Balenciaga’s new flagship store opens its doors this Tuesday, 12th June, at 336 rue Saint-Honoré – just a few steps away from Colette and on the old premises of a service station well known in the area. The brand-new store, which covers just over 3,200 square feet and whose layout is bound to surprise, was designed as usual by Nicolas Ghesquière, Balenciaga’s Creative Director, in collaboration with French artist Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster, who has co-designed Balenciaga’s boutiques and shops-in-shop since the start of its recent downsizing.

“Our new Paris boutique is a sort of map of the Balenciaga universe, a microcosm reflecting, on a smaller scale, our international expansion”, said the PPR group who, according to Womenswear Daily, will open seven other boutiques throughout the world in 2012. Rome and New York are amongst those cities awaiting an upcoming store opening.