The new department store has become the largest store on the Champs Elysees (6,800 m2): it is not only the focal point of the Galeries Lafayette chain, but also a concept store, a trading laboratory, as the architects call it. The location in a former 1932 American bank building in the Art Deco style (architect André Arfidson) defined the appearance of expensive, unusual materials and thoughtful details, which, however, were used in an innovative way. The old tradition of a luxury department store in the city center is complemented here with modern trends: spaces for various events, a combination of the latest and greatest brands, an orientation towards the "impression" and "experience" of the visitor.
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zooming Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani & Marco Cappelletti
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zooming Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Salem Mostefaoui
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zooming 1/6 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani & Marco Cappelletti
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zooming 2/6 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani & Marco Cappelletti
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zooming 3/6 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani & Marco Cappelletti
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zooming 4/6 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Florent Michel
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zooming 5/6 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani & Marco Cappelletti
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zooming 6/6 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani & Marco Cappelletti
The entrance is designed like a luminous "bridge" leading to a spectacular circular atrium with a carefully restored glass dome. The first floor is a “city living room” where you can hold fashion shows, presentations of new products, etc. The main staircase at such moments becomes spectator rows, and at normal times it is possible to get to the second tier along it, with counters and display cases made of golden perforated metal enveloping the atrium. There and in the rest of the spaces there are “current” brands, sneakers and gadgets of special series, jewelry are sold, and a jeans “laboratory” has been set up.
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zooming Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Florent Michel
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zooming Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Florent Michel
All store floors can be viewed from the atrium. Above are escalators, decorated with the same materials as this key space. Commercial furniture is interpreted by architects as an art object or architectural structure. Carpets seem to turn into fitting rooms, showcases, shoe racks - into benches for fitting them, counters - into sculptures. Glazed consoles for "special projects" protrude from the upper, fourth tier into the atrium.
On the ground floor there is a "Parisian food court" where you can dine or buy a variety of products, on the second tier there is a Citron "coffee salon", and on the third one is the Oursin restaurant with views of the city. Both of these establishments were designed by the fashion designer Simon Port Jacquemus, the operator was the Caviar Kaspia company.
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zooming 1/3 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Florent Michel
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zooming 2/3 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Florent Michel
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zooming 3/3 Galeries Lafayette central department store on the Champs Elysees Photo © Florent Michel
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zooming 1/3 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Delfino Sisto Legnani & Marco Cappelletti
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zooming 2/3 Central department store Galeries Lafayette on the Champs Elysees Photo © Salem Mostefaoui
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zooming 3/3 Galeries Lafayette central department store on the Champs Elysees Photo © Matthieu Salvaing
