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UNITED STATES / Miami: Alexander McQueen new store
by Modem – Posted July 06 2012
© Modem

Shop opening

On June 7 2012, launch of a new store concept, conceived by Sarah Burton and Alexander McQueen and realised together with David Collins Studio.


INSPIRATION
Flora and fauna, real and imagined; the warped perspective of Francis Bacon’s paintings of Popes; the Surrealist artist HR Giger; the architecture of Antonio Gaudi; the Eighteenth Century salon and Rorschach ink blots; primitivism, the human skeleton and the female form. There are references to Alexander McQueen signatures throughout the store. In particular, the curved seams of a heritage tailored jacket, smashed porcelain show pieces and the “armadillo” shoe are echoed in everything from ceiling rafts to plaster panel mouldings and flooring.

THE STORE
The 212 square metre space is over a single floor and houses women’s wear and accessories. The storefront is clad in grey and white Calcatta Oro. The floor is smashed and re-assembled Nero Argento marble. A “pinched-waist” raft is suspended from the vaulted ceiling. Walls are covered in lacquered linen, silk and white rubbed Gesso. A sense of rough luxury is established. Moulded plaster panels feature a cornucopia of wings, shells, cactus flowers, mushroom gills, seahorse tails, tangled leaves and more. Tiny skulls and grimacing gargoyles nestle in their folds. An apparent symmetry is subtly disrupted. Blush-pink glass lighting echoes the organic lines of the coral reef. Mirrors are gilded silver and gold. Velvet soft furnishings feature solid bronze animal feet: gazelle hooves and monster claws. Hanging rails are crafted in black lacquer and aged brass. Stained grey wood shelving is suspended from polished brass “monkey” chains. Shoes are displayed on circular “fetish“ tables. Colours are predominantly pale: dove grey, flesh, lilac, soft gold, and all the shades of white.

Alexander McQueen
Bal Harbour Shops
Unit 176, 9700 Collins Avenue
Bal Harbour, Florida, 33154
T: +1 305 866 2839

© Modem