in Austin, Texas, located in the mixed-use metropolitan centre, The Domain.
The 6,137sq ft boutique houses the latest in Balenciaga’s men’s and women’s ready-to-wear, shoes, bags, accessories, eyewear and jewellery collections.
The store is designed with the brand’s signature Raw Architecture concept, which respects and incorporates existing architectural elements, reflecting its commitment to sustainable practices. Notably, the store’s street-corner façade is composed of an innovative material made from glass, porcelain and quartz. Structural columns, clad in backlit concrete panels behind glass, aim to seamlessly integrate into the metropolitan landscape and the surrounding desert flora.
Inside, the design draws inspiration from the area’s natural sand and stone hues, in neutral grey tones. A mix of brushed slab and poured concrete surfaces are paired with embedded carpet and left bare in select areas. Walls and partitions showcase patinated concrete panels, hot-rolled steel with visible flame marks and smoked glass, creating a tactile and raw ambiance.
The open ceiling reveals exposed grids, lighting systems and technical fixtures, amplifying the industrial aesthetic. Aged steel tables and hanging pipe racks, deliberately worn to resemble warehouse fixtures, evoke a liminal, transitional space. Competing the space are HD screens, focusing lighting, softened leather seating, and a street-facing lightbox providing contrasting moments of warmth and modernity.
This latest opening marks Balenciaga’s continued expansion in the US. Earlier this year, the brand opened its first standalone store in Chicago, Illinois.
