Ship shape: Dolce & Gabbana drop anchor in St Barts with a new boutique
When New York-based architect Steven Harris was designing Dolce & Gabbana’s first outpost on the tropical island of St Barts, he was thrilled to discover a shared passion for Riva Aquarama speedboats with the brand’s Italian founders. ‘Growing up in Florida in the fifties, I spent a great deal of time on boats’ Harris explains. 'The world of marinas and docks, dinghies and tenders was part of the everyday landscape.’ His sailing-inspired store concept fuses the island architecture of the Caribbean with that of the Mediterranean.
Upon entering the two floor 314 sq m boutique, guests are greeted with a space that evokes mid-century Italian interior design. White marble floors take inspiration from Casa Malaparte on the island of Capri, and Gio Ponti’s Villa Planchart in Venezuela (Ponti's chairs also feature at its Via Montenapoleone flagship store in Milan, which opened in autumn 2016).
Marble table tops also house footwear and women’s accessories on the ground floor, alongside antique brass shelves. Transparent glass sculptures in azure blue show off Dolce & Gabbana jewellery, evoking stones on a beach or pieces of treasured coral.
Dolce & Gabbana has opened its first St. Barts based boutique, designed by architect Steven Harris
These are juxtaposed against more Caribbean focused finishes, like deep chairs hand wrapped in rope and upholstered in natural hemp, and palm trees that cast shadows on the opulent pink and green onyx and white calypso surfaces.
To access the exclusive men’s and women’s beachwear collections on the second floor, shoppers ascend a staircase with an oceanic blue vellum handrail, resembling the sterns of Harris' and Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana’s beloved speedboats. Wicker bags, silk scarves and t-shirts feature in the tropical collection, printed with parrots and idyllic beaches lined with hibiscus flowers and huts.
With a barber shop in Dolce & Gabbana's New Bond Street location in London, it is clear that the duo gravitate towards a lifestyle encompassing retail experience. For the St Bart's outpost, they feature a Martini Bar housed in a ground floor courtyard and swathed in an oasis of palm fronds. Featuring the same flourishes of dusty stone and coloured vellum, its pink onyx bar is over six metres long. Time to drop anchor.
INFORMATION
Wallpaper* Newsletter
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox
For more information, visit the Dolce & Gabbana website
ADDRESS
9 Rue de la Republique,
Gustavia
St. Barthélemy
97133
-
The moments fashion met art at the 60th Venice Biennale
The best fashion moments at the 2024 Venice Biennale, with happenings from Dior, Golden Goose, Balenciaga, Burberry and more
By Jack Moss Published
-
Crispin at Studio Voltaire, in Clapham, is a feast for all the senses
New restaurant Crispin at Studio Voltaire is the latest opening from the brains behind Bistro Freddie and Bar Crispin, with interiors by Jermaine Gallagher
By Billie Brand Published
-
Vivienne Westwood’s personal wardrobe goes up for sale in landmark Christie’s auction
The proceeds of ’Vivienne Westwood: The Personal Collection’, running this June, will go to the charitable causes she championed during her lifetime
By Jack Moss Published
-
Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025: what Wallpaper* knows so far
The first details of Men’s Fashion Week S/S 2025 have been announced, including appearances from Paul Smith and Marine Serre at Pitti Uomo. In an ongoing round-up, here’s everything that Wallpaper* knows so far
By Jack Moss Published
-
Best in shows: Wallpaper* picks S/S 2024’s standout looks
As part of Wallpaper’s Design Awards 2024 issue, we select the winning S/S 2024 runway collections – and their defining looks – at the start of a new season in style
By Jack Moss Published
-
Dolce & Gabbana continues its new chapter with a London space devoted to beauty
Dolce & Gabbana opens a new beauty corner inside its lavish Old Bond Street store
By Hannah Tindle Published
-
Unconventional men’s tailoring to make an impression this winter
This winter’s men’s tailoring is defined by razor-sharp reinterpretations of classic silhouettes, designed to make you stand out over a celebratory season ahead
By Jack Moss Published
-
How to be an impeccably dressed wedding guest
Up the drama and dazzle at your next autumnal nuptial celebration. Divorce that dialled down dressing. Ostentation and elegance are a match made in style heaven.
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
AlphaTauri’s Salzburg HQ is a science fiction fantasy
Browse in-store, buy online: the future-focused mentality of AlphaTauri
By Simon Mills Last updated
-
Manu Atelier's first boutique nods to Le Corbusier in Istanbul
The cult Istanbul-based label introduces bold, sculptural expressionism into this first bricks and mortar store
By Laura Hawkins Last updated
-
Louis Vuitton's Ginza Namiki flagship evokes a rippling pillar of water
Japanese architect Jun Aoki creates a water-like facade for Louis Vuitton's Ginza Namiki Tokyo flagship
By Danielle Demetriou Last updated