Dubai Mall of the Emirates Store Opening

Mall of the Emirates, 1st Floor

Sheikh Zayed Road

Al Barsha 1, Dubai

United Arab Emirates

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On February 14th, 2024, Balenciaga opened a new store in Dubai, the biggest in the Middle East region, on the first floor Luxury Rotonda of Mall of the Emirates’ Fashion Dome. The store’s 500 square meters space offers the latest Balenciaga men’s and women’s collections. A tall façade, of smooth slabs and a circular column in washed concrete appear weather-worn, as if part of an office park. Technical fixtures are visible overhead, through an uncovered gridded ceiling system. Velvet curtains, metal tables, and leather couches fall within a greyscale scheme, matching the raw materials throughout the store.

The store design follows the brand’s experiential Raw Architecture concept, conceived to question the nature of authenticity with intentionally crude structures. A large, dedicated VIC dressing room with soft, pocket lighting, overstuffed seating, and plush carpet adds an element of privacy within an otherwise open plan. Smoked glass partitions, underlit shelving, and high-definition screens intersperse the vacated effect with modernity.
In celebration of the Balenciaga Mall of the Emirates store opening, a Couture presentation was held for the first time in the region as a Pre-Opening. For the first three days of the opening, an exhibition of pieces from the 50th, 51st, and 52nd Couture Collections was featured, as well as exclusives items from the Balenciaga Couture Store in Paris, involving a selection of garments that can be altered for each wearer by expert tailors, following the Balenciaga Couture guidelines. The special event showcased some of the House’s signature material innovations such as aluminum fabrics and galvanized gold-plated sunglasses, pave Rodeo Bag and items from the Objects line like the state-of-the-art Balenciaga | Bang & Olufsen Speaker Bag and the extra-large Balenciaga scented candle.