Hermès takes a plunge with a new flagship store

Hermès International has opened another flagship store in Paris, Thursday, 18th November 2010. The brand's 134th store comprehends the second biggest sales floor to date and is located on Paris' Rive Gauche on Rue De Sèvres. After 173 years of fidelity to the Rive Droite, the artisanry brand opened its first boutique on the left side of the Seine bank.

The former Lutetia Hotel’s indoor swimming pool, which is offering 15, 800 sq.ft (1467.868 m²), dispersed over three floors, has been converted to a luxurious space displaying Hermès' precious lines of products.

As the opening of the Rue de Sèvres flagship coincided with the launch of Hermès' interior line, nearly half of the space is dedicated to the new home range. The mega boutique showcases furnishings, fabrics, carpets and the new furniture re-editions by Jean-Michel Frank.
Also, the boutique houses three nearly 30-foot-tall huts carved from latticed ashwood, designed by architect Denis Montel of RDA, its own florist, stocked with flora rarities, a book store (Chaîne d’Encre - a little worldplay with Hermès' signature Chaîne d'Ancre) and a salon de thé with the apt name Le Plongeoir (The diving board) situated on its balcony.

As newsworthy as the spectacular interior of the new flagship was the appearance of one special guest amongst the numerous felicitators: Salma Hayek-Pinault, wife of PPR's François-Henri Pinault paid a visit to congratulate on the new retail space extraordinaire. A very political appearance given the recent public conflict between Hermès and PPR's main competitor LVMH. 

Never underestimate the effects of a common concept of the enemy.


xoxo
Glamazone

Source: style.com, rositakerdlarppol.blogspot.com,
Picture Source: style.com, rositakerdlarppol.blogspot.com