Dior’s Revamped Mega Flagship Opens at Shanghai’s Plaza 66
After more than eight months of renovation, Dior unveiled its revamped flagship at Shanghai’s luxury shopping mall Plaza 66.
Characterized as “a sign of the unwavering friendship woven between Dior and China,” Dior’s Plaza 66 flagship is the LVMH Mo?t Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned mega brand’s largest retail format in the Chinese market.
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Dubbed “China’s 30 Montaigne,” the revamped Dior store drumrolls the super mega flagship trend in China, despite a luxury market overshadowed by unfavorable macros.
Early next year, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Hermès will launch outsized retail projects housed in freestanding buildings at the Taikoo Li Sanlitun complex in Beijing. Kering’s Balenciaga will also introduce its mega-flagship format at the HKRI Taikoo Hui in Shanghai.
Dior’s four-story store at Plaza 66, which spans 1,796 square meters, offers everything from women’s and men’s ready-to-wear collections, jewelry and watches, as well as the brand’s fragrance and luxury homeware products.
The facade of the store is dreamed up by Japanese architecture firm Kengo Kuma & Associates, who dressed all four levels of the store in ivory pleats that emulates the forms of an iconic Dior haute couture dress. Luminous from afar, the repeating motif enhances the effect of having a stacked smaller building within the bustling mall.
Upon entering the first floor of the store, which offers the latest collections from Dior’s women’s ready-to-wear and accessories lines, customers alight upon a grand marble staircase that features paintings by the Chinese artist Hong Hao that evoke just as much poetry as elegance.
A suspended petal installation, inspired by Dior founder Christian Dior’s passion for nature and botany, is devised by Studio Sawada Design. Similar to the petal sculpture created for Dior’s Ginza store, the installation balances out the endearing fresco created by Hong.
On the second floor, customers are introduced to a selection of fragrance goods, pieces from the Dior cruise 2024 collection, and a wall of limited-edition Dior Lady Art handbags. Hidden behind a pair of sliding doors is an intimate private salon for VIP shoppers, outfitted with plush furniture and artworks.
Upon entering the third floor, which is usually reserved for VIP shoppers, visitors can browse homeware selections before entering a corridor lined with handbags in exotic skins. The final room in the maison features Dior’s high jewelry collection created by Victoire de Castellane.
Taking the elevator down to the basement menswear floor, customers enter a distinctive lounge-like atmosphere that echoes the relaxed silhouette created by Kim Jones. The floor features the full range of the Dior Icons collection and a corner area dedicated to made-to-measure tuxedos.
Reflecting Dior’s taste in the art of refined living, the shop floors are outfitted with curated design pieces such as a bench by Claude Lalanne, a crystal table by Juan and Paloma Garrido, a side table by Philippe Hiquily and a mirror by William P. Sullivan.
Other artworks featured in the store include photographs by Brigitte Niedermair, paintings by Korean artists Chun Kwang Young and Cho Sung-Hee, as well as paintings by contemporary Chinese artists He Xiangyu, Wang Yuyang and Wang Zhiyuan.
To celebrate the relaunch, Dior invited more than 10 celebrities and brand ambassadors, including Ziyi Zhang, Jiang Shuying, Wang Junkai, Arthur Chen and Wang Ziwen, to the private opening event on Friday.
In the atrium of the mall, Dior also erected a pop-up installation of a two-story-tall golden tree, endowing the store surroundings with a bit of holiday spirit as well as good fortune.
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