Saint Laurent has announced the opening of a flagship store in Paris at Avenue Champs-Élysées for summer 2023. The designer apparently expressed this ambition to open on the prestigious avenue in 1983, when the Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York hosted a major Yves Saint Laurent exhibition — the first retrospective of a living couturier’s work.

“The Champs-Élysées is surely a point of reference for locals, either based in Paris or in the rest of France, on top of being a touristic destination for foreigners coming from abroad,” said Francesca Bellettini, chief executive officer of Saint Laurent,  “Guaranteeing Saint Laurent’s outstanding presence in this venue marks an important milestone for the maison, which definitely deserves to be represented in this iconic Parisian location.”

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Saint Laurent is taking up a space previously occupied by a restaurant, a small store and offices, making the unit the French brand’s largest in Paris.  The brand is keeping under wraps its intentions for the sprawling Champs-Élysées site, which is to showcase the brand’s complete product universe. The mirrored facade is to remain in place throughout the duration of the construction works.