- DNRNews.com, KATYA FOREMAN, Oct. 30, 2008

PARIS — Yohji Yamamoto has opened the doors to a new Paris flagship at 4 Rue Cambon.

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Architect Sophie Hicks said she wanted the 6,500-square-foot store, which debuted Tuesday, to appear to “float.” To do this, she employed a three-dimensional window blind made from rows of folded shoji gami paper (a thin material typically used for Japanese screens) that suspend on wires like lines of flying seagulls. “The view is more important from the outside,” said Hicks, describing how the installation allows passersby to steal glimpses of the interior in a nod to the restraint of traditional Japanese aristocratic women.

The same abstract form is also featured on a wooden wall sculpture flanking one side of the store’s narrow entrance — one that leads into a sparse white space with seven mannequins floating on metal poles.

“When I first met Yohji, I thought, ‘This man likes a white box, and I like a white box too, so let’s not try to be clever,’” Hicks said. “Yohji Yamamoto is Japanese, but on one level he is Parisian, too. ... So I wanted his store to float in Paris, to be a Japanese world with a subtle feeling of Paris in [its] atmosphere.”

The 1,080-square-foot men’s wear space extends itself over three rooms. Pieces from Yohji Yamamoto’s winter 2008/2009 runway collection are hung on moveable stands that can accompany shoppers to the fitting rooms. Men’s accessories also are on display, as are semi-measure services for both men and women.

Keizo Tamoto, Yohji Yamamoto's executive vice-president and CEO, said he expects the store to generate around 1.5 million euros, or around $1.9 million at current exchange, in its first year.

Yamamoto’s Rue du Louvre store, which until now has housed the men’s and women’s collection and Y’s brand, is currently the brand’s most successful store in the world, Tamoto said, noting the unit will now be devoted to Y’s. The firm also owns a neighboring Y-3 store on Rue Etienne Marcel.

Tamoto said the company began working on the flagship project two years ago, prior to the economic meltdown. “This is just a coincidence. And Paris will not disappear with this climate, I hope,” he said, adding that there are no more retail ventures planned for the foreseeable future.