In 2025, leading voices in fashion are sculpting emotion, memory, and fantasy into space. As the line between commerce and culture dissolves, fashion houses are rewriting the flagship as a stage where architecture and material combine as a visceral language. With The Architecture of Fashion, we venture into these shifting terrains—where brutalist sanctuaries, subterranean salons, and sonic rituals mark a profound shift in what it means to embark on a flagship boutique. We begin with brands that have always lived on the edge of convention: Enfants Riches Déprimés in Seoul, Acne Studios in Paris, and Alexander McQueen in London. Each space imparts a powerful story of fashion and feeling.
Enfants Riches Déprimés Seoul Flagship: Brutalist Luxury Meets Emotional Design
Enfants Riches Déprimés Seoul Flagship; Courtesy of Enfants Riches Déprimés.
In Seoul’s majestic Dosan enclave—where luxury melds with tradition—the debut Asia flagship of Enfants Riches Déprimés rises like a hypnotic fortress. Designed by visionary founder Henri Alexander Levy alongside esteemed Fearon Hay Architects, the building is a concrete meditation, equal parts brutalist monastery and 21st-century reliquary.
“My philosophy is based on emotional design, I was never interested in just building a store or selling a product,” said Levy. “Every part of the experience has been thoughtfully worked to be emotionally and architecturally considered with the aim of creating something spiritual, personal, and provocative. This space offers something different from the homogenization of the mass luxury market, often reduced to uninspired design driven by boardroom decisions. I do not expect to be universally understood, but I invite the customer to step into our Korean temple and feel something.”
“Every part of the experience has been thoughtfully worked to be emotionally and architecturally considered with the aim of creating something spiritual, personal, and provocative,”
Henri Alexander Levy
Enfants Riches Déprimés Seoul Flagship; Courtesy of Enfants Riches Déprimés.
Enfants Riches Déprimés Seoul Flagship; Courtesy of Enfants Riches Déprimés.
An intensity of feeling radiates throughout the labyrinthine space. A Jean Prouvé door marks your passage inward. A 25-foot concrete staircase, monumentally tranquil, cradles Wallace Berman’s verifax collages. Chainmail-draped fitting rooms shimmer like sacred, tempting veils. Embedded into the wall, a sculpture by Levy himself stands as a tender declaration.
This brutalist chapel of silence and weight, steel and light, announces Enfants Riches Déprimés’ flagship in Seoul as a new cultural compass point. Here, fashion flagship architecture becomes an intuitive, modern day sanctuary.
Acne Studios’ Palais Royal Gallery Redefines Cultural Retail
Acne Studios’ Palais Royal in Paris; Courtesy of Acne Studios.
Within Paris’ Palais Royal, beneath arcades lined with nostalgia and marble, Acne Studios raises the curtain on Acne Paper Palais Royal—an inaugural space devoted to the ever-evolving spirit of contemporary culture.
Inspired by the brand’s cerebral publication Acne Paper, the permanent gallery debuts with a hauntingly elegant solo show by Dutch photographer Paul Kooiker titled “2025.” Here, forty-two portraits of international students at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam unfold with a dreamlike, milestone presence. Meanwhile, the experience extends beyond the frame. The space will host a parade of artist talks, book launches, and salon-style discussions—a layered summons into rich creative exchange.
Acne Studios’ Palais Royal in Paris; Courtesy of Acne Studios.
Acne Studios’ Palais Royal in Paris; Courtesy of Acne Studios.
Rooted in Swedish minimalism and Parisian elegance, the gallery affirms Acne’s place within leading-edge culture. Palais Royal thrives as a knowing site for deep exploration—where art, fashion, literature, and contemporary thought intersect without borders.
Inside McQueen Reverb: A Sonic Journey Through British Subculture
Alexander McQueen’s flagship in London, McQueen Reverb; Courtesy of Alexander McQueen.
Journey with us to London, along iconic Old Bond Street, where something cathartic hums beneath the surface. Inside Alexander McQueen’s flagship, the house introduces McQueen Reverb—a refreshing series of vinyl listening sessions curated by Creative Director Seán McGirr.
Over four decadent evenings in June, soulful artists including Bar Italia, John Glacier, and Nilüfer Yanya gather to share records and stories—each track a relic and each conversation begins a vibrant new thread. The space becomes a beguiling chamber for British subculture, and a soundstage where fashion’s avant-garde roots reign supreme once again. Ebbing and flowing with innovative turntables and organic design, the juxtapositions echo the ever-evolving McQueen legacy, reimagined for a generation hungry for authenticity.
Bar Italia X Cyrus Goberville; Courtesy of Alexander McQueen.
A.G. Cook X Francesca Gavin; Courtesy of Alexander McQueen.
