French luxury fashion house Alaïa has officially opened its first flagship store in China, marking a significant milestone in the brand's expansion into the Asian market. The two-story boutique is located in the prestigious Taikoo Li Sanlitun shopping district in Beijing, one of the city's most fashionable retail destinations.
The store's distinctive design emerged from a close collaboration between Alaïa's Creative Director Pieter Mulier and Swedish architecture studio Halleroed. Together, they created a space that embodies the brand's core principles of sensuality, radical minimalism, and sculptural form, translating these fashion concepts into architectural language. The design approach successfully merges couture-level attention to detail with a strong urban presence.
The most striking feature of the new flagship is its facade, which presents as a solid plane of premium Carrara marble. This monumental exterior is punctuated by carefully placed circular and rounded windows that draw direct inspiration from Alaïa's signature perforated motifs found throughout the brand's clothing collections. The rhythmic patterning of these openings serves a dual purpose: it lightens the visual mass of the stone while maintaining a sense of gravity and calm that reflects the brand's sophisticated aesthetic.
Inside the ground floor, the design philosophy continues with curved, organic lines set against sharp geometric forms, creating visual tension that mirrors the dualities defining the Parisian fashion house's approach to design. A sweeping marble shelving unit serves as the anchor point for the space, while sculptural podiums rise from the floor like carved extensions of the architecture itself. This thoughtful layout treats all display furniture as integral parts of the overall spatial composition rather than mere functional elements.
Two large cubic chairs designed by legendary French fashion designer Paul Poiret are strategically placed within the ground floor space. These pieces, with their bold geometric forms, amplify the intentional tension between softness and structural clarity that runs throughout the boutique's design concept. The furniture selection reinforces the store's commitment to showcasing pieces that blur the line between fashion and art.
The second floor offers a more subdued atmosphere, providing an appropriate setting for displaying Alaïa's complete wardrobe range, including ready-to-wear collections, accessories, and essential pieces. Seating designed by Philippe Malouin is positioned to frame views toward the rounded facade openings, allowing the geometric patterns of the windows to influence and shape the interior rhythm of the upper level.
Throughout both floors of the boutique, the overriding emphasis remains on exceptional craftsmanship, whether expressed through the stonework, custom furniture pieces, or the sophisticated spatial interplay of curves and planes. This focus on artisanal quality reflects Alaïa's commitment to the highest standards of construction and design, both in fashion and retail architecture. The Beijing flagship represents a new architectural expression for the fashion house, successfully establishing its presence in the competitive Chinese luxury market.
