The special thing about Martin Margiela stores is that each shop is totally different from the other. That's why the opening of the world's biggest Maison Martin Margiela boutique in Beijing's Sanlitun Village has got us all excited.
Outside, the shop window contains an animated neon light installation shows the silhouette of a woman striding along.
Inside, an area of 540 m2 covers two floors. But you never get to see the entire space as it is divided into cubes, which contain the different collections. Concrete and white curtains dominated the interior. Geometrically arranged neon strip lights hang low from the ceiling looking like over-size beehives. Clear lines, white and grey shading as well as silver, transport the house's design philosophy.
But there are also playful elements like the trompe l’oeil effects and mirroring, as in the mirror-clad changing cubes. The massive slide with which you can slide down to the ground floor from the upper level, landing on white cushions, has to be unique.
A world of its own – that's for sure! We can't wait to see what the next Margiela store, whose opening is planned later this month in Shanghai, will surprise us with.
