A decade after his first overhaul of Christian Dior's Avenue Montaigne Paris flagship, New York architect Peter Marino has reinvented the 60-year-old emporium once again. 'Fifty-seven shades of grey: that was the goal,' says Marino. 'I wanted to take the space to the level of the customer's home.'
The 1,200 sq m shop does feel like a lush private apartment. It's filled with pieces by Marino himself, as well as commissioned work by artists and designers such as Claude Lalanne, Andre Dubreuil, Herve van der Straeten, Ado Chale, Rob Wynne and Oyoram.
The store's most spectacular feature, a 7m-high rotunda connecting the different departments, has fake windows displaying videos by Oyoram; the artificial light in the space changes from dawn to dusk. 'As a shopper, you are part of the scene,' says Marino. 'It's really theatrical.'
