From Tokyo to Toronto, luxury boutiques are ditching plain glass boxes for buildings that look like ships, elephants, and even erupting jewelry caves. The goal is simple: grab eyeballs on the street and thumbs on social media.
The trend has deep roots. Back in the 1970s, the architecture group SITE turned U.S. BEST stores into art pieces with crumbling walls and tilting facades. Most of those works are gone, but designers credit them with proving that shopping can start before you walk inside.
Today, Isabel Marant’s flagship in Tokyo glows bright yellow like a pop-art house, while Louis Vuitton’s Shanghai store curves like a metallic sailboat. In Miami, Cartier’s boutique shimmers with rippled glass etched with vintage brooch patterns, and in Amsterdam, a clothing shop wears a rippling skin of 3-D-printed ceramic tiles.
Expect more playful storefronts as brands battle online shopping with real-world wow. Architects say the next frontier is interactive surfaces that change color or shape with a tap on your phone.
